Retta Insight, a data analysis tool developed by Retta and based on a data warehouse, makes property management decisions better.

The typical situation:

Financial administration data is stored in financial administration systems, while property data is stored in its own systems. When this data is combined, the result is usually a chaotic spreadsheet consisting of numerous tabs.

‘In this setting, it’s difficult to get a comprehensive view, let alone make the right business decisions,’ says Mikael Strann, VP, Financial Services at Retta Management.

However, there is a solution: Retta Insight, developed by Retta and based on BI, is used to manage the information generated by the business by utilising the data warehouse.

How does it work?

‘The data that was originally scattered in different source systems is collected in Retta’s data warehouse, where it can be combined, modified, modelled and analysed in many different ways. The result provides clear and versatile reports and visualisations. Retta Insight also enables the timeliness of reports by automatically updating the data at certain intervals. This way, there’s no need to manually screen or update data,’ Strann explains.

The use of data warehouses is not new in itself.

‘However, I daresay that the solution we have developed is ground-breaking in the field of property management.’

Easy and quick custom data

So, you can say goodbye to confusing spreadsheets, but what other uses does data warehouse technology offer a real estate management client?

‘The purpose of Retta Management’s financial services is to produce financial data to support real estate management. To make decisions, high-quality financial data and property-specific information is required. That’s what our data-warehouse-based reporting service now offers,’ Strann says.

However, any information as such is not necessarily valuable or even necessary.

‘Information in itself is not a key to success, but we must be able to utilise it to support decision making quickly when necessary.’

This is why the reports are tailored so that the customer gets exactly the information they want and need.

Strann gives an example:

‘A real estate investor typically wants to keep up with the occupancy rate and cash flow so that the rate of return remains at the target level. Another big thing for investors is, of course, how quickly vacant apartments can be rented again. Information can therefore be analysed in detail in Retta Insight, from turnover to the development of expenses and the validity of leases. This will greatly improve predictability.’

What other detailed information can you look at? ‘You can see which of the property’s apartments are empty, whether the rental payments are being paid on time, or whether the rental level is developing as desired in relation to the cost structure, for example,’ Strann lists

The endless possibilities of data warehouses

If you always had to order or compile more detailed reports separately in the past, now technology takes care of the hardest part.

The development of the new solution started when Retta wanted to offer its property management customers a way to access essential information quickly, effortlessly and without intermediaries. This is now possible with Retta Insight, which is used in a web browser and presents the data clearly as dashboards through which you can get the most from the data.

Business-intelligence-based reporting also saves time, as changes and deviations can be more easily perceived through various visualisations.

‘In the analysis, it’s possible to utilise so-called dimensions, which can be used to examine different combinations of cost items per apartment, compare them and take advantage of organising the data based on specific time periods, for example,’ Strann says.

The data is organised into easily perceivable reports for the customer, but this has required a lot of background work at Retta: the harmonisation and modernisation of the financial services system environment, as well as the harmonisation and integration of other data sources.

‘Until a few years ago, it might not have been possible to know exactly what the data warehouse is capable of. And we still don’t know, because our customers are always coming up with new ways to use Retta Insight.’

However, it is already known for sure that when data warehouses are utilised smartly, decision making becomes faster and easier.

‘A manual review is no longer required. That time can be used to analyse information and make smart decisions,’ Strann concludes.

Additional information:

Mikael Strann
VP, Financial Services
Retta Management
+358 50 324 3582
mikael.strann@retta.fi

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