Written by Kate Kupriienko
Are your data initiatives not feasible with your outdated systems and manual processes? This post distills the most impactful strategies shared at a recent OSCRE Innovation Forum, where leaders like Gabriel Safar (Head of Real Estate Solutions at Proxet), Richard Reyes (Executive Director at OSCRE), and Cody Shive (Global Partner Solutions Architect at Amazon Web Services) revealed how to build a data infrastructure that works for your organization’s needs. Moderated by Chris Lees (OSCRE's Director of Digital Strategy), their insights offer a roadmap to a more efficient, data-driven future.
Stop guessing, start knowing: understanding data maturity
Forget just collecting data; the real power lies in using it to inform decisions. Gabriel explained that your organization's data maturity isn't just a buzzword — it's your ability to answer questions your business needs answered. Are you stuck asking, "what happened?" or are you ready to predict, "what will happen?" As companies increasingly demand the ability to pull insights from diverse applications, moving beyond basic dashboards is an imperative to solving more complex business challenges.
Cody highlighted the rapid acceleration of data maturity, driven by the critical need for external data enrichment. To truly leverage this, he stressed the importance of secure, governed frameworks for data exchange, where data fields and their meanings are clearly defined so machines can interpret them for advanced analysis. Cody pointed to solutions like AWS CleanRooms as practical avenues for organizations ready to upgrade their data-sharing capabilities beyond manual email exchanges of spreadsheets.
Smart integration: slash costs, accelerate results
The conversation also covered platform integration. Gabriel outlined a five-step process for data use: collect, correct, normalize, capitalize, and use. This structured approach found within Proxet’s architecture diagram focuses on cleaning, organizing, and modeling raw data into a "golden copy" that can be effectively used for insights.
To address the high costs and time often involved in integration, Gabriel stressed the importance of adopting a use-case-based approach. By concentrating on specific business problems and how they affect organizational goals, companies can avoid overwhelming projects and achieve faster, quicker wins. When you focus this way, you can step back and realize you don't need to connect every single application in your system; instead, you can shrink the layers of what you're evaluating. This allows you to reduce the data volume needed to solve particular problems, enabling you to build incrementally over time.
Cody agreed, suggesting starting with small, clearly defined use cases to gain valuable experience and refine processes, ultimately making subsequent integrations more efficient and less costly. The conversation highlighted the crucial need for executive sponsorship and treating initial projects as investments in learning rather than guaranteed returns.
Future-proofing: managing legacy systems
The challenge of legacy systems was another key topic. Gabriel suggested including legacy issues (and capabilities) in feasibility analyses — and recognizing your organizational data needs sometimes require phasing out old systems. However, he also noted that new capabilities can be developed alongside existing ones. Gabriel advocated for an experimental, learning mindset – emphasizing that it's more effective than rigid ROI-driven plans when dealing with unknowns.
Cody, drawing on his experience with older programming languages, confirmed that modern solutions can effectively enclose or "bolt on" capabilities to legacy systems, allowing for both backward and forward data sharing. He explained that APIs can act as wrappers around legacy systems to facilitate communication, making data available for newer methods.
Proxet's work in real estate tech
We thank OSCRE for hosting this important forum, which offered attendees valuable insights, and extend our gratitude to our co-panelists Richard Reyes and Cody Shive, along with moderator Chris Lees.
Proxet continues to support the real estate industry's digital progress. We believe that by understanding and strategically implementing strong data infrastructures, organizations can find significant value and make informed decisions.
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