REA Group Asia Chief Technology Officer Shen Tham said, during a panel discussion with Google Cloud Regional Sales Director for Southeast Asia, Tim Synan and Maxis Chief Technology & Information Officer Morten Bangsgaard, that businesses should be keeping up with the digital transformation or be ready to be left behind.
Tham said that data integration on the cloud is a no-brainer for the REA Group as a majority of its data is already in the cloud.
Before integrating cloud solutions with its systems, it was challenging to connect massive data sets from different Application Programing Interface (API) services.
Moving to the cloud has enabled the REA Group to try new ideas and run low-cost data and analysis experiments — which are especially useful when training employees on new skills while to help the company with its digital transformation.
Tham also thinks that other companies that are hesitant to move to the cloud can might pick up a thing or two from REA Group’s journey — which hasn’t been smooth but never lost the support of leaders.
One of the data projects Tham is most proud of involves bringing in transparency in real estate prices, showing the last known transaction value of “similar properties”.
Given the lack of digitization of the real estate industry, the REA Group had to make an effort to meet with government officials and create new feeds to get the desired result — delighting customers instantaneously.
Read more here
Join us November 12-15 for the Property Portal Watch Conference Madrid 2019.