Commercial real estate owners have traditionally approached technology by letting vendors define their needs, but this passive strategy is increasingly seen as costly and limiting. According to Bill Douglas, CEO of OpticWise, the most expensive technology mistake in commercial real estate isn't purchasing the wrong system but allowing vendors to determine what an owner requires. This vendor-led approach has contributed to the industry lagging behind other major asset classes in digital maturity.
OpticWise works with middle-market commercial real estate owners across the United States and observes a consistent pattern where owners bring in vendors, review their roadmaps, and sign contracts, only to wait years for products to align with their property's actual needs. Douglas argues that owners should set the strategic direction since they write the checks, with vendors responding to their strategy rather than defining it. This represents a fundamental shift in how commercial real estate approaches technology investments.
While OpticWise emphasizes collaboration with vendors, distinguishing between sharing best practices and outsourcing strategic direction is crucial. Vendors possess valuable cross-property insights about failure patterns, efficiency wins, and emerging risks, and the best ones can build solutions around client needs when communicated clearly. However, Douglas states that a vendor's primary role should be solving the owner's problem, not defining it. If a vendor's roadmap doesn't address property needs, owners should directly question whether the vendor can build required features or if it's time to seek alternatives.
Vendor dependency extends beyond service contracts to data control. When owners don't control their own data and digital infrastructure, they become dependent on vendors for information about their buildings. Operational data residing in a vendor's cloud limits owners to seeing only what vendors choose to show, preventing independent analysis and making data transfer difficult if relationships end. OpticWise addresses this deeper vendor lock-in by designing and operating owner-controlled data and digital infrastructure, giving owners leverage, visibility, and independence.
Controlling data and digital infrastructure transforms portfolio management. When owners control networks, systems, and generated data, switching vendors becomes feasible, comparing vendor performance across portfolios becomes possible, and data travels with assets rather than contracts. OpticWise has worked with owners through property sales, management transitions, and asset repositioning, finding that those who own their data and digital infrastructure navigate changes most efficiently. Buildings where vendor relationships create information silos struggle when changes occur, leaving owners dependent on vendors who control systems.
Across multi-asset portfolios, inconsistent data prevents performance benchmarking, outlier identification, and confident capital allocation decisions. Douglas recommends owners ask three key questions before vendor renewals or technology purchases: whether they have a written digital strategy for their property or portfolio, whether they own and control their building-generated data, and whether they're telling vendors what they need or asking what they offer. Most owners cannot answer these confidently because their data and digital infrastructure have never been systematically mapped.
OpticWise's Peak Property Performance (PPP) DDI Review is designed to clarify what data and digital infrastructure owners control, where data goes, which vendors own which systems, and where money or leverage is being lost. The company emphasizes that owners cannot lead vendors until they understand what they own. OpticWise designs, deploys, and operates owner-controlled data and digital infrastructures for multi-tenant commercial real estate across the United States, with additional resources available at peakpropertyperformance.com.
