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At Business Logic, our familiarity with a wide range of hardware
and software gives us maximum flexibility to solve your problems. It also
enables us to implement solutions that protect your investment.
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WEB DEVELOPMENT CLIENT
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DATABASE
PRODUCTS HARDWARE
ENVIRONMENTS |
Business Logic has established industry specialty groups to leverage our skills and energies in key industries.
FINANCIAL
SERVICES
The financial marketplace is continually introducing new products, e.g.,
trading, options, futures, derivatives, foreign exchange products. Another
important consideration for financial service organizations is the continual
introduction of new computer technology.
GOVERNMENT
SERVICES
Our work over the past twenty years in the public sector has earned Business
Logic a solid reputation for government and not-for-profit work. We understand
the unique requirements of the public sector both during the automation
selection and design process and as a project develops. Business Logic
has assisted governments on the city, state and federal level as well
as not-for-profit and public benefit corporations in adapting to changing
conditions.
REAL
ESTATE MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS
We focus on the operations, administration,
and management of real estate companies. In particular we have worked
with real estate companies to streamline the business process,
and add value and efficiency to the systems and operations of these clients.
HEDGE
FUND INDUSTRY
The hedge fund industry is unique because
many of its approaches to business are cutting edge. Enterprise software
has not had time to respond to the specific challenges and needs of the
industry. At Business Logic, we augment the systems in use at hedge funds
with software tools give our clients a competitive edge in the marketplace.
GLOBAL
SERVICES
Major U.S. firms are being asked to deliver services throughout the world.
At the same time, foreign firms are competing globally. As companies enter
the worldwide market, they must face unique issues such as foreign currency
exchange and control, shipping, risk management, and multiple legal and
financial controls, among many others.
SMALLER
BUSINESSES
Smaller businesses share many of the problems of large multi-national
enterprises. If there is a difference, it is in the limited resources
that smaller businesses can devote to the problem. Our Small Business
Group has distinguished itself by working with our clients to determine
which areas of automation will bring the largest payoff.
REAL ESTATE MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS
Business Logic was founded in 1990. In 1996 we established our real estate division to focus on the operations, administration, and management of real estate companies. In particular, we have worked with the these companies to streamline the business process. Through our efforts, we have acquired an in-depth understanding of the vocabulary, the business challenges, and the objectives of the industry. We have learned that there are always two aspects to this business process redesign:
- Identify efficient work flow and paper flow that enable the maximum amount of work to be performed by the operations staff.
- Acquire or develop software applications that support the new business process.
Following are specific
areas where Business Logic has added value and efficiency to the systems
and operations of our real estate industry clients.
Real Estate Development Systems
The key system that we have developed for our clients is the building management system. This system enables the company to keep track of every interaction with a tenant or an apartment. Each time a tenant, building management, or maintenance personnel phones in, the purpose and resolution of the call are tracked for future use. In this way, the company is able to identify problem buildings or apartments as well as which tenants make frequent phone calls for assistance.
This system is the electronic equivalent of the traditional card file that was used for decades by real estate companies to keep track of their buildings. There was one card in the box for each apartment unit. The administrative staff would hand-write a line on the card each time a new event occurred.
The benefits of the tracking system are many:
- Many of the entries to the tenant record are automatic. No manual effort is needed.
- It is easy to locate each card, whether you are searching by tenant or by building/unit.
- Every administrative helper can readily see all the interactions that others have had with the tenant or apartment unit.
- If an item needs to be resolved, ticklers, reminders, and emails can be issued to ensure that the proper follow-up action is taken.
When the administrative staff turns on their computer, they can see a list of tasks to perform today, or this week, or this month. It is the computer, not the individual that remembers the priorities. The individual can clear his or her mind to focus on more important issues.
Billing
Our real estate clients typically buy and implement a turn-key real estate billing system. We assist them to select, install, modify, and implement the appropriate billing system. Some systems are more suitable for residential tenants, others are well-suited for commercial tenants.
In addition, we help to extract data from the system on a scheduled basis so that the data can be used throughout the organization.
