Technology: Hopes vs. realities

Lessors have great expectations about how technology can help corporate profits soar. Have those hopes been realized?

Does technology bring lessors closer to a perfect world? Or does it isolate them from their customers? Could it do both?

Rick Thiele is director of business development for Commercial Finance Corporation, a small leasing and brokering operation in Chantilly, Virginia, about 20 miles west of Washington, D.C. With five employees using 386-powered computers linked by a local area network and server, Commercial Finance does business around the world in the small-, mid- and large-ticket markets -- not a small accomplishment for a company using what is now third-generation technology.

"All the companies we provide financing for are on advanced systems," Thiele admits. "But our system gets the job done." Even so, Commercial Finance wants faster credit approvals, faster deal turnarounds and less labor-intensive work, all of which will shrink overhead. To achieve these goals, Thiele says the company eventually needs document scanners, a presence on the Internet, and an electronic credit-scoring system, which will likely be enhanced by electronic data interchange. Says Thiele, "We're looking to technology to solve these problems for us."

The situation at Commercial Finance Corporation is the same one challenging most lessors on a chronic basis: Is the cost of acquiring current technology worth the benefits the technology will produce? Will a 10 minute increase in response time on a credit approval really make or break a deal? And how important is it to have a home page on the Internet, anyway?

"We plan annually for technology expenditures," says Thiele, "but if we're looking at spending $25,000 to $50,000, it's coming out of our profits. And any purchase like that has to be made with serious thought. It's a case where we can't live without technology, but we can't figure out how to live with it, either. Justifying technology is something we continually do."