Cityscope - Hard copy or database or both?

The question of Hard Copy, Database or both, is one of our more common ones.

Of course you don't need to ask yourself this question if you are subscribing to the Lease Expiry Diary, because the price includes both the Hard Copy and Database.

The answer comes down to how you plan to use the data.

The Hard Copy is a book. Everyone knows how to use a book, therefore everyone knows how to use the Hard Copy Cityscope. The Hard Copy has a number of different indexes to allow you to easily look up properties in addition to a complete set of maps for the CBD area covered.

So as a reference, the Hard Copy is perfect.

The Database is great as a reference too, but its advantage comes with being able to extract properties/leases meeting certain criteria.

The Database includes full colour photographs for every property. The Hard Copy does not.

I often ask customers to think about how long it would take to go through their Hard Copy and, for example, extract all commercial strata units, sized between 100 sqm and 400 sqm, that have sold in the last 4 years for more than $500,000. The answer is ages. It's just not practical. OK so maybe this specific example doesn't appeal to you, but you get the idea. Customers that want to extract information like this need the Database.

What about mailing labels for Owners and Occupants? If the answer is yes then the Database format is the way to go.

The Database can also produce printed reports showing selected data and export information to formats such as Microsoft Excel.

So what about both?

Certainly we have set up our pricing to encourage what we call a "package" subscription. The Hard Copy and Database compliment each other. Most offices have a mix of uses for Cityscope and a mix of people using Cityscope. Some are suited to the Hard Copy, some to the Database.

So there's no set answer. We're happy to welcome you as a subscriber, no matter what you chose.

Brett Scott