Sunday 20 September 2020

Tried and Tested UAT Method


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

or LinkedIn here https://uk.linkedin.com/in/tonysmiththathousingitguy

As anyone who knows me will testify, my job involves all kinds of work to help organisations find, select, implement and get the best from the right solutions. Spookily enough, over the past two months, I have been involved in helping two very different clients, progress with UAT (User Acceptance Testing). 

I am sure many readers of the blog have been through this essential project phase, some perhaps also together with me.

I am no stranger to thorough testing and can compare & contrast over the years, the various organisations and software houses I have worked in and with, from the late 80’s to present days. I can spot good quality control in development teams, as well as sloppy and also barely existent.

Representing software houses on site, I have had the experience of confirming a user is right to criticise our programmer spelling of ‘Correspondence’. That one was particularly galling when I knew English was not that users first language. In my UAT over this last month I found error messages, where the software houses name wasn’t even spelled correctly.

I know at this point, more than one software development director, will be emailing all his programmers, to check that one. At least get your own name right. Lexus, Mercedes, Jaguar or even Kia, wouldn’t dare get their names misspelled on your vehicle boot, now would they?  

Both of the customers I am working with, are thankfully using a home developed UAT. Expecting your software supplier to provide a set of UAT tests is a bit of a mugs game. How can it cover everything your organisation needs and the most important things for your teams? Exactly, it couldn’t, so don’t kid yourself it could. It’s the clients responsibility to check if everything will work. If you sign it off as ok and it wasn’t, you will either have to live with its foibles (perhaps) forever, or cause yourself grief after go-live.

As soon as you ‘sign off UAT’, you most likely need to make a milestone payment and in many cases, to fix what issues are left, will take months on a helpdesk, cost you to fix or never ever be fixed. The key to managing UAT issues, is the prioritised issues or RAID log. Decide which issues are red line ones. IE the ones that you absolutely wont go live without. Don’t be afraid to insist development fixes are delivered for testing, rather than wait until after go-live. If I had £50 for every fix I have been promised coming, ‘In the next sprint’ or ‘just around the corner’, and was disappointed, I could perhaps treat myself to that sexy ‘Specialized Turbo Kenevo Comp 2021 Electric Mountain Bike’, by now.

So what might pressure you to cut corners on your UAT?

Well you might be pressured to hit a particular date. Ask yourself, would anyone in your organisation thank you for going live with a system missing key working functions. Maybe better to clearly and concisely justify why you aren’t ready and move your target date to be something more realistic?

Your supplier might be mad keen to see your milestone payment, after UAT signed off. If they had configured it right in the first place, you may not be under that pressure.

Your suppliers' on-site consultants might try to convince you some of your ‘issues’ are ‘design features’. This is an interesting one, as it assumes that you haven’t really seen any other examples of ‘software’ at work or anywhere else in general life. This is something that programmers could fob people off with in the 80’s and 90’s, telling them black was white, but increasingly its not washing in 2020. If some programmer has cut corners and will make you and your users lives worse or less efficient, get it called out. Developers are meant to be automating what we do, to make us more, NOT less efficient. Don’t get fooled by supplier consultant staff telling you, that because they made the software work once and you made it fail 5 times, you are somehow the problem.

One niche aspect I have encountered is where UAT is being done on a test system and failing badly, suggested supplier solution is just use the live database to go live on and the failing UAT issues may go away. In what world would this make logical sense? If your supplier cannot get your system fit to fly through UAT on a test database, they wont be capable of doing on a live one.

Finally, reports (if you can get suppliers to supply them, as apparently they are as rare in some solutions as rocking horse sh1t), are always a great area to test. How often do the filter criteria make little sense or carry scant relevance to the team hoping to use it for insightful analysis, or the supplier report developers, have no grasp at all of what the purpose/content of the report may be? Poor original specification or communication while prototyping/writing/installing the reports, often sets the scene for later UAT friction. Then just watch, for some supplier accountant gatekeeper, to state that ‘we supplied the standard report’ and additional filters to make it useful to you, might well be ‘Change Control’, even if you are trying to get apparent no-brainers, such as dates in European rather than 09/11 type format.

UAT is a necessary evil and for a strong long relationship with a supplier, it should be executed well by customer and supplier. Fail to get it right and those memories of unfixed issues, being pushed to go-live pre-maturely, will linger for the rest of the (often rocky) relationship. If you and your supplier tackle UAT and its issues responsibly, you might be on your way to a long and fruitful journey.

Related Post: How often does a primary software supplier, struggle to control third party project suppliers? 


