Ronnie Kurlander is Hartman’s Construction & Real Estate Industry Lead. Ronnie’s background in project management and process improvement drives him to see opportunities, not limitations, as he strategically guides his clients in the construction and commercial real estate industries toward real, measurable change. His clients benefit from his extensive industry experience as well as from his knowledge of current trends and best practices.
We sat down with Ronnie to get his take on top priorities and opportunities for construction and real estate companies in 2022.
What is the biggest opportunity facing construction and real estate companies?
The biggest opportunities for companies in these industries are related to data visualization and executive decision-making support. Many companies do not have real-time visibility into their projects and how they are performing at any given moment. Those who do have visibility are typically looking at numbers in Excel that take very long to pull together. By the time the data is available, it’s already too outdated for executives to use to make decisions. The opportunity lies in using business intelligence (BI) to pull and integrate data from multiple systems, giving executives a very close to real-time view into their data to make the right decisions at the right time – related to margin, quality and efficiency.
What is a major pain point facing the construction and real estate industries right now?
The biggest pain points right now are related to hiring and human resources, so there is an opportunity to focus on strategy and design talent pipelines using nontraditional methods. Supply chains are strained, not only for material, but for labor, too.
What is the current state of digital transformation in the construction and real estate industries?
Most companies in these industries are in a growth or hyper-growth period where they need to focus on scaling and efficiencies, as well as reducing risk. One way to accomplish this effectively is to eliminate manual, paper-based processes and move toward digital transformation. Many companies are only using a small percentage of the capabilities/data in their core business systems, and user adoption is often lacking. Rather than start from scratch, I often recommend assessing the systems in place and focusing larger efforts on change management.
What are the most important strategic priorities for construction and real estate executives in 2022?
- Resource shortages and how to address
- Material escalation
- Efficiency opportunities
- Slow technology adoption
- Executive decision support (Visibility)
- Safety and cybersecurity
If you’re a construction or real estate executive, reach out today to talk to Ronnie about these topics and what the future looks like for your organization. You can also learn more about Hartman’s IT leadership and consulting offerings for the construction and real estate industries.