Corporation was looking for new software to help it with transaction
and project management in 2002. The San Francisco-based company wasn’t
satisfied with the software it was using at the time and was in the
market for something better to keep track of its growing portfolio.
McKesson opted for the Web-based services of Atlanta-based
Virtual Premise (www.virtualpremise.com)
and reports satisfaction in its first two years of use. Company officials
say it has proved integral in managing McKesson’s 16 million sq. ft.
(1,486,400 sq. m.) of space. The portfolio is broad and deep, ranging
from small office suites of 5,000 sq. ft. (465 sq. m.) to large distribution
centers in the 400,000-sq.-ft. (37,160-sq.-m.) range, says Clayton Crawford,
McKesson’s director of facility services. McKesson has grown rapidly
over the past five years and reported US$69.5 billion in revenues for
its fiscal year ending March 31, 2004. Employment has remained steady
during that period at about 24,500.
“We use it for portfolio administration for about
350 sites in the U.S., Canada and Europe,” Crawford says of the Virtual
Premise product. “It’s very simple and intuitive to use and is responsive
and flexible. It’s great for transaction management and pretty good
for project management if it’s not too complicated.”
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| Dallas-based NCH Corporation uses Virtual Premise to manage more than 150 properties around the world, including its headquarters building and manufacturing facilities. |
Because the service is always available on the
Web, Crawford says it has helped McKesson allow outside parties access
to pertinent building data and has sped up the process of transaction
and portfolio management.
Dallas-based NCH Corporation,
a manufacturer and seller of chemical, maintenance and supply products,
switched to Virtual Premise in 2002 after using in-house developed software
to manage its portfolio, which encompasses 3 million sq. ft. (278,700
sq. m.) at more than 150 sites around the globe. These range in size
from 1,500 sq. ft. (140 sq. m.) to 300,000 sq. ft. (27,870 sq. m.) and
include the company’s headquarters, manufacturing and distribution operations.
NCH has annual sales of $684 million and employs about 6,500 worldwide.
Don Moulton, NCH’s director of corporate real estate,
says he uses Virtual Premise’s project and lead administration modules.
Noting that he recently renewed NCH’s contract for the Web-based system,
Moulton gives it his endorsement. He uses the project module for transaction
management, or deal flow, and the lease administration module to manage
both owned and leased properties.
“It works very well for me and does everything I want it to do,” Moulton says, adding that when he does find areas where he thinks the product needs enhancing, Virtual Premise is willing to work with him.
“Every time I come up with something, they jump on it and come up with answers quicker than I can come up with questions. I give them an A-plus for customer responsiveness.”
Moulton says Virtual Premise has made it a lot easier for him to look up data on NCH’s portfolio.
“It’s much easier for me to get on a computer in a coffee shop in Paris and access all my data rather than hop on a plane back to Dallas and look for it in a filing cabinet. That’s a true story. You can find it anytime, anywhere in the world, 24-7.”
Moulton says it was easy to transfer the data from the company’s old software to the Virtual Premise modules. He and his staff have gradually added information over the last two years, including photographs, drawings and new lease documents.
“It has good reporting capability and I can dissect data any way I want,” Moulton says.
Andy Thomas, Virtual Premise president and COO, says the flexibility of Virtual Premise’s services make it applicable for any type of real estate user. He says the company focused on designing strong reporting capabilities into its modules early on in the development stages.
“The open nature of our platform makes it readily integrable with other accounting and financial systems such as PeopleSoft and J.D. Edwards,” he says.
Thomas says Virtual Premise currently has about
60 customers representing 120 companies. They are tracking about 57,000
leases. New developments include expansion of Virtual Premise’s financial
management capabilities, allowing companies to manage all costs associated
with real estate. Cost per employee or per square foot can be calculated
and companies can compare these costs within their various business
units. The company is currently adding new functions about every six
months.