In the US, commercial real estate brokers are generally split into two mutually exclusive camps. The first camp are listing agents who act on behalf of landlords or developers in pretty much the same way as letting agents do in Ireland. The second group is tenant representatives, who ply their trade acting solely on behalf of corporations.

Tenant representation has developed into quite a science above and beyond locating a building and negotiating lease terms. Tenant representative firms, like Equis, have become the real estate arm of their client companies.

In fact Chrysler, Ameritech and Xerox (between them they hold over 1,000 leases on 20 million square feet of space) out-source their real estate administration functions to Equis.

The industry has evolved to the point where we convert a company's business plan into a real estate plan. This includes setting targets for the amount of space to be occupied per employee in a company.

Clients expect a very detailed reporting format and process from advice and recommendations on new locations. Reporting covers the standard real estate issues like building characteristics, location criteria and business terms being offered.

However, just as important to a client is demographic information including availability of labour, wage levels and any tax incentives that are available in particular regions.

Effectively, you are the company's "eyes and ears" on the ground until (and often after) they are set up.

The process is completed by tendering out and managing the construction services for a new building or the fit-out of an existing one, while closing out the legal negotiations with the client's lawyers.

Local real estate brokers service Silicon Valley very well. However, there was also an opportunity to provide full representation nationally in all major US markets as well as across the globe. International work is handled through a joint venture partnership with the UK chartered surveyors, Knight Frank, which has 100 offices worldwide.

Rapid growth nationally and internationally is a key factor of Silicon Valley companies. Sales growth is usually phenomenal. This leads to demand initially for sales offices followed by technical support centres and for manufacturing facilities for most companies.

Once a Silicon Valley company has established a local and national market for their product, it will normally target the developed markets of Europe followed by the evolving markets of South East Asia, South America and then Africa.

Traditionally, research and development has been carried out here in "the valley". Manufacturing is usually positioned in areas of the US with lower wage structures followed by South-East Asia and Europe.

However, as engineers in all fields of technology are in severe short supply, companies have begun looking to other regions in the US and abroad as research and development centres. Phoenix in Arizona, Reston in Virginia and Portland in Oregon are some of the US locations picking up growth that Silicon Valley is driving.

Externally, Israel, India and, of course, Ireland are benefiting from the growth in demand for hi-tech labour.

What can Ireland learn from the Silicon Valley experience? I have already outlined what companies expect from their agents/brokers. But what do they expect from a market they are considering moving into? What are the drivers on their decisions?

Companies decide to locate in a particular market for one or two reasons. A company may want to be close to the market it sells into or they may want to source labour skills to supply into nearby markets. Ireland is benefiting for the latter reason; i.e., companies can source a pool of labour and supply Europe with relative ease.

As decision-makers on corporate expansions are usually far removed in the US, turn-key packages are the preferred option for most potential occupiers.

To ease the decision process of locating in a particular development, US management require a very high level of reporting which details every aspect of the potential move. A spectrum of topics would be covered that would include anything from wiring costs to employee travel issues.

It is interesting to see that the search criteria US companies have for building standards are different to what is generally available in Dublin. Typically, companies would operate from a layout that would have 70/80 per cent of occupants in modular office cubes (or work stations) with the balance in private offices. An open-plan layout, therefore, is essential.

Wiring demands often do not require installation of raised platform floors. Telephone and data can "hunt" out of central services on a Local Area Network (LAN). Internal telephone wiring demands are easier to meet, while external phone line standards rise every day.

One area of difficulty with Ireland for many US companies is the classifications of buildings into several use classes (office, warehouse, etc). Companies will mix and change buildings from office to desk-top engineering to storage. In the US, a general commercial zoning is attached to a building with planning permission.

If a warehouse is being converted to offices and provided there are no external alterations, planning permission need not be sought. This could offer a long-term solution for some of the older warehouse buildings in Dublin. What companies and what technologies offer opportunities for Ireland in the future?

The good news is that availability of educated labour, regardless of geographic location, is becoming the key to expansion for hi-tech companies.

The major growth areas are in networking, routing, programming/supplying Internet services and database software aimed at tracking the manufacturing process and sales force.

These industries are growing "on-line", that is they communicate internally on the Internet, they manufacture on a desk-top computer and they sell on the Internet. The physical assembly of products can be handled in any market where labour is cheap. While labour-intensive assembly is under threat long term, a heavy emphasis on "intellectual manufacturing" should position Ireland well in the new order of the global economy.

Ireland obviously has to continue to focus on the two biggest attractions to US technology companies.

1: A consistent supply of educated labour. 2: A low corporation tax environment that is below half the rates of our competitors.

However, providing space in an environment that is familiar to the investing company adds to the total package on offer. The ability also to provide reporting in a format that is recognisable to the decision-makers can also be a crucial factor. Surprisingly, the lack of quality reporting can mitigate against a particular location.

So what can the Irish property market learn?

1: Provide greater detail. 2: Provide greater flexibility on design. 3: Start buying shares in some of these tenant companies.

Ronan Webster, formerly of Gunne in Dublin, went last year to manage the Silicon Valley office of Equis, one of the largest US "tenant representative" firms in corporate real estate.