Business Efficiency Moves to the 'Cloud'

Keith Katzman is all about making a deal. The real-estate agent with is also a man on the move, helping clients buy and sell properties all over Lamorinda. Location remains a key driver of sales in real estate, but Katzman reckons that these days it doesn’t necessarily dictate whether or not he does a deal.

“I can literally be anywhere in the world and get a deal done,” he says of the ability to access information stored on an Internet-connected server from his laptop or smart phone, a concept referred to as “cloud computing.”

Technology has enabled efficiency gains in every industry, but the highly competitive nature of real estate makes it an industry that tends to adopt technology earlier than many.  Additionally, the non-portability of its product makes real estate particularly keen on technology that enables mobility. Increasingly, however, industries that don’t necessarily need a great deal of mobility are exploring cloud computing, says Edward Zeidan, owner of computer service and support company .

“It can be very liberating,” Zeidan says.  Many of his clients already have a high degree of connectivity in their homes with residential wireless networks and consumer devices such as iPhones, Blu-ray disc players and even video game consoles  moving information through those networks.

They’re also more likely to use Web-based services that back up their data to a safe location elsewhere, known as “off-site backup.”  As the familiarity and comfort with networks and data sharing increase, his clients frequently express interest in cloud computing to access their personal data as well as professional data so they can work more effectively from home.

As more industries and people become familiar with the potential gains to be made by making data available over the Internet, real estate provides a glimpse into how such fundamental technology can change the way businesses work. Katzman points out a number of tasks that even a few years ago would have to have been done face-to-face, such as signing legal documents, that today can be done “in the cloud.”

“Some of the most exciting stuff out there is stuff like DocuSign (a company that provides software designed to enable paperless, electronic signatures),” he says. Katzman recalls that only a few years ago he had to drive to San Francisco to get a client’s signature. Now he can do it from his computer or phone. “I can just pull it up on my phone, send it over, they click on it to (electronically) sign it and then send it back.  Everything is in the computer.”

He points out that there still are limits to the “mobile” part of the technology. He says that using applications on his phone are slow, so he tries to do most things on his laptop. However, since many of his clients have their own wireless networks Katzman can access the Internet on his laptop and still leverage the data stored in the cloud.  It’s not handheld data, but he’s still very mobile.

Still focusing on the art of the deal, he pauses at the end of a photo session inside a house that he sold recently to highlight the benefits of technology. “They (the buyers) called me after seeing my Web site, so I’m representing the buyers and sellers on this deal.” The return on investment, the Holy Grail of business technology, was the “sold” sign in the front yard.

Editor: The next article in this series will explore how technology has changed the way businesses market themselves to potential customers.