Competing Dot-com Visions: Where's the Beef?

Translation Needed... Last week a couple of announcements caught my attention. First, Workstage, which is a venture of Steelcase and Gale & Wentworth, launched its new service. "Structured to change the way companies buy, lease and negotiate commercial real estate, Workstage will aim to develop the world's most user-centered work environments at competitive lease rates in new and renovated office buildings twice as fast and approximately 10% less expensive than conventional construction methods." ... But you won't find out much at their web site.

Or consider the announcement on the home page of workplaceIQ. "WorkpaceIQ combines the corporate real estate, lease administration, facilities management and more in one comprehensive solution." But again, you won't find out much at their site. ... Want more vision? Check out some of the sites on the PikeNet Stealth list (small link below the Software Channel). What do these kind of announcements mean? And what services will these dot-coms actually provide?

I was reminded of these questions at a recent conference when one of the speakers described current industry consortium initiatives as similar to "cluster sex." "Something seems to be happening. But you're not sure who's doing what to whom." ... And that’s the fun part. Until these efforts are translated into the actual, day-to-day, revenue-generating practices of corporate real estate directors, managers and brokers, we really won't know their impact. ... So have you found a killer application? One that's so good you can't live without it? Send e-mail to me at ppike@pikenet.com. Thanks!

PikeNet Expo... The Expo is designed to help you understand the blizzard of new web-based products aimed at the commercial real estate industry. So for two days you'll have dozens of opportunities to analyze this new technology and make decisions about what's right for your company. ... You'll find preliminary details at www.pikenet.com/expo2000 -- "Building the real estate eMarketplace."

--Peter