Michael Bristol, Director of Business Intelligence & Data Analytics at WinnCompanies
Michael Bristol, Director of Business Intelligence & Data Analytics at WinnCompanies
Where he leverages 16 years of housing industry experience to drive data-informed decisionmaking. Known for his operational insight, leadership empathy, and commitment to innovation, he champions analytics, automation, and flexible work models to enhance organizational performance and employee well-being.
In an exclusive interview to Data Analytics 2025, he shared his insights on using data for operating military housing.
Pull Quote” In military housing—even more than traditional multifamily—data must serve a higher purpose: getting service members and their families into safe, comfortable homes as swiftly and sustainably as possible.”
Overseeing a portfolio of 32,000 homes located inside the gates of military installations is akin to managing several small cities, one where the “citizens” are the resident military service members and their families, rent rates are fixed by federal law (the Military Housing Privatization Initiative legislation passed in 1996), and every incremental improvement directly impacts our country’s military readiness and quality of life. In this unique vertical of the property management sector, our challenge is to optimize cost efficiency without compromising service quality. Below, I share key strategies for applying data-driven insights to balance budget discipline, accelerate move-in timelines, and maintain top-tier support for those who serve.
1. Define Objectives through the Lens of Service
Fixed rents mean we can’t chase higher rates to reflect expanded services or offset rising costs. Instead, we set operational goals that reflect our mission.
Reduce the average unit vacancy turnaround, so a service member and their family can move in sooner.
Limit subcontractor spend to a percentage of the total maintenance costs, to maximize in-house expertise while avoiding team member burnout.
Maintain a resident satisfaction score of 4.5, or higher, out of 5, ensuring our efficiency gains never erode the quality of home life.
Framing metrics around resident impact, rather than simply cost savings, aligns leadership, on-site teams, and subcontractors around a clear purpose: delivering seamless transitions and exceptional housing for our military families.
2. Empower “Small City” Location Leaders with Self-Service Analytics
Our housing communities span multiple military installations across the country each with its own nuances. A centralized BI portal gives directors, managers and personnel real-time dashboards on:
Vacancy Pipeline: Day-by-day tracking of move ins/outs, waitlists, maintenance, and ready-for-occupancy status.
Labor Balance: Regular breakdown of in-house time and cost versus subcontracted labor, overtime trends, and cost per unit turn and work order.
Budget vs. Spend: Live reconciliation of forecasted maintenance budgets against actuals, flagging overruns to provide visibility and gain necessary approvals before they compound.
To maintain consistency, we enforce a lightweight governance model: a unified data dictionary, role-based views, and regular reviews to fine-tune definitions. This structure lets frontline teams answer their own questions, slashing ad-hoc report requests exponentially while preserving data integrity.
3. Streamline Vacancy Reduction with Predictive Insights
Every day a home sits empty is a day a service member is delayed in moving on-base. We tackled this by building a vacancyprediction model that ingests:
Historical turnaround times (from move-out to “ready” status).
Service-order volumes by Category type (plumbing, HVAC, flooring) allow us to fine-tune the cost comparison details and gain efficiency.
Seasonal move cycles, aligned with deployments.
Each day, managers can view our vacancy and waitlist quickly, highlighting units available with a seamless link between BI and our Property Management Software allowing them to offer the home. By reallocating staff, prioritizing homes, and streamlining approvals, we’ve trimmed average vacancy times, translating into millions in annual revenue preservation and happier families moving in on schedule.
4. Optimize In-House vs. Subcontracted Labor
Labor costs in military housing swing dramatically during summer move seasons. Our team tracks labor mix in near-real time to allocate in-house and subcontracted work efficiently:
In-House Utilization: Percent of maintenance hours completed by our salaried teams.
Overtime Trends: Regular spikes that signal potential burnout.
Subcontractor Spend: Cost dialed in so we can maintain the perfect balance of time, cost and utilization.
Armed with these insights, site supervisors can fine-tune the blend: drawing down subcontractors when in-house capacity is strong, and pulling them in only where specialized, overflow work is needed. This requires a perfect balance as we do not want to lose our subcontractors during our “slow” season. This calibrated approach reduces overtime hours while obtaining optimal subcontractor utilization.
5. Embed Continuous Improvement through Cross-Functional Reviews
Data is only as powerful as the actions it drives. We host regular reviews with maintenance leads, leasing teams, finance & HR:
KPI Deep Dives on vacancy, spend, and satisfaction.
Root-Cause Analyses when targets slip (e.g., an unexpected surge in repairs due to storms).
Action Roadmaps to adjust BI priorities—whether refining algorithms, launching a new analysis report, or reallocating resources.
These recurring sessions turn insights into initiatives and foster accountability across the entire housing ecosystem.
Data as Our Service Amplifier
In military housing—even more than traditional multifamily— data must serve a higher purpose: getting service members and their families into safe, comfortable homes as swiftly and sustainably as possible. By defining mission-aligned objectives, empowering local leaders with self-service analytics, and leveraging predictive models to shorten vacancy times and balance labor costs, we’ve built a BI function that truly manages “small cities.” In doing so, we uphold our commitment to both fiscal stewardship and exceptional resident care—honoring those who serve with operational excellence.