InformationWeek
Defining The Business Value Of Technology
July 26, 1999
Integration Throughout The Company: Prudential California Realty
By Clinton Wilder
"We follow the Wayne Gretzky rule--don't go where the puck is; go where it will be," says director of technology Joe Kazzoun. "We're looking at where our business will be tomorrow, and the answer is both brick-and-mortar and online. It won't be one or the other."
In other words, the urgency of E-business, and the technology needed to make it happen, drove Prudential's decision that its E-business effort would be fully integrated throughout the company. Prudential is building what it calls an "agent Webtop," to be launched Aug. 15. The system comprises a one-stop secure Web site for its 3,000 residential real-estate agents across a 600-mile radius in California. The site will offer a wide range of online tools for agents to do their jobs better, such as constantly updated sales reports, marketing materials, listings, and legal notices.
Prudential is also considering a series of business-to-business links to make home-buying easier for both the agent and the buyer, such as links to insurance carriers, title and escrow companies, mortgage providers, inspectors, and repair contractors. And it's building a secure reporting application for agents to post updates for their clients on the status of a pending sale. "You can always find out online where your FedEx package is," says Kazzoun. "So why shouldn't you be able to find out about the biggest transaction of your life?"
That was in April, and the full-production deadline is next month. Prudential is building its Web application with Microsoft technology, including Visual Ba- sic tools, SQL Server 7, Internet Information Server, and Transaction Server. The system will run on Dell Pentium servers that replace smaller, Intel-based machines. Prudential is also using developers from E-business integrator Proxicom Inc. for assistance with business requirements, strategy, coding, Web-site design, and testing.
Although Prudential's primary goal is what president Ed Krafchow describes as "surprising and delighting our agents and their clients," it has more transformational goals in mind as well. For one, it hopes that its embrace of E-business will attract younger agents to the Prudential fold, to better serve California's young home-buying market. And further down the road, it may consider licensing its Web applications to smaller realty firms.
"There are so many ROI and business models that can spin off of this," says Kazzoun. "Anything is possible--online escrows, for example. We're sure that others have thought of it, but we want to be the first to deliver it. I would always rather err on the side of being first."
Illustration by Hank Osuna
Sidebar stories:
alk about a legacy business: Prudential California Realty traces its roots back to 1887, when it was founded as Mason-McDuffie. Its database, accounting, and other legacy systems don't date back quite that far--but far enough. So when the Walnut Creek, Calif., company decided earlier this year to move into electronic business, its IT chief opted for a total systems replacement.
To reach that goal, Kazzoun decided to replace the proprietary database system, which was built in the 1980s on R:Base Technologies Inc.'s relational database. "We looked at how scalable it was and how much we'd have to modify it," says Kazzoun. "We figured we'd have to replace it in 12 months anyway, so why not do it now?"
Go on to the next story, "The Subsidiary: MagazineOutlet.com"
Return to the opener, "E-Business: What's The Model?"
Photo by Alan Blaustein
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