For the past 49 years, MRI Software has taken its label as a pioneer of real estate software seriously, and as a result, we’ve never stopped pushing forward. We’re proud to have been named to the Inc. 5000 list of fastest-growing private companies in the United States. The list, compiled by Inc. Magazine, is regarded as the definitive ranking of the nation’s most successful independent businesses based on revenue growth from 2016 to 2019. MRI Software increased its revenue by 161% during this time, even as we prepare to celebrate five decades of service.

The Inc. 5000 list is often filled with exciting new companies that are at the beginning of their corporate journeys. To be included in this list after almost half a century of operation shows not only continued demand for our open and connected software solutions, but also, a sizable growth made possible by the innovation, hard work, and excellence MRI Software has championed throughout its lifetime. We’re extraordinarily grateful to the teams across MRI who have always been united as a global community to drive the business forward. Together, the MRI family has been expertly executing the strategic growth plan that our CEO, Patrick Ghilani outlined six years ago, which prioritized new technology innovations, expansion into key markets and geographic growth. Some highlights of our recent accomplishments include:

New solutions for the single experience platform

In line with MRI’s mission to transform the way communities live, work, and play, the company announced a range of new solutions in 2019 that further enhance MRI’s open and connected platform. These new products bring advanced payment, lead management, AI-powered lease abstraction and secure signature capabilities to MRI’s comprehensive solution set.

Product innovation and market expansion

Over the past several years, MRI has strengthened its commitment to innovation for the affordable housing sector. In 2019, MRI launched MRI Affordable Housing, a property management and compliance solution for owners and operators of affordable housing and mixed portfolios in the US. The new software offers a modern, intuitive user experience to a historically underserved market that can benefit greatly from specialized industry-specific technology. Today, MRI’s software supports government-subsidized housing providers in the US, UK and Australia.

Global growth

MRI users conferences have been the catalyst for collaboration, community and innovation, bringing together clients and partners in one unique open ecosystem. With an expanded global presence and clients operating in nearly every corner of the world, MRI transformed its conference schedule from one major event – the MRI International Users Conference – to several region-specific conferences called MRI Ascend. Between 2019 and 2020, MRI Ascend users conferences were held in the US, UK, South Africa and Australia, serving the local needs of MRI clients in the region.

Awards and recognition

While these accomplishments help to form the basis of MRI’s unprecedented growth, our success has been recognized several times over by organizations such as ERC, Cleveland Plain Dealer, Realcomm, International Business Awards, and even Aetna. MRI CEO Patrick Ghilani was honored as a real estate industry leader when he received the Julie Devine Digital Impact Award from Realcomm, became a finalist for Ernst & Young’s Entrepreneur of the Year Award, and was recognized by the Northeast Ohio Smart 50 Awards.

In the past few years, MRI’s global employee base has rapidly increased to nearly 2,000 professionals. With ongoing demand for open and connected software, our growth shows no signs of slowing down. We’re always looking for smart people to join our team, so check out our career opportunities and learn more about our award-winning culture.

CIOs of commercial real estate firms have a lot of responsibility resting on their shoulders. For large companies, the ERP system that supports business operations, accounting and data sharing forms the backbone of the organization. These technology systems enable the business to grow, scale and achieve its strategic goals, ultimately preparing it for success on the road ahead.

So what does the road ahead look like? Among other things, 2020 has taught us that we can’t predict what’s around the corner. Phrases like the “new normal” are frequently used, but what exactly does that mean? It seems the only certainty is that there will be lots of new normals.

MRI partner One11 Advisors aptly refers to this future state as the “next normal.” And no matter what that brings, it’s important to have ERP real estate technology in place that can roll with the punches to help your business adapt, stay agile, and continue to succeed.

The value of open commercial real estate ERP software

In this podcast, Scott Morey of One11 Advisors speaks with some of today’s top CIOs in the real estate industry to discuss their property management ERP journey and how it has prepared their organization for the next normal. He speaks with Tom Taddeo of Kimco Realty, Shaun Smith of Benderson Development, and Kevin McCann of Phillips Edison (PECO) to see how they have evaluated their ERP software over the years to find the technology that will future-proof their business.

MRI took the time to understand our business and our people. As you choose solutions, take a good look at the people that come with it.

Shaun Smith, CIO
Benderson Development

How can you be confident that your core applications will allow your commercial real estate firm to adopt industry best practices as technology evolves? Is your provider committed to innovation and support for your solution? Are you dependent on a waning number of specialists to manage it, or can you hire technology professionals with skills that can carry your business into the future?

Technology to future-proof your commercial real estate business

For CIOs, preparing for the future requires a software provider with an open and connected platform that will never limit the growth of the business. At MRI, we proudly pioneered the open and connected approach to real estate software, and we’ve been recognized many times for our dedication to the future of real estate tech. Enabling true integration gives our clients the flexibility to take advantage of new technologies as they emerge, without being boxed in by closed systems.

Listen to the podcast to learn how top CIOs approached ERP migrations to position their commercial real estate organizations for the future.

