Implementing Success

Colonial Properties Trust

By Leah Etling on Jul 19, 2012 in News

A major new business software implementation can be a daunting process. When the team at Colonial Properties Trust decided to make the switch to Yardi Systems, they were looking for a partner who could deliver a platform that would meet their day-to-day needs and grow along with the company.

Ray Thornton, senior vice president of information technology at Colonial Properties Trust, explained it this way: “We wanted a partner in a company that was committed to the industry, had significant industry experience, and had a vision for the technology in the industry that went beyond just standard property management.”

 

Over the last three years, Colonial Properties Trust, a publicly-held REIT, has focused its efforts on residential property management, and as of the most recent quarter, managed a total of 116 multifamily properties totaling 34,959 units across the Sunbelt. The company also has a large commercial division, and wanted to move general ledger accounting, payables and procurement, and day-to-day residential and commercial property management tracking and reporting systems to a Yardi platform.

After doing the research, asking plenty of questions and seeing the software demos, Colonial Properties Trust was ready to make the leap to Yardi, but the real test of this new business relationship would come during the Voyager implementation process. As Thornton puts it, “the proof was in the implementation pudding.”

A successful working relationship between Yardi’s team and the Colonial Properties Trust staff, as well as third party vendors, made the process a smooth one. “Yardi has proven to us that they’re very client-focused and very success oriented,” Thornton remarked. “We’ve gone to them with a lot of crazy ideas and  they very rarely have pushed back. They’ve said ‘maybe not,’ but they’ve never really said no.”

Adopting a more flexible software platform was a key priority and Thornton feels that this has been accomplished with the transition to Yardi.

“As we grow our business, and try different things, it can grow and change with us in a way that we don’t have to do a lot of back-end customizations. We boil it down to those two things – partner and platform – and everything else falls under that.”

For the on-site property staff, the transition to Yardi Voyager and PAYScan is one that will give them more time to spend where it is most important – working with residents and prospective renters. Staff feedback has focused on the simplicity, ease of use and intuitive nature of Yardi’s platform, something that was lacking from their previous vendor.

“Software shouldn’t be a distraction to these people. They should be focused on taking care of residents and leasing apartments. They shouldn’t be worried about how long it takes to do a SODA (statement of deposit account) or how complicated a move-in is,” Thornton said.

Here’s the on-site team for Colonial Properties Trust’s Charleston properties giving their best Yardi Y in appreciation of the successful implementation.  They also happened to be gathering for their monthly financial review and celebrating Crazy Hat Day.