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I would be pleased to connect with you on LinkedIn - http://uk.linkedin.com/in/tonysmiththathousingitguy Message me with any issues or queries, you would like to be explored in this blog. We generally receive a couple of suggestions each month.

The Longcut - A Tried And Tested MethodThe Longcut - A Tried And Tested Method.
(c) Tony Smith, Acutance Consulting www.acutanceconsulting.co.uk 07854-655009


Access a quick list of our Social Housing ICT blog posts here

Could we help you or your organisation? Our contact details are here , get in touch we will be pleased to chat about your problems and help with your organisation issues.


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Wednesday 9 September 2020

Jump Start

If you do the Twitter thing, follow me at @HousingITguy
or LinkedIn here https://uk.linkedin.com/in/tonysmiththathousingitguy

From a housing systems viewpoint, I think its fair to say we are in very interesting times.

We have some existing suppliers already capable of providing SaaS & browser delivered systems, Also there are quite a few in transition to that state, and MRI, a new supplier group, recently assembled by its US owners. With that current mix, it’s no surprise that many social housing providers are looking at MS Dynamics 365 (D365) and Salesforce too, as alternative pathways to support future innovation, efficiencies and improved service delivery to residents.

D365 has been increasing in popularity recently, with landlords using Microsoft Resellers and/or internal ICT resources, to get the most from the platform. It can be expensive to rely purely on reseller resource and sometimes smaller ICT teams, certainly in my experience, always can benefit from ‘being shown the way’ or having a collaborative jump start, in order to get the most from D365.

We are a sector I have always found to be very generous with sharing skills, expertise, good ideas with other organisations, as this all assists with the central social purpose, of why we are here and improves lives of our residents

In this vein, I was quietly surprised to discover a new initiative to share a number of functional blocks for social housing organisations, using or looking to get a jump start into D365. The aim of Chris Roberts, who has worked in the sector twenty years, and ten with Dynamics CRM, is to provide useful templates to support Person, Property, ASB, complaints etc, absolutely free, via a brand-new forum and I would hope with Chris, a future community D365ForHousing


I’m liking what’s available (and planned to be coming) will need configuring, but reasonably will take organisations 60%+ towards where they need to be, to get working practically. This could clearly suit organisations looking to dip a toe in, without committing maybe £30k+ with a reseller, plus the obligatory Microsoft user licences (don’t get me quite on that one just yet!). The whole concept is a forum for sharing experiences, finding and exchanging advice. Without monetarisation, RSL’s and maybe resellers prepared to share for free, I think this is great for the sector.

I had a great chat with Chris last week and his experiences with AmicusHorizon, then Optivo and others have all gone into the openly available building blocks, which are all independent of those organisations. #D365ForHousing . I think its great that Chris wants to give back to the sector, after enjoying working in it and like me willing to step out and strive to make a difference.

Chris is well connected to contacts at Microsoft and clearly has received support for the project, as this is sure to bring more in the sector to D365. I think its something the SocialHousing sector would benefit from getting behind, as the whole thing can be set up in a trial within a few of hours for FREE, then used to kick start the project, support a business case or help bring people up to speed with the functionality available.

In the last 7 months, around 25 RSL’s have expressed an interest and two have spun up a trial, remarking how easy it was. I am very interested who this might be a good fit for. With my clients, maybe D365 is not a good fit, based on appetite for risk (particularly in Local Authorities).

Chris remarked, “If you're a decent sized RSL and up and running with D365 then this probably isn’t something for you (although you'd still be welcome to download the modules). Its aimed towards those starting the journey or are still trying to decide if Dynamics is for them, these solutions will help get you up and running and will significantly reduce implementation costs”. So for RSLs, that can only be a move in the right direction. If you are a Microsoft reseller reading this, possibly availability of this, will be a nudge in the direction of upping your game on productised solutions. If you are a traditional HMS provider, I guess it should really focus your thinking. Feel free you commercial guys, to comment.

I have seen a few D365 projects go well, crash/burn, seriously over-run etc, for all sorts of reasons. I was interested on Chris Roberts take on that. Are landlords tackling D365 properly?

He said, “I think they are now. A number of us have implemented Dynamics and are happy to share the good, bad and ugly, that's one of the great things about our sector. I think my advice would be make sure you take colleagues with you, spend time understanding them and their needs (while managing expectations). The technology is an enabler but its useless without user adoption. From a development point of view I'd suggest, where possible, to stay as close to out of the box functionality as possible. This wasn't always possible in earlier versions but D365 is a different beast altogether and should be considered with the rest of PowerApp and Microsoft 365 functionality. Finally, avoid a 'big bang' go live, its very difficult to manage and can have a serious impact on user adoption.”

