Search for Software A few years ago, our firm organized a committee comprised of operations, engineering and central support personnel to determine the best available CMMS in the industry. After a lengthy and detailed search, including working with one industry-leading software firm for over a year, we were unable to identify a program that we considered acceptable. Deficiencies Discovered First, every piece of software targeted for the real estate operations market was being adapted from the needs of other industries. Second, we found the available software to be cumbersome, difficult to operate, limited in usefulness and too labor-intensive to administer with cost-sensitive, efficiency-driven real estate staffing. Persistence Finally Awarded Hines’ sustained effort resulted in our identifying a relatively new product, AWARE Manager, a software program authored and distributed exclusively by Database International Group (DIG) in Boston. AWARE Manager is developed specifically for (and marketed to) the property/facility management industry. After analyzing the software, we found it to be superior in several key areas. We also realized, owing to our background in property operations (and an extremely thorough "paper-based" preventive maintenance record keeping system), that DIG’s product could be further enhanced. Alliance Formed Hines established a working relationship with DIG in which we agreed to partner with them to refine their product. In exchange for Hines’ commitment, DIG licensed AWARE Manager to Hines at a reduced price and agreed-upon modifications would be integrated into their standard “off-the-shelf” product, thus assuring their continued support of the software. “Win-Win” This has turned out to be a “win-win” arrangement for both firms and has been implemented in virtually every property we operate. We are extremely pleased with AWARE Manager for a number of reasons, including: Only CMMS written for our industry. User-intuitive – Our staff has been particularly pleased with how easy it is to operate. Reduces operator time – Compared to other systems, which are cumbersome, slow and chew up unnecessary employee time sitting behind a computer, AWARE Manager has been a major breakthrough. Thorough inclusion of property operations tools. Hines is a co-designer and participant in, and even originates, upgrades. Off-the-shelf package, thus assuring it is always supported. Generates management reports that assist in operating decisions. Software belongs to the building Owner, not Hines. (It isn’t a proprietary system.)   -back to top-