The new real estate buzzword is called “API”
The German Immobilien Zeitung (IZ) and the Berlin-based communications agency Strategiekollegen GmbH searched for the real estate word of the year 2021. First place in the digital survey is not the expected three letters ESG - but those for Application Programming Interface, or "API" for short. Somewhat surprising and yet not surprising, because nothing works in the new tech world without interface (knowledge). High time to deal with the topic.
A(pplication) P(rogramming) I(nterface) is a programming interface between two software solutions – a kind of "intermediary" between two different systems, so to speak, without one system having to learn or understand the (programming) language of the other system and the two systems can still communicate with each other quickly and easily. The interface translates the request from one software to the other, so to speak. In order for the two systems to "understand" each other, a clear interface definition is required.
To describe it simply with a metaphor – it's like ordering in a restaurant: the guest orders the desired dish from the waiter, who reports the order to the kitchen. The dish comes ready from the kitchen and the waiter serves it to the guest. The guest does not have to understand how the processes and preparations for this dish work in the kitchen – they are satisfied when the waiter serves the dish they have ordered as they wished. In a figurative sense, the menu card would be the clearly defined interface, so to speak. Anything that is not on the menu cannot be ordered.
Why is the topic of API so exciting for the real estate industry? PropTech companies and those responsible for digitization at real estate companies are increasingly concerned with the cross-platform integration of new software solutions. Due to the digital transformation and the ecosystem idea, the interface problem is increasingly coming into focus. Manual object imports and data comparisons are time-consuming and comparatively inefficient.
If a real estate company wants to integrate a new PropTech solution, the new software needs an interface to the respective ERP system. In the Swiss real estate industry, it is essentially the three ERP providers Abacus, GARAIO and W&W that can offer an interface here. If a company works with different PropTech solutions, it makes sense to think about an interface between these third-party providers. The increasing establishment of such software solutions or new services, such as the digital signature, will continue to focus on the topic of API – and not only among those responsible for digitization themselves. In the future, every employee will need a certain basic knowledge in order to to find one's way in the jungle of software solutions and flows of data sets.
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