MRI Software is proud to once again be included in The Plain Dealer’s list of Top Workplaces! MRI joins the 2020 Top Workplaces list of 175 companies selected by The Plain Dealer, which have been recognized based solely on surveys about the workplace completed by their employees. The anonymous survey uniquely measures 15 drivers of engaged cultures that are critical to the success of any organization: including alignment, execution, and connection, just to name a few.

As a workplace, MRI Software excels with its support of employees through a robust set of perks and benefits, an extraordinary physical office space that encourages innovation and collaboration, and MRI’s support of local communities.

Supporting the MRI Family in and out of the office

At MRI Software, we believe that equipping our employees with high quality services, tools, and support allows them to innovate without boundaries and put their best foot forward. The perks and benefits offered to employees in our Cleveland headquarters and around the globe include open office spaces designed to promote coordination and community, two things which are absolutely vital to MRI as a company.

MRI’s technology tools and remote working capabilities enabled employees around the world to smoothly transition to a work-from-home setting in mid-March as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition, MRI has been able to stay connected as a global company through HR-led spirit weeks, social events via video calls, and even a month-long health and wellness challenge. Our culture of collaboration and innovation continues to thrive in a virtual environment, and we’re proud to maintain our sense of community even when we’re not in the office.

Giving back to the community

MRI is proud to support the local Cleveland community, which happens through our “ROAR” program – Reaching Out & Representing. Employees have the opportunity to volunteer at MRI-sponsored philanthropy events during the work day. Since launch, we have partnered with 30 different organizations including local food banks, shelters, Boys & Girls clubs, Make-A-Wish Foundation, and more. We are excited to continue making an impact in our local community!

To learn more about working at MRI Software, visit our careers page, or see the Top Workplaces list in The Plain Dealer.

This article was written by John Seaton, Enterprise Sales Executive from our partner, RealFoundations.

In response to shelter-in-place orders and the rise in unemployment caused by COVID-19, the National Multifamily Housing Council (NMHC) published a series of recommended principles that residential owners and property managers should follow to help financially impacted residents retain their housing.

As companies pause on evictions, cease rent increases and implement payment deferment programs for residents, they must also consider the impacts on financial reporting as well as the evolving requirements for maintaining accurate and detailed records that municipal, state and federal law may require for compliance purposes. Developing a strategy that includes consistent general ledger accounting, information management and portfolio reporting is crucial.

Recognizing the significance of the situation, RealFoundations, a long-term MRI Certified Partner, quickly engaged with MRI and other industry vendors to assist our mutual clients in deploying rent collection strategies that reduce disruption and enable quality oversight by management.

The deferred payment agreements feature developed by MRI Software undoubtedly assists property managers in meeting their residents’ needs and accounting for future repayments on individual resident ledgers. Recording each individual repayment plan is critical when dealing with this fluid situation, but additional components need to be addressed when designing and deploying a full-scale solution, including but not limited to:

• Deployment of MRI’s deferred payment agreements feature
• Configuration of deferred rent and repayment charge codes
• General ledger account mapping for consistent financial reporting
• Modification of existing operating policies and procedures
• Documentation and training of new required processes
• Report development for repayment projections, automated resident correspondence, etc.
• Implementation of new controls for information management
• Management reporting and process governance

At RealFoundations, we have a clear understanding of the deferred payment agreements functionality, as well as MRI’s Commercial Management solution for tenants, and have thoroughly tested various scenarios and reporting within our own MRI system. Our team has unparalleled experience helping even the most complex real estate organizations forge ahead in uncertain times. Our Management Consulting and Managed Service practitioners are prepared to help guide you through the decision making and planning process to account for a variety of resident scenarios while considering the major concerns of management and identifying areas of risk. Leveraging our Modern Digital Workplace, all solutions can be delivered over distance, using the collaborative tools of the Microsoft 365 ecosystem.

Visit the RealFoundations website to learn more.

Performing a complete reforecast for your commercial real estate business is not a common task. It typically takes place only in the event of sudden economic shifts, like the one triggered by COVID-19. When your commercial real estate firm went through the budgeting process in Fall 2019, you probably didn’t account for the impact of a global pandemic on your business. For many properties, it’s time to throw your best laid plans out the window and create a new forecast, but where do you start? What are the main areas to consider?

Here are some tips to keep in mind when diving into commercial real estate reforecasting:

A new basis for assumptions

The whole point of budgeting is to make an educated assumption as to where your business is going to land at the end of the calendar year based on lease contracts, actual and historical data. But what historical data can serve as a reference for something as unpredictable as COVID-19? You will have to use your actuals from March and April and incorporate timelines from your property reopening plans. MRI Budgeting and Forecasting software can distribute variances from what actually happened through March/April over the rest of year for the whole workbook or, as is more applicable now, differently from account to account.

