Interview ...
Jim Duport -- Manager, Global Real Estate
Amdahl Corporation

Jim Duport of Amdahl in Sunnyvale, CA, responded to four
e-mail questions on August 28, 1999. Amdahl Corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary of Fujitsu Limited, is a leading provider of information technology products and solutions for the global marketplace.

Pike: Has Amdahl's use of the Internet changed over the last three years? Has this impacted your use of real estate?

Duport: There is no question that over the last three years Amdahl's use of the Internet has changed dramatically. We use web-based communications, training, and sales tools. Amdahl has embraced e-commerce and, in time, e-commerce may also impact the sales force and the selling process. However, the products being sold, typically high-end mainframe computers and IT consulting, still require some face-time by the sales staff. As revenues grow and more sales are made via the web, the need for real estate expansion to house sales staff will be reduced.

Pike: Do you use single or multiple real estate service providers? Why?

Duport: Amdahl's old real estate process used a single local contact in cities where we were doing a transaction, typically working with a broker with whom we had a previous relationship, with the key being local knowledge. As we have become leaner, we have focused more on using regional brokers where the broker is familiar with the Amdahl process and provides a higher level of service, including running financial analyses for us using our programs and hands-on assistance with negotiating leases.

Pike: What web resources help you make decisions?

Duport: Within Corporate Real Estate we use the web as a resource for a variety of things, including demographic mappings of employees' homes and customer sites, vendor research, foreign exchange rates, travel scheduling, subtenant research, and even finding the nearest Starbucks when on the road. Our internal server provides access for project files, floor plans, and our real estate database.

Pike: You've developed LseMod (TM). What does LseMod do?

Duport: LseMod is Comparative Lease Transaction Analysis software for managers and brokers needing in-depth financial analysis for commercial real estate . . . internationally & domestically. Written in Excel, presentation quality reports show P&L, Cash Flow, Before Tax, After Tax, Net Present Value and all the associated assumptions. Multiple properties or what-if scenarios can be compared with the click of a button.

Originally written to develop preliminary budgets, we have used LseMod for all our analyses since 1989. We have even added our corporate approval form to the program. The current tag line is "Are Your Lease Analyses As Good As You Are?" It has improved our productivity and makes us look very professional to our internal customers and to the finance department. It also limits the emotions around location. We just "Let the numbers do the talking."

Info: In addition to Amdahl, LseMod is used by BankBoston, NCH Corporation, Baltimore Gas & Electric, Delotte & Touches, Compaq, Computer Associates, Carrier, and Cisco. For information on LseMod www.lsemod.com, send e-mail to Jim Duport at jrduport@lsemod.com.

--Peter