Spookily enough, going for a MVP style of implementation is often how resellers frame D365 implementations. Where many of these go wrong is that the simpler aspects that D365 does well, form the early focus. Dealing with the Rent Accounting and in-depth Repairs, if they are going to be part of your project, need planning early, even if they are only expected to be delivered in 12 or more months time. These as experienced people know, are the really tricky nuts to crack. Perhaps if via #D365ForHousing, all the early simple aspects can be implemented, in a very quick similar way to what works for others, the real value-add that resellers can bring to the table, is the integration and difficult displacement of those two key housing modules. They are still the two main sides of the coin to most Social Housing landlords. IE how we collect and spend money.

On the spending of money, here I come back to those costs of D365 licences.

Both Chris and I agreed that Microsoft licencing could be fairer for Social Landlords. Maybe a multi-tiered license taking in concurrent or reporting users, only accessing data, could be considered. Contrasted to SalesForce for example, I have heard some of my clients, describe the comparison as ‘obscene’. For sure, fairer licencing may attract many smaller organisations to D365, the so called ‘NHF smalls’. A missed Microsoft opportunity, IMHO.

One last thought, on the subject of ‘opportunity’. Both Chris and I talked about the opportunity to combine the jump start building blocks with possible social purposes. We had both heard of similar ‘incubator’ type projects, where high school students, maybe even gifted residents from your own community, could gain valuable experience with D365. Now wouldn’t that be a wonderful potential win-win?

Go visit, check out #D365ForHousing at deliveringcrm.net

Related Post: Few projects are a 200metre sprint, strap in for the more likely marathon 


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I would be pleased to connect with you on LinkedIn - http://uk.linkedin.com/in/tonysmiththathousingitguy Message me with any issues or queries, you would like to be explored in this blog. We generally receive a couple of suggestions each month.

Runaway Go - Jump StartRunaway Go - Jump Start.
(c) Tony Smith, Acutance Consulting www.acutanceconsulting.co.uk 07854-655009


Access a quick list of our Social Housing ICT blog posts here

Could we help you or your organisation? Our contact details are here , get in touch we will be pleased to chat about your problems and help with your organisation issues.


File Under: #HomesForBritain,#HousingDAY,#InternetOfTenants,#Shout,#UKHousing, 07854655009, 1st Touch,1stTouch,360,365Agile,3squared,4Js, ACL,ALMO,AMS,AX,Aareon,Abritas,Academy,Accuserv,Accuserve,Active Housing,ActiveH,ActiveHousing,Acutence,Advanced,Agile,Agile365,AirWatch,Alfresco,Alignment,Allpay,Amazon Web Services,Anite,Apex,App,ArchHouse,Archouse,Asprey e-state pro,Asset Management,Associates,Aurora,Average IT Costs,AWI SX Integration Toolkit,AWS, BI,BO,BPR,BancTec,BigChange,Blockwise,BluTek,Bluebox,Blueprint,Browser Applications,Business Objects,Business Planning,Business Process Review,Business social networking, CACI,Capita One Housing,CBL,CCS IT Keystone CCSIT,CEDRM,CHICS,CHR,CIH,CMS,COA,CORE,CPL,CRM,CRM2013,CRS,CTI,CTX,Cadcorp,Capita,CapitaOne,Capita One,Capital Management,Cashflow,Castle,Castleton,Castleton Technology,Cedar Open Accounts,Cerrus,Change,Charges,Chartered Institute Of Housing,Cheaper Housing IT,Chics, Citrix,Civica,Civica CTX,Civica Cx,Civica Genero,Civica 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Contact,Housing Group,Housing Insight,Housing Management,Housing Management Consultant,Housing Partners,Housing Portfolio Management System,Hub Asset Management,Homeswapper,Housing jigsaw, Housing Support Pro,HousingIT,HousingSupportPro,HyperOptic, IMS,IT,IT Budget,IT Training,ITIL,Impact Response,In,In4,In4Systems Promaster,InfoBoss,InHouse,InMotion,InMotion2015,InMotion2016,InfoBoss,Infoflow,Information,Information Technology,Information@Work components,Informix,Innovation, Informetis,Inphase,Inside Housing,Insight,Internet Portal,Internetalia,Invu,Ireland,Irish,itLab, Keyfax,Keylogic,Keypera,Keystone,Kirona,Kypera, Landlord,Ledgers,Linkedin,Liquid,Locality,Localz, M3,MAVIS,MD,MDM,MI,MIS,MIS-AMS,MISCS,MRI,MS Dynamics,MRI,MS Dynamics CRM2011,Microsoft365,microsoft 365,MWL,Management,Management Server,Manifest,Measuring,Mebus,Microsoft Dynamics 365,Microsoft dynamics GP 2013,Miracle,MobileIron,Mobysoft,Monopoly board images and pictures,Montal,Mr Void,MriEngage,MrVoid, NDL,NINTEX,NINTEX workflow,NPS,NPS ASSIST,NPS Housing,NPS Job Manager Mobile,NROSH,Natural,Neighbourhoods and Communities,Nintexworkflow,Northgate,Northgate Codeman,Northgate Public Services,Notice, OA,OGC Buying Solutions,OJEU Limits,ORS,Ohms,OmFax,Omniledger,One,OneAdvanced,OneServe,Open source,OpenContractor,OpenHousing,Opti-time,Options,Optitime,Oracle,Orchard,Outsource and outsourcing,OutSystems, PIMMS,PIMSS Data,PM,PRINCE2,Paloma,Pamwin,PanConnect,People Value,Peoplevalue,PfH,Pick,PlanForm,Planned maintenance,Plenfific,Plus,Portfolio Management System,PowerObjects,Pro,Pro-Points,Prodo,Progress,Promaster,Propoints,Proval,Providers,Pyramid, QL,QuantSpark,Qube,QLX,Qlikview,QueryView,Queryview reporting,Quiss, RM865,ROCC,RPs,RSL,Rave,ReAct,Reality,RedkiteCRM,Red Olive,Registered,Registered Social,Rent Increase,RentSense,RentSenseLite,Repairfinder,Reporting,Reports,RobotAutomation,Rocket, Salesforce,Salesforce.Org,SAP,SASSHA,SDM,SHBVN,SM,SOTI,SP,SQL,SQL Open Housing,SQL Reporting,SQL 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Friday 4 September 2020

