Two major themes seem to be coming up lately in multifamily technology and operations. One is centralization—the dominant idea in how companies are restructuring work. The other is tech bloat—the growing problem of companies buying too much technology without fully accounting for the associated costs. As with so many big topics in multifamily, the two ideas are starting to converge.
It's safe to say that technology is changing. There's more of it than ever before, and, as this year's 20for20 Annual Survey highlighted, "tech bloat" is a growing problem in multifamily operations. The topic came up repeatedly in conversations at the recent AIM conference and will probably continue to surface throughout the rest of the conference season.
Another outstanding AIM conference is in the books. It was a terrific few days in Huntington Beach—with what felt like the best ever crowd in this event's long and successful history. Among the many interesting conversations at the show, some focused on topics familiar to readers of this blog, a few of which are outlined below.
The second Funnel Forum is in the books, and it was a great few days in paradise—sorry, I mean Terranea—one of the most beautiful resorts on the conference circuit. A busy week saw lots of announcements and deep conversations about the hot topics of AI and centralization.
The most interesting projects for anyone trying to develop a deep understanding of business trends are the ones that allow a viewpoint to develop over time. Nowhere is that more obvious than in the multifamily trend toward centralization.
In the weeks following the recent launch of this year's 20for20 Annual Survey, some of the most interesting briefing calls have focused on one central observation: There's a lot of tech.
It's that time of year again when the 20for20 Annual Survey is officially launched. The conversations with 20 senior executives that took place at the end of 2024 have been reviewed extensively, synthesized, and turned into the seventh annual summary of all things top of mind in multifamily operations and technology. As usual, this year contains a mixture of new insights on new topics and progress on trends that had been central to previous editions.
The year has started with a lot of fresh insight into centralization. First, there was the recent release of the new white paper about how third-party managers are progressing toward a centralized operating model. This week, the focus switches to another big centralization topic: maintenance.
Readers of this blog will know that I frequently study and write about centralization. It has featured heavily in the last four editions of the 20for20 annual survey, and—SPOILER ALERT—it will get more coverage next month when the 2025 edition drops.
A new year is upon us - I hope my readers had the chance to relax a bit over the holiday period. As usual, the holidays provided some breathing space for reading, and one of my favorite holiday reads this year has been "How to Win the Premier League."It's a fascinating book about statistical analysis (stay with me) by Ian Graham that holds a couple of important lessons for multifamily.
Two major themes seem to be coming up lately in multifamily technology and operations. One is centralization—the dominant idea in how companies are restructuring work. The other is tech bloat—the growing problem of companies buying too much technology without fully accounting for the associated costs. As with so many big topics in multifamily, the two ideas are starting to converge.
It's safe to say that technology is changing. There's more of it than ever before, and, as this year's 20for20 Annual Survey highlighted, "tech bloat" is a growing problem in multifamily operations. The topic came up repeatedly in conversations at the recent AIM conference and will probably continue to surface throughout the rest of the conference season.
Another outstanding AIM conference is in the books. It was a terrific few days in Huntington Beach—with what felt like the best ever crowd in this event's long and successful history. Among the many interesting conversations at the show, some focused on topics familiar to readers of this blog, a few of which are outlined below.
The second Funnel Forum is in the books, and it was a great few days in paradise—sorry, I mean Terranea—one of the most beautiful resorts on the conference circuit. A busy week saw lots of announcements and deep conversations about the hot topics of AI and centralization.
The most interesting projects for anyone trying to develop a deep understanding of business trends are the ones that allow a viewpoint to develop over time. Nowhere is that more obvious than in the multifamily trend toward centralization.
In the weeks following the recent launch of this year's 20for20 Annual Survey, some of the most interesting briefing calls have focused on one central observation: There's a lot of tech.
It's that time of year again when the 20for20 Annual Survey is officially launched. The conversations with 20 senior executives that took place at the end of 2024 have been reviewed extensively, synthesized, and turned into the seventh annual summary of all things top of mind in multifamily operations and technology. As usual, this year contains a mixture of new insights on new topics and progress on trends that had been central to previous editions.
The year has started with a lot of fresh insight into centralization. First, there was the recent release of the new white paper about how third-party managers are progressing toward a centralized operating model. This week, the focus switches to another big centralization topic: maintenance.
Readers of this blog will know that I frequently study and write about centralization. It has featured heavily in the last four editions of the 20for20 annual survey, and—SPOILER ALERT—it will get more coverage next month when the 2025 edition drops.
A new year is upon us - I hope my readers had the chance to relax a bit over the holiday period. As usual, the holidays provided some breathing space for reading, and one of my favorite holiday reads this year has been "How to Win the Premier League."It's a fascinating book about statistical analysis (stay with me) by Ian Graham that holds a couple of important lessons for multifamily.