Finding the variables of new importance

You’ll need to identify areas of your commercial business that have been disproportionately affected by the pandemic, which are likely to vary based upon property types, locations, and tenant mix. Certain categories of maintenance, such as cleaning, might actually go up in terms of keeping the property running. Rent will play a bigger role, especially if tenants have trouble paying or need to negotiate deferred payment agreements. If you won’t be able to rely on certain revenue streams, then everything from landscaping costs to capital projects may need to be reevaluated.

Commercial real estate budgeting software from MRI offers an efficient way to draft a new budget and start pulling levers like these to test for different outcomes.

Budgeting and forecasting for what lies ahead

You might be inclined to keep some or all of your leasing assumptions in the new forecast, but many properties will need to start over. Will more deals trend toward shorter lease terms or smaller footprints? The future of commercial office space could look very different than it does today if corporations decide to reevaluate their needs. Effective space management tools and forecasting based on new assumptions can help your business reassess the different best and worst case scenarios in a market that looks completely different than your previous assumptions. A short-term plan will impact the long-term strategy for your business, and technology can provide the agility to respond to change while driving the business forward.

Commercial real estate organizations need to make reforecasting a priority for the business. Even with continued uncertainty in the economic environment, evaluating the impact of different scenarios on your organization will influence strategic decisions for the business. The ability to leverage technology to operate with agility has never been more essential, and MRI’s Budgeting and Forecasting software can help you pivot efficiently and stay focused on running your business.

Earlier this week, Barclays boss Jes Staley admitted that the banking giant will be looking closely at how it uses its global office space, given the recent widespread shift to remote working. Perhaps his most telling quote: “The notion of putting 7,000 people in the building may be a thing of the past.”

In a previous blog, we discussed some of the immediate impacts of the coronavirus pandemic on office workspace, and also considered some of the longer-term trends that might emerge. It’ll be no surprise that we suggested a potential rethink when it comes to the future use of central, large-scale corporate offices – but such a statement from the leader of a major, international organisation hints at that potential becoming a reality sooner rather than later. But, while it seems certain there’ll be change, what does that actually mean and what will be the wider impact?

Space as the new frontier

Across all types of real estate, particularly for businesses occupying large office portfolios, there’s going to be a huge focus on space management and the utilisation of space. This will come to the fore in two main areas – how occupancy can be optimised to better control and even reduce costs, and the best possible allocation of space for health and safety purposes. But, let’s be clear, we’re talking about the possibility of more than just a few tweaks around the edges. There could be some seriously significant shifts here, driven by open, innovative and out-of-the-box thinking as to how office space is occupied – or redeployed entirely. In the last couple of months, we’ve seen that it’s possible for various organisations – even large multinationals like Barclays – to run at something close to usual capacity and output despite their teams being at home. Now that method has been somewhat ‘proved’, and given that COVID-19 will continue to impact all of our lives for some time to come, having teams spread across various locations (whether smaller offices or even their homes) with remote-working capabilities may well become a new normal.

A geographic rebalance

For the purposes of this blog, let’s accept the premise and say that there is going to be a wholesale move by companies away from huge office complexes with thousands of employees in one place, to a setup that is much more dispersed. That would have deep social and cultural implications, fundamentally altering the makeup of our communities – particularly in large cities. Struggles in the retail sector have drastically altered the landscape of those urban centres in recent times anyway; if offices also move out of those areas then the effects could be seismic.

But, it’s by no means all doom and gloom, because where there’s change, there’s opportunity. Here at MRI, our own research has demonstrated a widely held view in the industry that empty retail space could be transitioned to residential – could it be the same case for offices? And what of large office campuses on the outskirts? Were organisations to move away from these locations, could they be turned into facilities for last-mile services and logistics, perhaps? There’s also an impact on the residential sector to consider – because if more people are going to work from home more often it will undoubtedly affect where they want to live and will almost certainly change their priorities in terms of what they want from their homes and the amenities nearby. In smaller pockets these are not completely new trends, but we haven’t yet seen them emerge industry wide. If we take Barclay’s thinking as a barometer, then we could be on that precipice.

Collaboration (and technology!) will be key

Another question – and an important one – what will landlords do? If the way businesses occupy office space changes then those that own, operate and invest in it will need to consider their approach. This is where ‘opportunity’ is the optimum word. Landlords that are flexible, those that are willing to listen to the needs of their tenants and work with them to provide space that meets their needs, will have the best chance of maximising occupancy – and therefore revenue. Those that don’t, won’t. Not a ground-breaking realisation, but one that will definitely be heightened in the changing and challenging environment. Where today’s organisations have an advantage that previous generations didn’t when navigating such deep-seated change is in their use of technology. Digital innovations for space planning, online forms of communication and the power of software to process and interrogate huge swathes of data should, if harnessed correctly, make for better-informed and smarter decision-making than has ever been possible before. To achieve a truly collaborative approach, and to effectively manage the sorts of strategic decisions that both landlords and tenants may choose to make or be forced into, then technology will be a non-negotiable option.

For more insights, opinions and resources related to the COVID-19 pandemic, visit one of MRI’s regional content hubs: North America, EMEA, APAC.