Archive for category: News

One of the more popular technological trends these days is virtual reality (VR). What with the Covid-19 pandemic encouraging us to social distance and live and work remotely, many businesses had to get creative to still be able to cater to their customers. In the real estate sector, VR has become a game-changer in the way real estate agents sell and the way customers buy houses. Maria Prakkat, content marketer and technology specialist, shares an article on HousingWire on the advantages of implementing VR technology in the real estate business.

1. Take your customers on virtual tours. “These immersive experiences enable prospective buyers to explore properties in three dimensions from the comfort of their homes.”
2. Gain in-depth insights through VR market research. “By utilizing VR technology, agents can conduct immersive surveys, gather feedback and analyze user behavior within virtual environments. This enables them to understand buyer preferences, identify trends and make data-driven decisions.”
3. Remote client consultations. “Clients can view properties, discuss details and ask questions in real-time, even if they live far away. This technology eliminates geographic barriers, saving time and increasing convenience for both parties involved.”
4. VR QR codes. “QR codes linked to virtual reality experiences simplify the sharing of immersive property tours. Real estate agents can generate QR codes associated with specific properties and share them through various marketing channels, such as websites, social media or print materials.”
5. Virtual home staging. “This virtual staging option offers numerous advantages, such as eliminating the need for purchasing or renting physical furniture, enabling agents to showcase various interior design styles to cater to the preferences of diverse potential buyers, and allowing customization and enhancing the overall presentation of the property, potentially increasing buyer interest and accelerating the sales process.”
6. VR training of agents. “VR can simulate various sales scenarios, allowing agents to practice communication, negotiation and objection-handling skills. They can interact with virtual clients, respond to inquiries and practice effective sales techniques in a risk-free environment. VR will also allow agents to complete safety and compliance training.”
7. Property development visualization. “VR technology presents a valuable opportunity for real estate agents and property developers to harness its capabilities and create detailed, interactive visualizations of their projects even before the construction phase commences.”
8. Virtual meetings and collaboration. “Virtual meetings and collaboration enhance communication, allowing for real-time discussions, visual presentations and shared decision-making. This efficient and interactive approach streamlines the overall process, saving time and increasing productivity for all parties involved.”
9. Enables design visualization. “Virtual architectural visualizations allow prospective buyers to get a realistic picture of a property’s inside and exterior before purchasing it. Particularly in social distancing trends, 3D visualization has proven crucial in enabling businesses to operate without in-person interactions between entrepreneurs, architects and builders.”
10. Immersive VR advertising. “Embracing the innovative potential of VR advertising enables real estate agents to effectively stand out in the competitive real estate market and leave a lasting impression on their target audience. “

Prakkat concludes that VR is transforming the real estate industry, providing game-changing solutions to optimize operations, elevate client experiences and gain a competitive edge.

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Infor recently announced that aerospace and defense industry manufacturer, Chelton, has selected Infor CloudSuite Aerospace & Defense as its enterprise resource planning (ERP) platform. Following a restructure and rebrand, Infor will support Chelton with the the cloud solution, powered by AWS (Amazon Web Services), and will facilitate a standardized, scalable platform from which to streamline operations, and support greater visibility and risk management. Per the press release, Chelton selected Infor CloudSuite Aerospace & Defense to replace a heavily customized, unsupported legacy system. The decision was made based on Infor’s experience and credentials in the sector, combined with the out-of-the-box industry capabilities the system provides. Chelton VP of operations James Burke says of the decision, “As we adapt to a new organizational structure in the wake of ownership changes, we needed a best-in-class, scalable platform to enable us to drive efficiency, mitigate risk, optimize reporting, simplify processes and enable data-driven decisions. We were impressed by the in-depth industry-focused functionality of the system, crucially without the need for customizations, and with regular updates via the cloud to ensure we’re always on the latest release and fully supported. This also means we get immediate benefit from new capability and innovation, helping us to scale, flex and grow as our markets and customers demand.”

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Workplace trends are constantly changing. The level of collaboration within departments of an organization are affected by these changes as well. An essential collaboration between two departments are IT and HR. Enterprise technology Clint Boulton shares an article on Forbes on the relationship between IT and HR and how the latest workplace trends greatly affect both departments. Workplace trends are evolving quicky, says Boulton, introducing more complexity into organizations. An explosion in data-centric technologies and other digital trends has heightened the importance of strong IT-HR collaboration. These latest trends are driving IT and HR to work together more closely, according to Boulton:

1. Hybrid work. It’s no surprise that the hybrid workspace is a staple in today’s workspace. The COVID-19 pandemic saw many people switch to remote work. Since then, many organizations have adopted the hybrid work week. Boulton says of this trend: “IT leaders and HR managers have been huddling on technologies, processes and policies working in both corporate and home offices since hybrid work practices have proliferated. Social distancing policies, technical workarounds and accommodating optimal work-life balance once dominated these huddles. Increasingly, HR and IT are shifting focus to supporting employees in organizations where leaders are expecting to see more employees in corporate offices than they have in recent years.”
2. AI/ML. “The biggest issue IT and HR must contend with includes concerns about workforce automation. Earlier AI tools gave employees working in back-office roles cause for pause. Generative AI is casting new light on how technology may be used to augment creative functions, which will require more conversations between HR and IT about how to manage associated concerns. IT and HR will have to educate employees about how using automation technologies can help them perform better in their roles. And as generative AI use grows in organizations, IT and HR will have to work closely to mitigate associated governance issues,” says Boulton.
3. Data Analytics. For the organizations who have adopted hybrid work styles or even stayed fully remote, this decision was most likely made by information collected from employees and their input on the future of their work environment. “As hybrid policies reshape the world of knowledge work, business leaders are looking for data about how effective employees are at doing their job,” says Boulton. “This has given rise to an emerging category of data-crunching tools known as workplace analytics, which gauge such details as how long employees spend on work tasks, which tasks they are spending the most time on, as well as the output and outcomes of those workstreams. HR meanwhile may seek workplace analytics from IT that helps them measure the success of diversity and inclusion efforts by analyzing hiring practices and promotion rates. This can help HR pinpoint areas for improvement, as well as make changes that curb employee attrition.”
4. Data protection and compliance. “Organizations naturally produce vast amounts of data, critical and trivial. As corporate stewards, IT and HR leaders have significant stakes in how information is generated, shared and used, as well as how it’s protected. Perhaps no area of focus has attracted the attention of HR and IT of late than the impact of AI consumption on corporate data. Of chief concern is the potential for leaks of proprietary corporate data and IP in these tools, many of which are easily available and unmonitored. Organizations must remind employees about best practices for safeguarding corporate data in the face of data privacy, security, bias and ethical issues. IT and HR have key roles working with compliance and other stakeholders to develop, implement and pass down such policies to the broader organization,” says Boulton.

The major takeaway to these trends, Boulton concludes, is that the workplace is evolving rapidly for IT leaders and their HR counterparts and they need to be ahead of the curve ready for these changes this year and beyond.

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