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Tech Perspective @ The EDGE

THE CONVERGENCE

OF IT AND BUSINESS STRATEGY

TINA DANIELSEN
Realcomm Staff

The dynamic nature of digital technology affects all companies today, as data drives the business transformation in
new directions. For CIOs tasked with navigating this developing environment, the way forward is continually chang-
ing—not only has the roadmap been altered, but entire ecosystems that were not in place even five years ago are
changing business processes and the workplace completely.

Consumer expectations for service, access, and quality of experience means the imperative to use data wisely—from
facility amenities to consumer based applications—is critical for driving revenue and investments. The domain of IT
now converges with business strategy and management’s range of vision. Expertise in all areas—from business objec-
tives to technology platforms—is expected, as they all contribute to productivity and the bottom line. As teams learn to
collaborate in all aspects of the business, they are creating new ways to work together.

For this issue, we spoke with Susan Gerock of Washington REIT, Aaron Pais of Morguard, and Damien Wu of Link
Asset Management Limited to discuss their roles and where the industry is headed.

SUSAN LILLY GEROCK, CIO, WASHREIT

Susan Lilly Gerock currently serves as Vice
President, Information Technology and Chief
Information Officer for WashREIT, an indus-
try-leading owner and operator of real estate
in the DC region. She has over 20 years of
experience in various technology roles spanning manu-
facturing, consulting, application service provider, and
commercial real estate organizations. Her specialties
include ERP selection and implementation, project and
change management, and cybersecurity. She is also a
proponent of the use of social media and the overlapping
relationship between technology and marketing.

Tell us about the IT organization at WashREIT and your
day-to-day responsibilities. How did your technology journey begin?
WashREIT is a company that is unique in the real estate Soon after I started in April 2016, we kicked off a major set of
investment trust space in that we’re in three lines of busi- projects that ran from August 2016 through the fall of 2017
ness: office, retail, and multifamily. As you can imagine, the called Project REnovation. Our CFO had previously contracted
tenants’ needs vary widely. We are a staff of nine, and we all with NOI Strategies to do an assessment of processes, infor-
wear many hats; you have a job title but do a lot of different mation needs, and existing systems; from that assessment, we
things on any given day. I am fortunate to be involved in had a recommended path to build a comprehensive process
many initiatives—it is so nice to have IT as a valued member and technology program to support the company’s strategy.
of everything the company is trying to accomplish, and know-
ing others appreciate what we bring to the table. It allows Project REnovation had eight work streams and involved a
everyone to drive new ways of thinking and new solutions. brand new accounting structure and chart of accounts. As

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