In advance of the upcoming GCUC UK coworking conference, we connected with Justin Harley, Regional Director of Coworking at Yardi. A longtime workspace industry insider and the former producer of GCUC UK, Harley shared insights into evolving workplace tech, hot topics of conversation in the coworking sector, and Yardi’s vision for its coworking software.
Cat Johnson: I understand Yardi is introducing new coworking products to the market. What’s the latest for Team Yardi?
Justin Harley: It’s such an exciting time to be part of Yardi. We recognize that coworking and flexspace is disrupting the real estate sector and are so excited to be a part of it. Building on the acquisition of WUN Systems and Phoenix Broadband, Yardi has been busy integrating these platforms into the existing Yardi suite of real estate and property management software.
Yardi now offers the first fully integrated stack for coworking and flexible workspaces. As an all-in-one solution, Yardi Kube will combine seven modules for operating a successful workspace. It enhances the shared space experience for operators and members by combining e-commerce, accounting, billing, bookings, member services, voice services and data/wifI in one fully integrated platform.
Why is that important? Coworking operators typically do not have the in-house IT skills or time to manage and run multiple systems. The result has been data silos. This means it is time consuming to get one version of the truth from all the disparate systems.
Competitive advantage is key for coworking businesses as more new entrants from real estate and other industries enter the market. It’s essential that operators are operationally efficient and have the data insight to make customer focused decisions. Now there is a solution to solve this.
As an industry insider with experience in several areas, I’d like to get your perspective on the current UK workspace sector, as a whole. What are you excited about? What do you see as the biggest challenges for space operators? What would you like to see in the UK and beyond?
It’s a great time to be part of the industry. Whilst our friends at WeWork grab the limelight with its much scrutinized IPO, the real numbers we should be taking note of surround the growth of our sector.
It doesn’t matter whether you take the forecast provided by JLL, Cushman Wakefield, CBRE or Instant Offices, the success of the industry will continue due to the changing nature of the workplace.The challenge is supply, not demand, as more and more businesses seek flexible solutions.
Not enough kudos is given to existing operators who focus on providing world class service to customers. Operators like The Office Group, Office Space in Town, Fora, Uncommon, Huckletree and Work.Life deserve more credit. After all they are changing the way we work. The challenge will be increased competition from real estate and other sectors. In the UK we have seen Lendlease, The Crown Estate, CBRE and British Land all enter the market. The winners will be those that focus on the customer experience.
What would you like coworking space operators in the UK to know about the company, culture and products?
Yardi’s mission is simple: to provide superior products and outstanding customer service. The business is dedicated to developing great products and AI (artificial intelligence) and machine learning at are the forefront of Yardi’s development philosophy. What is AI ? Take all the rules inside a human’s head and build an expert software system using the rules. There are very few machine learning systems in real estate today but Yardi will be at the forefront of this proptech innovation. Already we are developing solution for energy management and increased business intelligence on how buildings can perform better.
Yardi is the world’s leading provider of real estate software and is working hard to become the stand out software provider for the coworking sector. Coworking software has been full of startups providing great stand alone systems. The challenge for them is to keep pace with evolving customer requirements and new technology.
Yardi’s entrance into the sector means there is now an enterprise software player in the market who has experience of providing solutions to the world’s largest real estate businesses. From the standpoints of innovation, security, reliability, compliance, quality and support, there is no bigger asset than having the Yardi name attached to your platform.
GCUC UK is right around the corner. As part of Yardi, what conversations would you like to see at the event? What topics should space operators be addressing right now?
Yes we can’t wait . Yardi loves GCUC. The conversations I am looking forward to most concern the customer. What can we do to service the customer better? What services and innovations will help enhance their experience. I see on the agenda that there is a customer-only panel on day two. I for one will be attending that one.
I may be biased, but I am looking forward to the discussions on technology. I shall be moderating a panel of tech experts discussion how we keep up with technology and discussing the advances in tech . I will also be hosting the Ask the Expert sessions on how to get the most from your software.
What role do you think GCUC UK plays in the UK workspace sector? Why should workspace operators and coworking enthusiasts attend?
GCUC is the only event which represents the whole sector. Established operators from IWG to WE mingle with new operators and investors. GCUC is a community of coworking experts and enthusiasts who share a common goal: to make the future workplace a better place. It’s that relentless focus combined with a sense of fun and collaboration that makes it like no other event. This year I can’t wait for the Awards, (I hope Yardi is nominated), the dinner and most of all, the Unconference sessions.
Join us at GCUC UK in London 23-24 September to further the conversations around workspace tech, creating a customer-focused coworking space, and the future of the sector in the UK. Reserve your tickets.
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