Challenge: Evolve IT environment to provide JLL a competitive advantage
JLL has invested significantly in network-based data and analytics systems, and is consistently recognized for the firm’s leadership in data management and business intelligence for the commercial real estate space.
In fact, for the fourth consecutive year, InformationWeek has recognized JLL as an IT leader by including the company on its Elite 100 and 500 lists. The InformationWeek Elite recognition highlights business technology innovation by looking at the technology-based investments, strategies, and results of some of the best-known organizations in the country.
The company uses its leading-edge IT platform to recruit the industry’s top commercial real estate professionals, and to optimize the productivity of its high performing professionals.
JLL’s forward-thinking IT team supports 58,000 employees across 230 corporate offices in more than 80 countries, ensuring every JLL professional has rapid access to centralized, business-critical applications. The JLL network also supports a suite of industry-leading technology platforms that JLL uniquely offers to its clients, such as Blackbird, RED (real estate data and analytics), HiRise, IntelliCommand and others.
The IT team at JLL is constantly evolving its solutions to support business requirements with greater agility and reduced costs. For example, the IT environment is becoming increasingly hybrid as the company moves some applications and services to the cloud. “We have a process where we evaluate anything new that comes up as to whether it should go in the cloud or go on-premises,” says Joe Ryan, JLL’s Chief Technology Officer, Americas.
Also, the company is in the process of replacing its MPLS network with dual high-speed Internet links at each office. One Internet connection is provided by a telco, the other by a cable company. This makes much more bandwidth available at a better price than offices had in the past. For example, an office that previously would have had a six mbps connection for 100 people now has two Internet connections of 100 mbps or more.
But JLL has adopted new practices such as video town hall meetings and internal webcasts that require large amounts of bandwidth. The company’s growing use of business analytics as a core component of its client service delivery adds to the amount of data going across the network as well.