Commercial Lease Abstracts
Commercial leases are becoming progressively more complex. For this reason, it is important to identify the key clauses of the lease and to enter this information in a structured way into the computer system so that it can be recalled by staff members without having to read the entire lease.
Many commercial leases include tenant or landlord options that can be exercised at pre-determined times.
Commercial Lease Periodic or Annual Reviews
Equally important, clauses in a commercial lease often require the real estate company to take action on a quarterly or annual basis to adjust rents based on utilities, real estate taxes, or even, in the case of retail stores, gross sales that occur on the premises.
We have developed tickler or reminder systems that use lease abstract data to advise the administrative staff of actions that are due.
Residential Lease Renewals
The rent charged for residential lease renewals is often determined by complex regulations. We have written programs that calculate and print the necessary lease renewal documents.
Residential Lease Printing
When a tenant vacates an apartment, different lease calculation rules apply. We have developed programs that perform the new tenant lease calculation. The program also prints out the lease including all attachments.
Document Scanning
A major part of a real estate application is the scanning, indexing, and recall of relevant documents. We have written numerous systems that enable scanned documents to be integrated with the application itself. Leases, invoices, tenant notices, and other documents can be scanned and made available to the application at the click of a button on the application page itself.
Legal Systems
The legal system must keep track of the suits that the real estate company has against vendors, tenants, or others. It must also keep track of suits that are brought against the company by others.
As with many of the other systems noted above, “to do” lists, reminders, or open items can be extracted from the data to remind users that specific actions are due.
Insurance Systems
As we saw with the legal systems above, insurances systems keep track of insurance claims filed by and filed against the real estate company. In addition, the system keeps track of insurance certificates provided by vendors as well as residential and commercial tenants.
Investment Management
Companies in the real estate industry need to manage large amounts of working capital. We have developed systems to monitor and compare the rates of return of a range of financial instruments. The systems are instrumental in investment decision making.
Tenant Communications
We have developed systems that generate letters to tenants on a periodic and systematic basis. For example, each year, tenants must be provided with letters that describe their rights with respect to lead paint or window guards.
If a tenant reply is required, this information can be retained and stored by the computer without the administrative staff having to perform time-consuming manual tasks.
Coop or Condo Management
Some real estate companies function as management companies. They manage buildings that are owned by others. In these cases, the approval of the owners or board of directors of the building must be obtained for payment of many invoices. We developed a web-based tool to enable the management company to obtain approvals or disapprovals of management in order for invoices to be paid.
HEDGE FUND INDUSTRY
Companies in every industry have a wide array of enterprise software to meet their information and financial information needs. The hedge fund industry is unique because many of its approaches to business are cutting edge. The packaged software business has not had time to respond to the specific challenges and needs of the industry.
As a result, many hedge funds use elaborate spreadsheets to track critical aspects of their business. Often, the solution involves large numbers of connected spreadsheets, which become even more unwieldy as the business grows and evolves.
At Business Logic, we are not seeking to replace all of a company’s software infrastructure. Rather, we are interested in augmenting their systems with software tools that provide more timely information in a controlled form and minimal duplication of effort or duplication of entry.
Case Study:
A major hedge fund in Connecticut involved with fixed income instruments is a classic example of a company that has benefited from Business Logic.
This fund has proprietary trading software that gives them a critical, competitive edge over other companies in the industry. However, the accounting treatment of the data resulting from trading activity was not being captured in a disciplined way. As a result, significant manual effort was required to produce the necessary accounting records. As you can imagine, this manual effort was time-consuming, error-prone, and less than accurate.
The fund management company asked Business Logic to create an automated link between the trading systems and the accounting backend so that the data would flow directly to the accounting system with the minimum of manual effort.
Business Logic has systems professionals including some with advanced accounting degrees. Thanks to this unique combination of systems knowledge and accounting concepts, Business Logic was able to ensure the client of a solution that addressed its very specific information. And with its accounting and compliance needs satisfied, the traders could focus their efforts on decision-making.