Global real estate technology provider Yardi has been named for the second time to the Forbes Cloud 100, the definitive list of the top 100 private cloud companies in the world. Yardi was a member of the inaugural Cloud 100 in 2016, moving up to the #26 spot on the list in 2017. Published by Forbes in collaboration with Bessemer Venture Partners, the list will appear in the July 27, 2017 issue of Forbes magazine and is available at forbes.com/cloud100. “We’re honored that Forbes chose to recognize our efforts to provide industry-leading cloud solutions for our clients for the second straight year,” said Anant Yardi, founder and president of Yardi. “Our cloud-based software serves real estate and investment companies of all sizes around the globe.” The Forbes 2017 Cloud 100 was selected by a panel of judges representing leading public cloud companies, using qualitative and quantitative data submitted by nominees, along with third-party data sources. The evaluation process involved four factors: estimated valuation (30%), operating metrics (20%), people & culture (15%) and market leadership (35%), which the judge panel then weighed to select, score and rank the winners. With that data, the Forbes Cloud 100 judge panel, made up of a majority of public cloud company CEOs, was then responsible for selecting and ranking the top 100 companies from all over the world. “Our inaugural Cloud 100 list showed the tech and venture capital community just how many standout private cloud companies there are to watch, and this year’s list is no exception,” said Forbes editor of the Cloud 100 list Alex Konrad. “Forbes has a keen eye for businesses, and combining that with Bessemer Venture Partners and Salesforce Ventures’ deep knowledge of the cloud industry, any company’s inclusion on the Forbes 2017 Cloud...

Aditya Shah, director of Middle East operations at Yardi, writes on the rise of Cloud-based technology in FM activities. Tenants and residents within both, the com­mercial and residen­tial real estate sectors continue to have ris­ing expectations for technology – most notably about how it will impact service levels and enhance their cus­tomer experience and occupancy. From a management perspective, a com­petitive environment breeds the need for fast­er customer-focused services that are highly efficient to streamline operations and reduce costs, while also improving overall returns. While technology has played a role in the field of FM for a number of years, the advent of the smart apps and an ever-increasing drive towards mobility has seen some seriously sig­nificant developments – ones that offer this particular section of the real estate industry much more than just improved productivity. The Cloud is here – it has been for some time – and more and more businesses are adopting cloud-based solutions as the cor­nerstone to enhance numerous aspects of their operations. Mobility undoubtedly of­fers managers a far greater level of flexibility than ever thought before, and with all these technologies working in synergy, a facili­ties manager is now no longer reactive, but can manage their day-to-day operations for properties, entire portfolios, and tenants and residents with proactive foresight. The solutions that are born out of this ever-evolving environment can boost cus­tomer loyalty by improving speed of re­sponse, driving down the cost of processes and procedures, and delivering a degree of flexibility and scalability to suit a wide range of business models. While adoption was previously slow, the sector is embracing these opportunities. Managers and engineers can engage in workflows that improve productivity and time management – be that for scheduling preventative maintenance, allocating prox­imity-related tasks, recording evidence, or...