Servicing corporate accounts is not new to NKF; in common with virtually all the major real estate companies it has provided this platform for several years. "Through feedback from corporations, we were told their needs weren't really being met by the industry and that we really need to get to the next generation of outsourcing," Ippolito says.

Ten or 15 years ago, "you had Outsourcing 1.0, which was the lower-end functions," says Ippolito. "About five years ago, they wanted to get more strategic advice from their outsource partner, and so you had 2.0. That was the focus: 'how can you help us become smarter and better?' That hasn't happened at the level it should have. We really need to get to 3.0, which is a true partnership between the corporate client and the outsource partner so that the clients are getting the appropriate strategic advice, especially in this economy where there's such a focus on reducing costs." Such a partnership, he says, integrates the provider's services globally.

"What we've done is to put together a global board, which I'm chairing, of the people who are focused on all aspects of corporate services," Ippolito says. "So there are different disciplines represented on that board." It enables NKF to focus on the corporate client's requirements globally, whereas at other companies it's a matter of filtering the services through the heads of different lines and different regions, "each with their own P&Ls," he adds.