Flexible Analytics Meet the Needs of All Business Users
Multiple Listing Service, Property Information Network (MLS PIN) was incorporated in 1997 as a REALTOR® owned asset. The corporation has grown its subscriber base from 11,000 to approximately 30,000 licensed real estate professionals. MLS PIN is the largest Multiple Listing Service in New England and one of the largest in the nation.
MLS PIN offers a database of more than 53,000 properties for sale and more than one million off-market listings, as well as full public records for all of Massachusetts, Rhode Island and other areas of New England.
Challenge
As an information provider, MLS PIN knows the power of data. The company provides real estate agents and offices with multiple listing services for the New England region as well as other services. When it came to reporting and analyzing its own data however, the IT team was burdened with collecting data and putting it into a format that was consumable by business users. Requests for reports meant a huge effort to gather data from Excel and their CRM application. If a change was needed it meant essentially going back to the IT drawing board. This effort often took critical technical resources away from developing MLS PIN’s own product.
“We knew we had the data,” said Frank DiBiase, Director of Software Development for MLS PIN. "We just needed to get IT out of the report writing business and give non-technical people the ability to access and analyze data on the fly.”
What MLS PIN needed was a buiness intelligence solution that could:
-
Provide fast time-to-value
-
Reduce reliance on IT for report or analysis requests
-
Provide on the fly report creation and ad-hoc analysis with drill down capabilities
Solution
MLS PIN looked at various reporting solutions but all required additional resources with specific technical knowledge to implement and maintain. The company could not afford to implement BI software that pulled IT resources from its core product developement efforts and it needed a solution that would enable end user self-service going forward.
MLS PIN decided on PivotLink because it did not require additional IT resources to implement or maintain, it was affordable and the tool was easy to use.
“PivotLink’s SaaS model worked well for us on a cost basis, and more importantly it provides us with the flexibility we need to run a subscriber based company,” said DiBiase. "For example, business users can run reports by demographics, date/time or any other number of facets – without having to ask IT to get the data or run the report. The reports end users create enable them to make analytically based decisions to better serve our growing business.”
Results
“PivotLink alleviates the report writing burden from IT,” adds DiBiase. "PivotLink enables both internal users and customers to make changes on their own as well as reduce the time it takes to get a report generated. We noticed a time reduction from two weeks to two hours to fulfill a user request.”
The analytics have also given MLS PIN more insight into its business. Customer service relies on reports for improving service levels, marketing uses the data to search for opportunities to increase membership, and C-level executives receive dashboards for an overview of how the company is performing.
DiBiase sees the potential for more sophisticated reporting and analysis and a more pervasive deployment across the company, as users become more proficient with the solution. For now, PivotLink enables the company to perform at a higher level as a whole.
“PivotLink made it easy for us to deliver the sophisticated reports we need to keep pace with our customers and the market,” said DiBiase. "In a short amount of time, we have been able to achieve success quickly and put a reliable long term BI solution in place."
Benefits
-
Free up IT to focus on strategic business initiatives
-
Flexible analytics that meet the needs of all business users
-
Increased operational efficiency through self-service capabilities
-
Ability to explore and exploit corporate data for strategic business advantage – all in a single environment
