‘The global digital meltdown is a warning to our industry’
Trevor Abrahmsohn warns that agencies shouldn't be over-depending on technology for payments and administration, as the Microsoft debacle has shown.
With the most recent IT outage issue in mind, where you can’t book a flight, order on Amazon, get a take-away or uber and when the CHAPS payment method fails and property solicitors can’t complete transactions, we are reminded about how reliant we are on the internet and the digital world.
When it fails, we are totally stymied and or world grinds to a halt.
Cyber warfare
I have always maintained that future conflicts will not involve exchange of ordinance, bullets, missiles, tanks, and troops but instead, the country that wins the battle of cyber warfare, is clearly the victor.
The most incredible invention, which never runs out of batteries, needs no re-booting, is portable and works in any direction, in any country, is the ordinary lead pencil! It will never let you down.
Governments are trying to ween us off our dependency on cash in favour of cards so that primarily they can keep a stricter eye on our spending and therefore tax evasion, more effectively.
Estate agents
Even in the estate agency business we have to dumb down our computer searches since buyers or tenants invariably chose a different entity than they originally requested and if you do not override the system with human common sense, the IT system will work against you, rather than for you.
The best operators in our business need to think outside the box and invariably offer the applicants something that they hadn’t asked for, which is contra-intuitive and well beyond the ability of a computer to understand even if AI were brought into play.
Stash the cash
In answer to these issues, keep a stash of cash, always have a paper trail, and never forsake the old-fashioned systems that have lasted since time immemorial.
And, by the way, always keep a sharp pencil handy and perhaps a ‘wodge of bangers’ in your pocket, just in case!
Trevor Abrahmsohn (main picture) is founder and MD of London estate agency Glentree International.
Is this a joke?