Blog

web_blog_yasc_2016.jpg
November 18, 2016 4:11PM

It Takes a Village... to Soak up a YASC

As an ever-evolving, constantly growing real estate technology giant, Yardi organizes two major “Yardi Advanced Solutions Conferences” (or YASC) for users in North America annually—one on the west coast and one on the east. (Additionally, they host four or five other annual YASC for users in Europe, Asia, and elsewhere.) These bustling, exciting, three-day gatherings of real estate professionals, executives, and technology gurus are so chock-full of opportunities to learn, share, and network, that the best way that we—as real estate technology consultants—can optimize these opportunities and soak in all that Yardi and friends have to offer is to adhere to the old adage of divide and conquer.

For each YASC, REdirect sends a relatively big team of consultants, representing a broad array of our various talents and particular niches of expertise, to attend an aggregate score or more of Yardi workshops, seminars, and panels. The post-YASC debriefing—where all of the REdirect participants share what we’ve learned—allows us to pool our insights in order to ensure that each of our clients can benefit from these important gatherings.

Below are the highlights from the 2016 west coast YASC, held in Anaheim, as discerned by our in-house participants.

  • Plugin 8 will be released in April, and it will be amazing.
  • PayScan is one of Yardi’s fastest growing products. It currently processes $15 billion a year, with nearly $75 billion in total since its launch. (Bonus tip: Yardi has compiled a PayScan “Best Practices” report that isn’t online yet, but if you contact your Yardi rep, they will sneak it to you.)
  • The International Module is an incredible tool for international real estate investors, and, with PlugIn 8 on the horizon, will become even more powerful in 2017.
  • Yardi Spreadsheet Reporting (YSR) has undergone—and will continue to undergo—an explosion of capability, dynamism, and versatility. For example, there are now 160 templates, stretching across all modules, that clients can start with and adapt and customize for maximum utility.
  • Advanced Budget and Forecasting is an exponential step up from the budgeting module that comes with the core software. Ninety-six new enhancements have been made between Plugin 4 and Plugin 7, including new forecasting leasing options, an updated recoveries calculator, as well as enhancements specific to investment management budgeting, to name just a few.
  • P2P / PAYscan Plus is tablet-friendly and can be configured so that owners and senior management can access the information that they need on the go, without all the nitty gritty info of a regular desktop screen. This is in beta right now, but will be part of the cloud release mid-next year.
  • Affordable Housing clients must upgrade to 7S by end of 2017 (unless they are self-hosted). Plugins for 6.0 will no longer be issued after that date. Affordable Housing clients can also note that, with new requirements for Tenant Rental Assistance Certification System (or TRACS) set for July 1, Yardi will have these updates ready for all Affordable Housing users by the end of March.
  • For commercial properties, new retail analytic reports will help you track sales more accurately. Commercial users will also fall in love with the new “Collector’s Workstation,” a new commercial collection of analytics, that gives you the ability to set collection and legal status, view mass status updates, mass hold payments, and more.
  • In Lease Administration, cost inducements are now per amendment rather than per lease. Area re-measurements have been simplified, with the ability to pull units or floors instead of the whole building.

And that’s just a glimpse. Some of our other attendees shared various other exciting developments, particularly in the realms of investment management, multifamily housing, and affordable housing. Clearly, the entirety of Yardi’s full suite of products are always evolving and improving the user experience. In fact, this year, Yardi CEO and founder, Anant Yardi, announced their highest client satisfaction rating ever—at a whopping 79%!

If you have any questions on any of the above bulletpoints, or any other aspect of Yardi, contact us today. Getting to share in all the newest “Yardi intelligence” and making sure that you’re prepared for upgrades, evolutions, and new capabilities on the horizon is one of the main benefits of having trusted real estate technology advisors on your side.

REdirect Logo Mark
Photo of Faraz Memon
About the Author

Faraz Memon

Faraz joined the REdirect team in 2009 to help grow the company. As a Principal, Faraz’s focus is on ensuring REdirect clients get the highest value for their real estate technology investments. His vision for each client is to fully leverage technology to streamline business processes. 

 

Faraz has extensive experience …