This Is A Low

If you do the Twitter thing, follow me at @hotpixUK


In an informal chat today with an insider close to the Northern Consortium, I heard a whisper today that possibly Cardiff and Birmingham (Aston Villa) HITEX housing IT solution events may need to be cancelled. This is due to poor supplier and housing IT department and management take up.


Looking at the list of suppliers signed up this year there were some prominent figures missing from the list. I did not spot the two most popular HMS system suppliers Orchard and Aareon as well as Northgate. Maybe holding out for a cheaper deal nearer the events. Everyone appears to be tightening belts, looking for bargains and delaying decisions where they can be.


I have had great experience of HITEX in the past, found new customers there, taken prospects to the right solutions and enjoyed some lovely buffets. The mini-shepherds pies and the Thai kebabs were my especial faves. Even though it’s free for up to 10 IT and systems staff from housing to attend, there appears to be limited takers this year. Even a few hours out of the office seemingly becoming difficult in these strapped times.


The NHF IT IT in Housing Conference and Exhibition at Olympia is also coming up soon in November 20th / 21st. possibly people are waiting for that one instead. It’s certainly one where there is more prospect of your supplier taking you for a free meal out, if that’s your thing. The conference exhibition is generally free to attend, register here - http://www.eventdata.co.uk/Forms/Default.aspx?FormRef=ITHB2Visitor


The emphasis most places I go is on squeezing more from existing systems and that includes your existing suppliers. Start trimming out things you pay for and don’t use. A few weeks ago I identified savings of £3.5K per annum just by taking some printers off annual maintenance. A lot of these things are historic. A decent printer used to cost over a grand, now it’s plummeted to just a fraction of that. You might need help in identifying some of the bloat, but a lot can be worked out yourself with some digging. Also don’t forget those modules you paid for and never implemented. Also the ones you used to use and now don’t. I have found similar savings there, moving to cheaper read-only licences, ditching them altogether or moving it all to Access or SQL Server.

**** Quick update : 26th October 2012, Aston Villa Birmingham and Cardiff HiTex venues dropped.

Read on to: Some Exhibitions That Are Thriving

How low can it go?.


(c) Tony Smith, Acutance Consulting www.acutanceconsulting.co.uk

File Under: 360,1stTouch,4Js,Aareon,Academy,ActiveH,Alignment,ALMO,Anite,Apex,ArchHouse,Archouse,asbestos,Asprey e-state pro,Asset Management,Aurora,Average IT Costs,BO,BPR,Browser Applications,Business Objects,Business Process Review,Business social networking,Castle,CBL,Cedar Open Accounts,Change,Cheaper Housing IT,Chics,

CHR,Citrix,Civica,Clearview,CMS Template,COA,Coactiva,Codeman,Comino,Competitive Dialogue process,complex IT procurements,Component Accounting,Consilium,Consolidation,Consultancy,Consultant,Contact Manager,Context, MD , Director , Housing software, UK, United Kingdom,
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Technologic

If you do the Twitter thing, follow me at @hotpixUK


When can you be too techie? When you are like me and had a background in many diverse industries, from engineering, manufacturing, retail, distribution, clinical and finally 14 years in housing software, you pick up lots of baggage. With me, the drive to solve problems often causes me to dig deep into my experience for the best answer or a mix of options. It’s rarely the most obvious approach.

A lot of my knowledge was gained by doing, reading textbooks, in one case by writing on-line help for a whole suite of ActiveH products. In the latter case you learn much about your own products, how many set up screens are absent or ‘hidden’, as well as what the quality of your developers is like. Particularly getting a head in a textbook or trying stuff out is not everyone’s cup of chai. Many staff do hope to go on an expensive course and have it spoon fed.

When I was involved in the sales process I generally opened and closed demos and was always on hand to answer those interesting questions from the floor. Five years writing/supporting the product, five implementing it and five managing, directing and selling it put me in a good position for answering those questions in an honest manner. It’s disingenuous to infer that ‘Everything’s Possible’ only to find when you have purchased, it’s another story. I have always slept better being honest.

Being at a demonstration to a prospective customer in the position of Managing Director was sometimes problematical too. Some prospects pointedly took the view that maybe my software house was small and that’s why I had come along. My stock reply was “perhaps the competitors did not think you important enough to warrant a visit”. If you deal with a very large company, you can wind up as a mere customer number in the ledger, regardless of you putting hundreds of thousands of pounds of business their way each year. The second part to my reply was always that “I know this software inside out, so I am sure we can answer all your questions at this early stage as a prospect. If you join us as a customer you will see me at every user event, interested in your needs and at any time I am available for you to contact directly, day or night”.

