CRE's evolution since 2000: Impacts of technology, or is the CRE director's job being diminished?

Abstract

Y2K, the dot.com bubble, 9/11, the housing and sub-prime bubbles, globalisation, climate change, the global financial crisis: how has the role of corporate real estate (CRE) changed since 2000? This paper explores what is different and what are the constants in CRE as an industry, focusing on the impacts of technology on the workplace. It reflects the author's perspective of CRE from inside corporate America, the classroom and the boardroom. This paper concludes that what is changing is the pace at which technology impacts the workplace. The constants are that change is hard, the same industries tend to lead and leverage workplace innovation (technology and consultancy firms, financial and insurance services, telecommunications companies, etc), but many corporations still do not track foundational data about their real estate assets to enable CRE to add value on a tactical level, much less strategic value. The need for agility remains the overarching theme — agility in the way that the workplace is thought of and designed, and agility in the mindset with which one approaches CRE. The paper draws parallels between some of the pressures and opportunities that CRE and information technology face related to the evolution of their respective roles since the turn of the century.