Bright MLS is venturing into the SaaS technology arena. One of the nation’s largest MLSs, Bright MLS announced the launch of Bright Solutions, “[a] new suite of six technology products for the real estate industry,” on Tuesday. 

The technology suite includes tools for management, media coordination, broker administration, team collaboration, market analytics, and advertising. The tools are Bright Listing Manager, Bright Media, Bright Admin, Bright Teams, Bright Analytics, and Bright Ads. Customers may adopt the tools individually or as part of the whole suite, according to Bright MLS. 

While these tools have all been available to Bright MLS subscribers, this is the first time they are available to customers outside of the organization. 

“We want to make sure that our agents and brokers can maintain control over their listing data, so internally we’ve been working on this for quite some time. We feel like creating things like a listing management platform is part of what we should be doing as an MLS,” Brian Donnellan, the CEO and president of Bright MLS, said. 

In the release, Bright MLS said this product launch is part of its “strategic vision to realign the roles of MLSs, brokers, teams, and agents in ways that strengthen the industry.”

Donnellan added that it reflects the firm’s goal to continue to provide value to its subscribers and the industry as a whole, giving them the tools they need to run a thriving business regardless of the market conditions. 

“We didn’t just suddenly decide to be a SaaS company, we’ve been on the precipice of doing this for a long time,” Donnellan said. “You can make something and have it for your own use and that is fairly easy, but to make something useful for people outside of your organization, then you are in the SaaS provider territory, which is one step further than what we’ve always been, which is a SaaS developer.” 

Bright Solutions’ first customer is the Ohio-based MLS Now. With over 14,000 subscribers MLS Now is the largest MLS in the Buckeye State.

“It has never been easy for an MLS to sell services to another MLS,” Donnellan said. “But the reality is, if these solutions work for our subscribers, they are going to work for brokers and agents at other MLSs, because it all comes down to what the brokers and agents are asking us for, and if brokerages can get consistency in tools across MLSs and better control over their data, we know we have something they are going to want.” 

Looking ahead Donnnellan said opening Bright Solutions up to individual teams or brokerages, whose MLS is not a customer, is not out of the question.

“I think if enough brokers are seeing something in the marketplace that they like or want to have access to, they’ll ask their MLS to look into getting it for them,” he said.

Donnellan added that Bright recognizes that not all MLSs operate in the same way or need the same tools as Bright, which is why MLSs can adopt the six tools individually or as a full technology suite. Additionally, as Bright rolls out new solutions to its members, Donnellan said they may consider adding them to the Bright Solutions product suite depending on the response of Bright MLS subscribers. 

In the meantime, Donnellan said he is really excited that, with this launch, he knows that Bright MLS is doing well when it comes to technology.

“In the past, I think we’ve done things well, but not as well as big technology firms like Google and Meta and maybe some other companies in our industry. I know we are doing things well and not just well compared to other MLSs or real estate companies, but compared to technology companies,” Donnellan said. “We’ve spent a lot of time trying to make a better process, to get better people, to focus on the areas that will provide the most return, and I think we are seeing those results now.” 

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