Week 11: CRE – From Fragmented to Flowing
Welcome to Week 11 of our 52-week series unpacking the data and digital infrastructure opportunity in commercial real estate.
I’m Bill Douglas, CEO of OpticWise and co-author of Peak Property Performance. Every week, we dig into how forward-thinking owners can use data & digital infrastructure to improve NOI, tenant satisfaction, and asset value.
Last week, we talked about listening buildings—properties that capture and respond to real-time signals. But listening requires clarity. And clarity is impossible when your building is split into silos.
Most buildings today are built on fragmented systems: access control doesn’t talk to HVAC, lighting has its own platform, energy dashboards are separate from occupancy data, and the Wi-Fi isn’t connected to any of it. What you’re left with is digital noise, not insight. Disconnected platforms mean disconnected data and decisions.
Silos are more than a tech nuisance—they’re an economic liability. They increase operational inefficiency, create hidden costs, and make it nearly impossible to automate intelligently. Even worse, they prevent the kind of high-resolution visibility required to optimize experience, safety, sustainability, and efficiency.
The solution? An intentional digital infrastructure strategy. When you unify core systems—connectivity, control, access, energy, automation—through a centralized and secure network, your building begins to flow. Data moves across departments and into a centralized repository. Response time improves. Ownership regains control.
At OpticWise, we help CRE owners design for interoperability from day one. Through our PPP Digital Infrastructure Review, we uncover the fragmentation, prioritize integration opportunities, and build the digital architecture that turns siloed systems into an intelligent whole.
Buildings with flow outperform those with friction. And this isn’t just about tech. It’s about tenant satisfaction, real-time maintenance, energy savings, and portfolio-wide scalability.
So here’s the question:
Are your systems talking to you and to each other—or silently tripping over each other?
Let’s tear down the silos and build smarter, more connected spaces.
Visit OpticWise to schedule your PPP Digital Infrastructure Review.
Connect with Bill Douglas for more insights from the field.
Order your copy of – Peak Property Performance – which was published in June 2025 and it is already officially a best-seller and #1 in several categories already. I have been working with Bill and Drew at OpticWise for some years and I fully endorse this masterpiece, it shows how CRE operators and owners can monetise the commercial asset in a very different way,
“Having worked with numerous proptech founders with a combined market cap of $1.86Bn, I know what excellent and transformational looks like! Take it from me: Bill has the definitive roadmap for optimizing commercial real estate assets by re-imagining the legacy business models that CRE owners, investors, and operators have been using for decades, which leaves so many dollars on the table. Digital infrastructure, data ownership, and how to provide the finest UX for tenants are just some of the topics covered.”
Andrew Stanton CEO Proptech-PR to order your copy of this please use this LINK.
Andrew Stanton Founder & Editor of 'PROPTECH-X' where his insights, connections, analysis and commentary on proptech and real estate are based on writing 1.3M words annually. Plus meeting 1,000 Proptech founders, critiquing 400 decks and having had 130 clients as CEO of 'PROPTECH-PR', a consultancy for Proptech founders seeking growth and exit strategies. He also acts as an advisory for major global real estate companies on sales, acquisitions, market positioning & operations. With 200K followers & readers, he is the 'Proptech Realestate Influencer.'
- Andrew Stantonhttps://proptech-x.com/author/andrew-stanton/
- Andrew Stantonhttps://proptech-x.com/author/andrew-stanton/
- Andrew Stantonhttps://proptech-x.com/author/andrew-stanton/
- Andrew Stantonhttps://proptech-x.com/author/andrew-stanton/
