JARSW Case Study

James Andrew Robinson Somerston Warner, trading as James Andrew RSW (JARSW), is a niche property services business specialising in the asset management of commercial and residential properties.

The company manages a varied portfolio of properties from commercial to residential, ranging from city office blocks, shopping centres, petrol stations, to blocks of flats and smaller properties. Its clients include private individuals, institutional organisations and property companies.

The product of the merger in 2005 of James Andrew Management Services and Robinson Somerston Warner, the company currently has 15 head office staff and 5 onsite staff. Projected turnover for 2006 is £2 Million.

Outsourcing

JARSW aims to provide transparent and accountable property management services and continually looks to add value to their clients' properties. This is the core platform on which the company's success is built.

Back in 2002, when Geoffrey Warner formed Robinson Somerston Warner, his main concern was to build a proactive and forward thinking property asset management business. From the start, he decided to outsource the IT systems to a support and consultancy services provider, The Internet Group, to enable him to focus on his core business. "I had a PC, I was able to do the odd email and basic spreadsheet, but that was it. The Internet Group supplied our first two PCs, and we grew from there."

Alongside the growth of its workforce, JARSW developed more sophisticated IT needs. The company now benefits from a dedicated data room; an offsite disaster recovery plan and collaborative tools, as well remote working capabilities for the majority of its staff.

Since starting to work together, the relationship between both organisations has grown stronger and stronger. "The Internet Group is available to us pretty much 24/7, always in a professional and efficient manner. The team doesn't hesitate to contact us outside normal business hours to let us know if there is a serious issue which cannot wait until the next working day. As manager-owner, it is fantastic to know I can totally rely on them to take care of any IT issue that might come up. They have gone from being an IT support company to friends and partners."

Partners

JARSW decided in 2006 to develop an innovative web-based property system in collaboration with The Internet Group. Based on a bespoke property database, the system - to be known as "JARSW Online" - will offer JARSW's clients 24/7 access to reports, financial positions and most other important data. The new web interface will allow clients to log on anytime, anywhere in the world, and see information that relates to their property portfolio, encrypted and encoded over SSL (Secure Socket Layout), in real-time. In addition, they can choose to have alerts via SMS or email, advising them of a pertinent event relevant to their properties.

The original database had accounting and calendar functions only. The Internet Group is now constructing and testing the CRM middleware between the database and the GUI (Graphical User Interface). The middleware layer includes the SMS and email functionalities, security functionality, as well as the CRM ability.

Geoffrey Warner has already seen the benefits of the tool even before it is launched, with several clients and prospective clients particularly excited about accessing all their information online. He believes that JARSW Online will work on two levels: improving both client retention - thanks to increased value-added services - and client attraction - by acting as a key differentiator in the market. Internally, staff will also be less tied up and therefore able to focus on providing value-added property management services.

"JARSW Online ties in beautifully with our core mission statement of transparency and accountability, whilst really adding value to our clients. We really think it will differentiate us from other managing agents of a size similar to us. Thanks to The Internet Group, our system is really at the forefront of the property management industry."

The perception of most organisations is based on their technology. By developing this web-based extranet where clients can log on and see their full database, JARSW projects the image of a forward-thinking organisation. The Internet Group has given them the opportunity to offer innovative services that offer tangible benefits to their customers. The development project was all about business process improvement, a key issue in a services industry.

The Future

JARSW intends to launch JARSW Online in mid 2007. The product will be part of the JARSW value pack and available free of charge to all existing and new clients. Future CRM plans include scanning all types of lease documents so that they can be downloaded directly online. This will provide an enhanced client experience, whilst further freeing JARSW staff from administrative tasks.

Geoffrey Warner also sees the product developing as a new revenue stream. "Potentially, this is an off-the-shelf product purpose built for more bespoke products, which we may sell to other property management companies on a license basis in the future."