For real estate professionals, the Internet can be both a challenge and a venue for success. Concerning the former, smaller firms may find themselves in a situation where, because of increased recognition and traffic, there is not enough bandwidth to sustain demand from prospective buyers and sellers visiting a specific site. Such a scenario is not a bad thing; on the contrary, it is a testament to the achievements of a small business with a core group of REALTORS, all of whom have the resolve to bring people together, execute transactions and build a positive name for themselves among current and future clients. Achieving that goal means, from a technical perspective, outsourcing to a data center from a top colocation provider, a company with the national infrastructure, technical expertise, reliability and security that all businesses deserve. And yet, making this decision requires a fair amount of due diligence; for not all colocation providers are the same.
First, making the switch to a data center with managed IT services is an acknowledgment that an agency has new technology requirements. The challenge rests with getting a full package of offerings at an affordable price without cost overruns or excessive pricing. Remember: for small businesses in general and independent realty agencies in particular, there is often this push-pull relationship between quality and affordability. On the one hand, quality should be a non-negotiable item for any company; and yet, the degree of service a business may receive - the responsiveness and respect a client may enjoy - is, sadly, all too often the exclusive province of a select few. That formula is neither smart nor (over the long run) effective, because real estate agencies will look for another colocation provider with better pricing, excellent service and and the national infrastructure to accommodate a firm's growing needs. And within that data center are several dedicated servers, which offer the resources (CPU processing, hard drive storage, RAM) to handle the needs of clients in a variety of industries.
Second, the whole point of switching to a data center with dedicated servers, overseen by a reputable colocation provider, is to avoid the hassle and expense of a real estate firm trying to do this project on their own. In a competitive marketplace, where large firms have enormous marketing budgets and thousands of agents, the last thing an independent realty agency should have to worry about is their connectivity or online visibility. But, and this point deserves added attention, a data center - one with managed IT services, overseen by a top colocation provider - should live up to its description: that it provides 100% uptime, so there are no disruptions or loss of service, which can result in devastating consequences. Think of this scenario the following way: if a realty firm uses its website as a means of introduction - as a way to attract new clients, promote recent sales and highlight specific brokers - then that site must be reliable; it cannot vanish because of some system error or a faulty server or the inexperience of so-called "industry experts."
Third, the need for a data center (with dedicated servers and an IT infrastructure) is a reminder to independent realty firms that their go-it-alone approach, while admirable in many other areas, is not acceptable in the world of technology. Meaning: there are certain milestones in the life of a small business, where growth necessitates change and the adoption of new rules and principles. So, when a firm decides it needs a colocation provider with a data center and a suite of dedicated servers, it should pick the right company to handle that responsibility. Which means affordability, quality, service, expertise and customer satisfaction must all intersect.
Bear in mind that data centers are the headquarters for housing these servers, so there is enough power, cooling and connectivity to stay online 24/7. A small business, including an independent real estate agency, would not have the redundant power and connections to host several Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and guarantee 100% uptime. In contrast, the right colocation provider can deliver these results, which, thanks to the benefits of a dedicated server include:
Email server (exchange hosting) to facilitate emails to employees.
Managing a large client database.
Creating a client portal to access information from the firm's database about specific accounts or listings.
Establish a Virtual Private Network (VPN) for employees to retrieve client data, property listings, payroll or any other material within the database.
VoIP calls, where real estate firms can reduce their telephone costs by utilizing the connectivity of data centers to make calls. This advantage also makes international calling rates substantially cheaper.
With the right colocation provider, an independent realty firm can more easily level the playing field with its larger competitors. That benefit, which is the result of intelligent technology and trained personnel, can result in more business and sustained growth. By these standards, innovation is the foundation of success -- in technology and beyond.
Published: November 1, 2012
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