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 In most industries, technology is evaluated on its ability to increase profitability through gains in productivity, efficiency, and ultimately performance. Any evaluation requires a backdrop of standards, so that the evaluation means something in an objective sense. In REO, these standards are adrift in a sea of unverifiable claims, if not wholly absent. Without standards, REO servicers are left to make decisions based on self-serving marketing claims by vendors, and based on simple gut emotion or on relationships. The prevalence of this shotgun approach to decision-making has 2 main side effects: it stifles innovation, and it relegates usability to irrelevance. First, innovation is stifled when vendors know that creating a "better mouse trap" doesn't necessarily mean anything in today's REO environment. Vendors know that the use of any solution they endeavor to create is ultimately going to come down to luck, and how well-connected their sales and marketing staff is with the decision-makers at the REO servicers. In today's REO marketplace, then, innovation and new ideas are not rewarded; rather, knowing the right people is rewarded. And, if relationships matter more than product quality, why spend the time, money, and effort to innovate and push the envelope? |
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| The second side effect is apathy regarding user experience. Usability is normally a huge factor in evaluating technology - because if a product is hard to use, its potential will remain behind lock and key. In REO, however, usability has no significance - vendors and servicers have little interest in what the end users actually think, because end users don't drive the decision-making process. What matters is relationships, self-promotion, and being able to push any costs associated with the technology down the food chain (ironically enough, to the end users, who end up paying not only for a difficult-to-use technology solution, but one that has little ultimate benefit to them). Usability simply is not valued in the decision-making process. If you are interested in breaking away from the perverse incentives permeating today's REO technology market, we invite you to contact J&A. We are an independent voice with nationwide reach, and we have invested in developing and innovating ideas in technology that deliver results - and which our users actually like (we know, because we actually asked). We may not have a relationship with you yet, but if you've made it this far, we should. |
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