Is Automating Workflows/Processes a "Thing" in Commercial Property Management?
Hello!

I'm working for a startup company that is in the midst of building a workflow automation platform, and I've been tasked with finding a (first) market for us to focus on.

The commercial property management space feels.....well it feels interesting to me, but I wanted to get some feedback on here to see if there was any truth to that gut feeling. Let me give you an example of things, and then I'd love to have you guys and gals...... shoot this idea down, or help me understand that it's awesome, or maybe modify it so that it solves a legitimate problem you face in your day-to-day activities.

The workflow automation platform we're building can talk to both cloud-hosted applications and on-premise hardware/software. It's the on-premises part that feels like it'd resonate well in the property management space, as the product can talk to..... video camera systems, and door entry systems, and HVAC units, in addition to cloud-hosted apps, such as work order systems or financial systems.

We're working with a friendly company right now in the commercial property management space, by helping their security staff get meaningful context about why a door has remained opened for too long. When the security staff are in the office, they can just look at the video camera system, but when they are in their car, they can't, and they really want to get an e-mail that says "Door X in the West building has been open for more than 30 seconds", and have that e-mail include some pictures that show what's actually happening with the door. If it's Jane the Janitor just holding the door open to get her cart in - no biggie. But if it's something that they need to go on-site to address (building air pressure preventing the doors from closing, for example), then they can now make that call whilst they are in their company vehicle.

Hopefully that helps paint a good picture. The product can basically handle any sort of "if Event X happens in system A, then do &lt;things&gt; in system B, C and D", with the goal of either automating those processes entirely, or at least improving the level of data/context that a human receives when they are in that workflow, so that they can make the best possible decision.

Does this....resonate with you guys? Or not at all? I'd very much appreciate some honest feedback, and I'd be over-the-moon ecstatic to talk with any of you 1:1 about it if you think that there's some value here.
[{"id": "iiq565j", "text": "There are so many issues with just connecting things to talk to each other before workflow automation, not to mention the fragmentation of ownership and responsibility in the prop tech space.\n\nIt might make sense to build use Cades around specific verticals (security, BMS, access control, fire life safety etc) that can be sold as solutions to the existing vendors as a first step, over trying to become an automation solution for the entire building which are currently very fragmented.", "replies": [{"id": "iiq6x7u", "text": "&gt;hings to talk to each other before workflow automation, not to mention the fragmentation of ownership and responsibility in the prop tech space.  \n&gt;  \n&gt;It might make sense to build use Cades around specific verticals (security, BMS, access control, fire life safety etc) that can be sold as solutions to the existing vendors as a first\n\nGreat suggestion. If there are strong sub-verticals inside property management (such as the Security folks I'm working with right now) - well that's just excellent.\n\nAre you aware of uses for the functionality I've described that fit into one of those verticals? (security, BMS, safety, etc....)?", "replies": [{"id": "iiq7jcd", "text": "There are plenty of use cases that you can come up with. Your challenge is still the connection of systems and flow of data.\n\nHave you looked into any if the IoT platforms out there? They may need somthing like this.", "replies": [{"id": "iirygz1", "text": "re: use cases. I can definitely noodle some up, but I'd really love to hear from some people, in the field, about their use cases, so that I'm not making up functionality in a void.  =)\n\nre: IoT platforms. Great topic. I've been looking into that (as well as other, similar feeling markets) as a partnership play definitely feels intriguing.", "replies": [], "depth": 4}], "depth": 3}], "depth": 2}], "depth": 1}]