Menlo Equities
A Case Study in Real Estate I.T. Management
[PDF]How a Silicon Valley based real estate investment firm harnessed its data management and expanded its offices state-wide.
In 1997, Menlo Equities LLC of Palo Alto, a successful, Silicon Valley real estate investment firm, was running their operations entirely on Apple Macintoshes. In order to continue the growth that was fueling their success as one of the most active acquirers/developers of office/industrial and R&D property in the greater Silicon Valley area, they chose to implement Colonial System's integrated property management accounting software from Maxwell Systems, Inc. The challenge they faced was that Colonial Systems property management software does not run on the Apple platform.
The Menlo Equities partners, Henry D. Bullock and Rick Holmstrom selected Info Partners to solve their information technology challenge-to architect a new Windows-based network and migrate Menlo's data and desktops to the Windows platform. The partners' search for an I.T. vendor had focused on their immediate need for an "I.T. General Contractor" with impeccable Windows platform credentials. They were busy growing their business and they needed expert I.T. resources to handle all of their technology build-out and management requirements.
The role of I.T. General Contractor is one that Info Partners provides to many clients. In any network design, expansion, special project, or facilities move, there is a critical need for vendor and services coordination to assure schedules are met and costs are optimally managed. Most IT services vendors do not have the expertise to act as their clients' "I.T. General Contractor"-Info Partners does.
The Company interviewed several local IT management service providers in the Silicon Valley before selecting Info Partners. Ken Wong, CFO, explains the selection:
"We chose Info Partners because we felt that the company's prowess as an I.T. General Contractor coupled with their Windows platform and general I.T. management expertise would provide us with a greater breadth and depth of knowledge than the local competitors offered. Additionally, we needed to have our I.T. architected to support our state-wide expansion plans."
Info Partners began the outsourced I.T. partnership with Menlo Equities by presenting them with a comprehensive proposal and assessment of their network needs relative to their business plans. Then the work began. Info Partners set up the new network, installed a Windows file server with the Colonial Systems accounting and property management software, migrated the company data from the Macintoshes to a SQL database on the new server, brought Menlo's email in-house, and installed Windows workstations on the employees' desktops.
Since 1997, Menlo Equities has expanded its property portfolio into Southern California and established a network of four offices in Palo Alto, Santa Clara, Newport Beach, and San Diego. In order to support Menlo's statewide expansion, Info Partners implemented a Terminal Server Solution so that the three satellite offices can seamlessly use the Colonial Systems software and database located at the company's Palo Alto headquarters. Terminal Server is a remote access solution that provides a local application connection to a remote server containing the application and database. A "Thin Client," or small desktop application, runs on the local computer and sends keyboard and mouse information to the application at headquarters. The application then sends display data back to the remote computer. Terminal Server is both cost effective and secure and is the optimal method of maintaining data integrity and application performance for remote offices. Virtual Private Network (VPN) tunnels and firewalls were also installed to maintain data security between the offices.
Info Partners has also architected and installed networks in the home offices of the Menlo Equities executives. These networks provide the partners with secure VPN access to the Menlo network applications, database and communications. Additionally, Info Partners supports the Palm and Blackberry Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs) used by the employees.
In April of 2000, Info Partners moved Menlo's corporate headquarters to larger facilities. As with the satellite offices, Info Partners acted as Menlo's "IT General Contractor" coordinating and managing all aspects of expanding, moving, and installing the company's technology. Unlike most outsourced IT services providers, Info Partners offers its clients a single point-of-contact for all facets of any special project, network expansion or facilities move. This assures that Info Partners' clients can successfully complete their IT projects without worrying about coordinating multiple outside vendors for cabling, internet provisioning, phones, etc. The move was implemented between close of business Friday and Monday morning when all systems were operational for business as usual.
The heart of Menlo Equities partnership with Info Partners' is regular monthly network management and support services. Today, Info Partners provides Menlo with a four hour on-site visit to both the Palo Alto and Santa Clara offices each month, remote support as needed for all of the offices and I.T. general contracting services for moves, expansions and new offices. Set up of new offices has been efficiently handled by single day on-site visits to the new locations.
Ken Wong summarizes Info Partners comprehensive I.T. management services as follows:
"Menlo Equities has a reputation for excellence. The technology we use to run our business must support that reputation so our technology management partner is critical to our successful operations. Our business demands an I.T. Partner with the same reputation for excellence--Info Partners delivers on that demand."
Since 1994, Menlo Equities has focused primarily on direct investments in Northern California's Silicon Valley. Other markets in which Menlo Equities is active are the Burbank/Tri Cities area, North San Diego and Orange County. Menlo Equities is the general partner or Managing Member and beneficial principal owner of partnerships and limited liability companies which own and operate approximately 4.4 million square feet of office, research & development (R&D) and industrial buildings. Menlo is also a joint venture partner/developer in Juniper Networks' 2 million square foot master-planned campus in Sunnyvale, California. Current holdings including in-process development (excluding the Juniper JV) have an estimated aggregate value of approximately $1.0 billion. Major tenants include Sun Microsystems, County of Santa Clara, Yahoo!, Juniper Networks, Inc., Redback Networks, Inc., Cable & Wireless USA, PeopleSoft, Allianz Insurance Company, Mayer Brown and Platt, Kaiser Foundation and Fujitsu Corporation. The portfolio is substantially leased.