For the past decade, the property management industry has leveraged technology to be able to improve streamline workflows and processes as well as to gain better control of all aspects of property management. This has been achieved mainly through the introduction as well as the evolution of technology, basically built around property management software.
The first systems in the industry were mixes of DOS-based accounting and rent-roll systems which have often proved to be inflexible and difficult to learn and use. These systems were also laden with compatibility issues and were limited in their ability to import and export data. Reporting demands which has become stricter from investors have made broad compatibility and ease of access to data a necessity.
In the evolutionary chain of property management software, the next one was the transition to the Windows-based software. This allowed for simpler deployment, greater ease of use, as well as increased functionality. For the developers to customize their applications for end users to a degree impractical on the DOS platform, the Windows platform provides that.
These Windows-based applications grew to include diverse components or modules covering all aspects of property management: payment and collections, accounting, marketing, lease management, financial management, maintenance management, financial modeling, and communications.
With the latest software developed on the Application Service Provider (ASP) platform, the advent of the Internet and its explosive growth as a pervasive communications and e-commerce medium has lead to the migration of property management software to the Web. This would essentially mean that applications are hosted on the service provider’s, or developers, servers and accessed over the Internet through the users’ web browsers.
Web-based applications and Application Services Providers together are offering a number of advantages when compared to traditional platforms. The software is said to be easier to learn and use and significantly easier to manage and maintain. Web-based applications and Application Service Providers (ASPs) together are creating a web-based solution as a service for rental property managers and owners as well as reducing the financial impact of technology.
It were applications that were ported from older platforms to the web which are many of the first web-based property management systems to appear on the market. Lastly, the software companies had been developing property management software for the web built from the ground up. These systems are accessed through a browser (Software as a Service) and run solely on the web.
Prior to the emergence of Software as a Service, small to medium-sized owners and managers were being locked out of the benefits of high-end property management software because of the cost and complexity. Software as a Service levels the playing field for property managers as well as owners which is giving them a competitive edge that is allowing greater control when it comes to their properties, access to real-time data, ability to respond more quickly to market changes, and, perhaps most importantly, gives them the most complete and current status of their property which are available.
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