Microsoft uses the term "Software+Services" to describe a vision of computing that harmonizes client and server software with cloud services [S+S Strategy].  Rich software components that either exist on client machines or installed on-premise within a datacenter can leverage building block components that exist as cloud services.  In many ways, this is not much different than, let’s say, accessing software components (such as Web services perhaps) in one’s own datacenter in order to build composite applications.

Microsoft’s broad platform offering gives customers a rich set of choices to weave together applications from growing collection of software and service offerings.  In this particular post I’d like to address a combination of rich client (RIA) technology, namely Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF), Microsoft’s Live Services cloud offering, and on-premise assets that are brought together as one cohesive solution.  To make matters more interesting, this ‘solution’ addresses a real world business scenario.  The company in question that is testing and honing this model in John L. Scott Real Estate.

Founded in 1931, John L. Scott Real Estate has 400 employees, 3,600 agents, and 133 offices throughout the states of Washington, Oregon, and Idaho. The company closed nearly 32,000 transactions in 2008, generating $9 billion in sales and making John L. Scott Real Estate one of the top real estate companies in the nation and a regional power. Under the guidance of Lennox Scott, the third-generation Scott to lead the family business, John L. Scott has established itself as a leader in the use of technology to reach out to customers in new ways.

In early 2009, John L. Scott Real Estate (JLS) began looking at how it could provide greater value to real estate ‘sellers’.  As most of us are aware, there are many tools for real estate buyers but few that are designed for sellers, therefore JLS saw the opportunity to deliver a solution that would focus on the seller’s thirst for information, enabling them to work more closely with JLS agents to sell their home quickly yet maximize the price.

To deliver on its vision, JLS had to bring together information from several sources and deliver it through a rich, unified user experience. They not only had to deliver a lot of diverse data, but they had to provide an easy way for sellers to assimilate that data. Sellers already have access to some of that data, but it’s scattered across different Web pages, while other data that sellers commonly want is available only through their agents. Their goal was to bring all that information together and present it to sellers in a way that associates strong value to the JLS brand.

Solution

In May 2009, JLS finished a pilot development effort specifically geared to assist sellers.  Developed with assistance from Microsoft Certified Partner Artefact, JLS used a Software + Services approach to connect to their data center and the Microsoft Virtual Earth™ online mapping platform, combining information from both sources and presenting it to users through a rich, interactive user experience based on Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF).


Artefact, headquartered in Seattle, is the firm that researched, designed,
and built the rich WPF-based user experiece.[blog, about]

“The proof-of-concept was to help us figure out what kind of information sellers are looking for and, more importantly, how to deliver that data,” says Pat Giles, Vice President of Marketing and Information Technology at JLS. With WPF, Virtual Earth, and a software-plus-services approach, they’ve been able to combine information from different sources and deliver it though a rich user experience. “The look and feel of the application is stunning, and will make digesting information on market trends and online activity an enjoyable experience for sellers”, says Giles.

Rich User Experience

A screen shot of the seller application is shown below. For the proof-of-concept, JLS focused on delivering general market trends, an overview of online interest in the seller’s home, and information on open houses and new properties for sale in the surrounding area.  The application provides information about how effectively the seller’s own home is marketed, which can provide key data that allows the seller and the agent to calibrate their marketing efforts.  Similar metrics to other homes are also available in order to keep track of ‘competitive’ resources.

While part of the solution’s appeal is the wealth of information it provides, the way it presents that data is just as impressive. “We had to deliver a user experience that was grounded in business reality for JLS—and thus useful and practical for sellers,” says Agnieszka Girling, Director of Product Strategy at Artefact. “We used Windows Presentation Foundation and Virtual Earth to bring all of the data around selling a home to life in new and exciting ways—including lots of 3-D charts, graphs, and maps that make it easy to visualize and understand the information.”

Development and Architecture

The application is based on the Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5, is written in C#, and was developed using Microsoft Expression Design tool and the Visual Studio 2008 development platform.  Developers used Microsoft Expression Blend software and Visual C# to fine-tune the XAML, adjust the behavior of the user interface, and connect it to the back-end services. The application also takes advantage of 3D Tools for Windows Presentation Foundation and InfoStrat.VE, both of which can be found on the CodePlex Web site.

WCF-based Web services using the BasicHTTP binding were developed by JLS developers, and per a JLS goal they were able to maintain the use of Microsoft SQL Server® 2000, thus avoiding a need to drive changes into the data platform. “From a data center perspective, it really wasn’t much work at all,” says Ruben Taylor, Senior Software Architect at JLS. “All we had to do was expose a few new Windows Communication Foundation (WCF) Web services, which was fairly simple.”

The following diagram depicts the high-level architecture outlay for the application:

What makes this application extraordinary is that JLS is presenting valuable data from their datacenter to home sellers. Web site usage data relating to how the home is being marketed is captured along with MLS data and presented to the seller. This allows both the agent and the seller to better understand how the home is marketed and it allows them to calibrate the marketing, as necessary. 

Improved Collaboration Between Sellers and Agents

The company’s WPF-based seller application will help home sellers collaborate more effectively with JLS agents. “Everyone wants to sell their home quickly and still get the best deal, which requires understanding market conditions, indentifying and understanding competing homes, and marketing a house well,” says Giles. “However, many people don’t know what their homes are worth—or think it’s worth more than the market does. By enabling sellers to monitor competing homes and the number of online showings on our Web site, we’re helping them to better understand the market and what their home is worth. The many other features that we plan to add as we continue developing the application will aid in seller-agent collaboration, as well.”

JLS plans to soon roll-out the application to small test market, and they are in the process of identifying consumers that are sellers who would be interested to try the application and provide feedback.  This is similar to Microsoft’s typical strategy around establishing an early ‘Community Technology Preview’ (CTP) for a service or product that is used to gain feedback around features so that changes can be made before broader adoption/rollout.

Two additional screen captures of the application are shown below:


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