As adoption of the RAAMP platform grows within the Commercial Real Estate market, we thought the timing was great for a short insight interview with Founder and Chief Architect of RAAMP, Landy Randolph
An Insight Interview with Landrum Randolph
I: Why did you develop RAAMP? What were the main problems you were trying to solve for the CRE industry?
LR: I developed RAAMP to deliver more accurate rent rolls, but more important, to ease the pain of abstracting a complex lease into common language. Accounting teams and Property Management teams must share data to ensure internal and external obligations are met. It could be something as simple as who is responsible for the maintenance of a parking lot, or if sales are being reported for percentage rents — a type of rent based on the gross income of the tenant rather than a fixed amount. If that revenue is not reported accurately or documented appropriately, that communication gap can be responsible for millions of dollars of lost revenue annually. Missed escalation dates and inaccurate excel spreadsheet formulas can amount to significant financial losses.
I: How was RAAMP funded? ‘
LR: Originally, a private asset manager came to us and requested we create a more sophisticated pro forma. I wrote a plug-in to Excel, and that worked so well that we started to explore how we could take it to the next level. Ultimately, we created a cloud-based application to offer the service more broadly, bootstrapped by our original client. We built RAAMP recognizing that the industry lacked a user-friendly platform that had an integrated accounting solution, a CRM system, and document management. We’ve been fortunate to receive tremendous, positive feedback
I: Have you learned anything along the way from your customers that surprised you?
LR: We learn from our customers every day. Specifically, we learned that RAAMP is an invaluable tool during the due diligence phase of an acquisition. As an example, property valuation by banks and brokers considers all current rents, regardless of when they expire. With RAAMP, the platform allows the user to see the current net operating income (NOI), plus the potential NOI related to vacancies, and at-risk NOI based upon lease expirations.
I: What is your favorite feature of RAAMP?
LR: I’ll limit it to two. The file management system in RAAMP is so integrated into the platform that you can easily find any file within a few clicks. The way we allow for customization but still enforce best practices and folder structure gives our customers confidence knowing they can easily get to a file exactly when they need it. My other favorite is the variant rent feature: many times, in leases, you don’t know what the rent will be for a given escalation or option period. Sometimes, rent is simply based on the Fair Market Value, but at other times, pricing indexes or variable rates like Prime are applied. RAAMP computes the rent for you — taking into account the various indexes — and even gives you an easy-to-read explanation for how the rent was computed. This saves the time it takes to search out the indexes and compute them, and the time to relay that information to the tenant. We do it all for you.
I: What’s next for RAAMP?
LR: Our next integration will be a Property Management maintenance module. Property Managers and tenants will love this. For the Property Management professional, we sincerely want to reduce the administrative effort required to do their jobs while making best practices accessible. Plus, we have worked exceptionally hard to make the platform easy to use. We haven’t over-engineered which can lead to a break from industry standards.
About RAAMP
Founded in 2015, RAAMP combines robust, industry-compliant Accounting tools, Lease Management, CRM and Document storage in a team-shared environment. Designed to replace disparate spreadsheets and cumbersome legacy accounting software, RAAMP was developed as an internal tool for private asset management. RAAMP replaces over-engineered, overly complex industry solutions with a simple, elegant platform.
RAAMP’s software solution increases productivity between management teams, reduces the risk of missed revenue, and eliminates the need for multiple software and file management systems within a company. RAAMP solutions currently support millions of square feet of managed space for the commercial property management industry. Contact us to Learn More
