NEW YORK CITY-FacilitiesWork and Workspeed are two late-breakingexamples of new companies being backed by major New York realestate services firms. These companies reflect a growing trend inthe marketplace to turn to technology to streamline variousbuilding management operations.

Cushman & Wakefield has invested with Zeborg to createFacilitiesWork. “FacilitiesWork reduces the amount of each checkwritten to vendors,” Robert Vokes, head of strategic alliances forZeborg, tells GlobeSt.com. “We act as buying agents, working veryclosely with the buyer, going out on behalf of the company torenegotiate vendor contracts for services.

“We're able to expand the supplier base tremendously because wework on the Web,” he continues. “More vendors get to bid. We createa rational pricing base, spending a lot of time working withvendors about their pricing. We create a level playing field.”