REdirect attended Realcomm 2010 in Las Vegas - here are some tidbits and key points made during the opening session on Wednesday, June 9th.

Michael Tuer - Yardi - on convergence

• convergence onto single platform - apps these days are more and more powerful and functional - the variance between single platform vs best of breed has diminished
• benefits:  single DB, single source of truth, no complicated integrations, minimize training needs for employees on multiple platforms

Jim Young - CEO Realcomm - world trends

• 2010 focus on Europe
• backlash against "too big to fail"
• volatile currencies, debt problems
• no improvement in unemployment
• inability to control spending
• traditional institutions/thinking coming under pressure; what we thought worked and made us successful, was obviously flawed
• mixed signals in commercial real estate - some doing well, some not so, some holding
• some still waiting for commercial CMBS to fall
• bank foreclosures; FDIC too busy with other problems - see you in 24 months
• budgets still tight
• Richard Kincaid - "be very careful...it's looking like 05 - 07". -- people not sticking to fundementals - still some bad deals out there
• Technology:
  • tech spend down, many having difficulties
  • market maximizing existing investment; the days of buying and flipping properties for profit are gone
  • few vendors doing really well
  • technologies like sharepoint impacting real estate
  • few companies focusing on major innovation
  • intelligent infrastructure (lighting, power, HVAC, etc. management) passing business applications in terms of focus for technology innovation - is this a short term trend?  remains to be seen
  • big vendors coming into the space IBM, Google, MS, GE, Cisco - particularly on the intelligent infrastructure side
  • fed government stimulus spending will have big influence on IT spend; anticipate government providing funding for green initiatives
  • Apple passes Microsoft in company valuation - consumers spending more than business on technology and are leading in innovation
  • mobile applications are experiencing explosive growth
  • US innovation increasing, however, S. Korea remains standout in global innovation
  • 3D entertainment, location based services, augmented reality, advanced analytics, outsourced managed services, next generation GUI of aerial and data presentation
  • doing more with less

Group Panel

• "the internet of things" - RE going towards getting all data onto the internet - standards critical but still need to be established
• who will "control" the information?  Vendors will want to sell you more than just the software and sevice, they want to sell you a subscription (like Apple); will be a source of contention over the next 3-5 years
• the economic situation has forced companies to look internally to fix and improve processes, instead of just throwing in a patchwork of "solutions"
• most innovation happens in these economical cycles
• best developed apps are 80% of the big realcomm circle slide
• broker business innovation has dropped significantly
• the technology is available - big integration effort now to bring everything together to analyze
• "big land grab" in RE tech now - IBM/Cisco jumping in and trying to deliver infrstructure and services for entire new cities
• ERP trend - businesses don't want IT running their businesses - they want the business to run, define and lead, with IT supporting -- IT perspective is to partner
• big challenge is that the business can see change as disruptive, potentially significantly changing or eliminating their jobs

David Post - MRI

• "weather the storm and capture the rain" - plan for the future
• all industries going through similar challenges
• figure out what are you doing to help with the top line or bottom line of your business - otherwise you're out of a job
• Clinton: every 5-7 years need a new industry/trend to latch onto for growth; energy is likely the next big sector; government funding and job growth
• business drives the technology