Fueling Success for Real Estate through Technological Innovations

Levon Hooks, CIO-Global Corporate Solutions, JLL

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New Role of Technology at JLL

Technology is a huge component of our DNA. Our CEO, Colin Dyer, believes in our technology and the proof is in the technology and platform investments that we continuously make. Those investments set us apart from our competition.

This past April JLL launched RED. RED is our scientific business lens, which reveals real estate data from every dimension, thus, enabling our clients to develop strategy and make decisions that are more informed.

RED is a unique JLL technology solution that meets the demands of data management and business intelligence from a corporate real estate perspective. RED is part of our strategy to make investments in technology that focus on increasing productivity and transforming the marketplace.

RED gives us the ability to connect our clients to a wider performance of their business, which helps them unlock actionable insights that enhance their real estate strategy. When we talk with our clients about RED, we impress upon them that RED is a journey and we are a partner with them on that journey.

Another example of our commitment to technology is our recent acquisition of Corrigo. Corrigo is a pioneer in cloud-based facility management solutions. They have a history of making groundbreaking changes in the industry. Their expertise and entrepreneurial mindset have led to best-in-class technology that automates much of the building maintenance and management process. With that kind of innovation integrated into our core facility management offerings, we can give our clients access to a new level of service.

Incorporating this acquisition into our RED platform is a huge differentiator for our clients because it allows them to use business analytics to improve productivity and drive efficiencies.

I do want to add that while technology is a key, the best technology, without having the right people and processes in place, will not make you successful.

RED is a unique JLL technology solution that meets the demands of data management and business intelligence from a corporate real estate perspective

Current Technological Challenges

What keeps me up at night is the notion of disruption and adaptation. There is a lot of technological disruption occurring in the digital landscape and we need to be able to adapt and be fluid so that we can meet those disruptions head on. At JLL, we address this by continuing to be innovators and leaders in the corporate real estate industry.


Big data and the Internet of Things (IoT) also keep me up at night. Gaining insights into the large amounts of unstructured data can seem daunting.

One of the key things that we’ve noticed as we’ve developed our platform, especially as it relates to the Internet of Things, is how sensors are becoming a key way to gather data for our clients. Whether it’s a sensor on an HVAC system or a sensor on a specific asset on a property, we need to be able to take that data and produce insights to gain efficiencies for our clients.

Leveraging Recent Technological Trends

Big data, IoT and the Cloud are three of the biggest technology trends. The cloud is a huge trend. Being able to move away from on premise deployment and access of our applications is a huge. Our applications and services are manageable through any computer or mobile device with an internet connection. Providing a real-time, cloud-based facilities and service management solution used across the multi-site facilities and service provider world is a significant differentiator in the Corporate Real Estate servicing market.

Advice to Vendors providing Technology Solutions

When I meet and talk with our vendors, I impress upon them the need to adapt to change. The technology landscape in the corporate real estate industry continues to evolve rapidly.

As our technology changes, the underlying technology that our vendors provide to us to support our business and clients must be able to adapt to that change. It’s an evolving journey and the most successful vendors understand the importance of fluidity, adaption and change.

Creating Competitive Edge

Listen to the challenges from the business, and not just to the technical challenges. This is crucial. Help your business partners by building strategic directions to evolve not just the technology, but to evolve the organization and help move it forward.

Move away from being a technologist to someone who is embedded in the business. Become a subject matter expert in the business and industry. As a CIO, you need to be an innovator, an entrepreneur and a problem solver, not just an order taker.

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