It seems a common thing in some organisations and with certain managers, that once some people reach a certain level, they take pride in professing to be ‘non-technical’. That might be a disinterest in how to get a simple select out of SQL server, how VLOOKUP works (I should do a whole item on that!) or how the core product functions or integrates together. As can been seen above it did me no harm. In many situations that knowledge helped cut through the cow cookies. In several it helped either clinch a deal or turnaround a tense situation.

It always impresses me when someone I am working with reveals some geeky experience. Only a few weeks ago I was working with a great IT Manager who whipped out a spreadsheet for a project we were involved in that really impressed me. He had embedded in some really funky VBA macros to quickly compare data we were assessing. Icing on the cake, but with it came a feeling here was no fool and someone who will have no difficulty testing staff or supplier protestations, to get the best outcomes.

So I am quite proud that I carry that old baggage around with me. Whether I am involved in a procurement project, business process review, integrating new modules, converting, testing, integrating reporting or workflow etc, I benefit from the sum of all that experience. How many of your managers are proud to retain a certain level of geek-iness for the good of your organisation?

Can you be too techie?.


(c) Tony Smith, Acutance Consulting www.acutanceconsulting.co.uk

File Under: 360,1stTouch,4Js,Aareon,Academy,ActiveH,Alignment,ALMO,Anite,Apex,ArchHouse,Archouse,asbestos,Asprey e-state pro,Asset Management,Aurora,Average IT Costs,BO,BPR,Browser Applications,Business Objects,Business Process Review,Business social networking,Castle,CBL,Cedar Open Accounts,Change,Cheaper Housing IT,Chics,

CHR,Citrix,Civica,Clearview,CMS Template,COA,Coactiva,Codeman,Comino,Competitive Dialogue process,complex IT procurements,Component Accounting,Consilium,Consolidation,Consultancy,Consultant,Contact Manager,Context, MD , Director , Housing software, UK, United Kingdom,
Contractor Systems,CORE,CorVu,Cost Reductions,Covalent,CRM,Crystal Reports,CTI,CTX,Customer Relationship Management,Deeplake,Development Systems,Document Management,Documotive,ECMK,EDRMS,England, English,EnterpriseBI,ERP Systems,Finance,Financial Systems,Getting best from,Grasp,Grip,hardware,HG,Housemark survey,Housing Blueprint,Housing Group,Impact Response,implementations,In House,In4,Infoflow,Information Technology,Informix,inHouse,in-house workforce, HousingIT, Innovation,Inside Housing,Internet Portal,Invu,Ireland,Irish,IT Budget,IT Training,iWorld,Keylogic,Keystone,Kirona,Kypera,management reporting,Measuring Change,Mebus,Miracle,MISCS, mobile functionality,Monopoly board images and pictures, Montal,MS Dynamics,MS Dynamics CRM2011,Neighbourhoods and Communities,Northgate,Notice,NROSH,OA,OGC Buying Solutions,Ohms,OJEU Limits,OmFax,Omniledger,Open source software,open tender,OpenHousing,Opti-Time,Oracle,Orchard,Outsource and outsourcing,Paloma,performance management systems,PfH,Pick,PIMMS,pimms4communities,Planned maintenance,Plus,PM,Progress,Promaster,Proval,Pyramid, QL,QLX,Registered Providers,Registered Social Landlord,Rent Increase Freezes,Repairfinder,Reporting,Reports,ROCC, NINTEX , NINTEX workflow , Rocket,RPs,RSL,Saffron,SAP,Scots, Scottish,Scotland,SDM,sector,Server Virtualisation,servicing, Universalcredit, universal credit, universal credits, Servitor,Servitor,Sharepoint,Simdel,Simdell,Slash and Burn,Social Media,Software,SQL Open Housing,SQL Reporting Services,SQL reporting services,SQL Server,Star rating,Stores and Stock,Strategic Asset Management,Sunguard ,Surveys,Sx3,System alignment, Systemwise, Factorwise, Blockwise, Block wise, Task,Terminal Services,Three Star,Today,Total repairs,Tribal,Twitter,U2,UniClass Enterprise,Unidata,Universal Housing,Universe,Unrest,Van Stock,Voice and data,Wales,Welsh,Windows Server,Workflow and tasking,Xmbrace,XML, 07854-655009 , 07854655009 , 07854 655009 , "07854 655009" , tonysmith , thathousing , thathousingit , thathousingITguy, guy