From Processes to Potential Digitalisation: a Catalyst for Innovation and Efficiency

Digitalisation is more than just a trend – its implementation is essential in order to remain competitive in today’s changing world. Deka Immobilien spotted this shift early on and has been investing in innovative technologies and process optimisations for over ten years.

  • What does digitalisation mean for Deka Immobilien exactly?

  • In what ways are we optimising processes, integrating technologies, and setting new standards? 

  • How does Deka Immobilien strategically leverage digitalisation?

Insights from Gesa Wilms, COO of Deka Immobilien:

Ms. Wilms, how does Deka Immobilien define digitalisation and what importance does process automation have in this?

Gesa Wilms:
Digitalisation is often defined as the digital transformation of information and communication. At Deka Immobilien, however, we see it as a comprehensive optimisation of processes along the entire value chain. It goes beyond software and hardware and is not product-specific. The goal is to rethink existing processes and make them future-proof in order to anticipate and shape technological change in everyday working life. Processes must be adapted to the digital environment in order to remain competitive. Digitalisation should facilitate and accelerate processes, either through in-house system development or by adapting existing market solutions.

Can you remember the first Deka project with this goal? What has digital technology helped your company to automate since then?

Gesa Wilms:
We have been actively transforming the technology in the company since 2012 and have opted for a combination of in-house development and a customised version of an existing market solution. With the introduction of an Enterprise Content Management System – DMS for short – we have put the business model and each process along the value chain to the test. In doing so, we've become innovators. The Document Management System has been brought to market maturity in collaboration with the ‘gif’, the Gesellschaft für Immobilienwirtschaftliche Forschung e. V. (Society of Property Researchers, Germany), and influences how real estate transactions are handled beyond the boundaries of Deka Immobilien. With this, we have set an industry standard.

We have successively connected our external property managers to the DMS, both domestically and internationally. Automatically importing external data has significantly increased our efficiency – it eliminates manual errors and ensures higher data quality.

Which areas have seen a significant increase in process efficiency for Deka Immobilien?

Gesa Wilms:
Moving forward, we expect artificial intelligence to play an increasingly significant role in document data analysis. The primary focus for AI implementation will be to streamline data preparation processes. This shift will free up our staff to concentrate on addressing genuine problem areas.

We’ve also identified considerable potential within standard real estate processes, particularly in the leasing sector. One of the major bottlenecks in leasing has always been the time-consuming process of configuring and planning tenant improvements with prospective occupiers. This traditionally involved numerous Excel spreadsheets and manual sketches, often causing the process to drag out over several months. Now, the tool we’ve developed with Drees & Sommer has completely digitalised this workflow. Tenants can easily configure their leasable area online, view costs in real-time, and take virtual tours of their potential space whenever it suits them.

ESG is omnipresent. What contribution can digitalisation make here?

Gesa Wilms:
The UN’s Environmental, Social and Corporate Governance (ESG) criteria are driving significant changes across the real estate industry, creating demand for comprehensive, well-maintained data structures that can effectively measure sustainability and social responsibility metrics. New data needs to be collected, structured, and updated, with the increasing granularity and detail of ESG reporting being the key drivers for technology investment. It’s simply impossible to imagine implementing and managing sophisticated ESG concepts and portfolios without robust digitalisation – particularly when transparency and scenario analysis are so critical. One key challenge we face is translating high-level strategic objectives into concrete, data-driven actions. There’s also a common misconception that equates building-digitalisation with improvements in energy efficiency. In reality, technologies cannot be considered sustainable if they require excessive maintenance or quickly become obsolete. In this context, digitalisation truly is a double-edged sword.