Don’t make these IT mistakes as you grow your portfolio!
Over the last 15 years working in the multifamily industry, we have come across many management companies who are not happy with the way their IT shaped up over the years. They feel their IT investments never really yielded the kind of returns they expected and they came to us looking to change the trend. When analyzing the reasons for the failure of their IT investment, here’s what we come across most often.
Not prioritizing IT
This is the #1 mistake with property management companies, especially smaller ones with under 10 properties in their portfolio. When focusing on maximizing your capacity rates at your properties, most owner-manager companies focus on marketing and other expenses related to achieving that goal, but very few consider allocating resources--monetary or otherwise towards IT. IT is seen as a cost-center, rarely prioritized. Thus, any investment in IT is made begrudgingly.
Your leasing and corporate team is not with you
When you bring in new technology like Microsoft Teams or even new IT policies, it is your leasing and corporate team that needs to work on it on a daily basis. If your staff is not on the same page with you, your IT implementation is unlikely to succeed. So, before you make that transition from local desktops to the cloud, or from Windows to iOs or roll out that new Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) policy, make sure you have your leasing and corporate staff on your side with education and proper training.
You are not sure how to put it to good use
Investing in something popular and then not using it to its maximum is commonplace. Make sure you make the most of your investment in IT by providing your staff with adequate training on how to use it. This is where your internal IT team or outsourced MSP can help!
IT can seem challenging to navigate when you have to do it all by yourself. It entails steep costs when taken care of in-house, especially if you have a small staff or corporate team focused on managing your portfolio and maximizing capacity rates. Add to that the complex task of deciding what IT investment you will benefit the most from and then training your team to use it...all of this is pretty daunting when you have to do it all by yourself. A MSP has the expertise needed to be your trusted partner and guide in these challenges, helping you make the most of your IT investment. However choosing an MSP with the right experience can be daunting. Here are some useful tips when Assessing an Outsourced IT provider for Multifamily