Mantra

If you do the Twitter thing, follow me at @HousingITguy
or LinkedIn here https://uk.linkedin.com/in/tonysmiththathousingitguy

Here’s a thing.

In the social housing sector we have a recent mantra around that whole digital thing. If I had £50 for every time I have sat through a demo telling me that I can do something digitally for pennies, that in the real world for shed loads of cash, I could perhaps retire right now. That’s for real too.

It comes with a caveat, that I always trot out, as you have to. That is, its only pence if you have that significant footfall, to make it work. Get the traction, its pence, fail and its cheaper to do it in the real world.

Now the last six months of Covid19 have been transformative. More I personally think, than the last 6 years. I really do. We have discovered we can pretty adequately (& actually excel in many cases), work from home, be more productive and get much more done, around all our home commitments too. We are welcoming not having to put up with all those physical things, like the early morning or evening commute, rushing through a ‘meal-deal’ lunch, or standing on a train for over an hour every day.

Not withstanding friends I know with a few mental health considerations (I understand), such a number of people I know, have embraced working digitally, I guess from here on would like more of it. So we are bought into all of this stuff now. As are residents, more than before. They want good service with less personal contact more now, than ever.

With everything all good, how would one undertake a re-run of the biggest celebration of the socialhousing sector, that usually occurs summer late June in Manchester (one of the greatest cities to hold such a reoccurring event, you would totally expect me to say…)? Digitally of course, which is how its going ahead.

Now, I’m not one of those people who may have taken a stand at Manchester Central, although I was back in 2010/11, when I was a supplier (on the mythical dark side). I remember grabbing a ‘last knockings’ stand for £1,500, plus £1,250 for electrics and lighting etc. I also remember that senior management conversation about “what will the return be on that”? For some exhibitions, that often created some debate. It resulted in a few exhibitions being turned down.

Anyway fast forward to September 2020, and the Housing 2020, the virtual festival, 7-11th Sep. https://cihhousing.com/virtual-festival

Considering the economies of undertaking this event in a digital way (as is the post-Covid19 fashion), as an optimist, I would expect this could be the biggest ever. We could make the best of the tech, double or more the attendance potentially.

Instead, I am dismayed speaking to many, would be attendees and exhibitors, who have said to me, “well we can’t really justify it”. Contacts have told me that they are being offered virtual pitches at £5k and above. How does that even make sense, unless some rampant profiteering is at work? Presumably Ocean Media had insurance, that paid out to cover the hire of Manchester Central. Maybe not. Those costs surely don’t need to be passed on to virtual attendees, 3 months later?

That has surely put a lot of suppliers off. While Ocean media think this may be ‘One year only’, I suspect realistically we may be some way off shaking Covid19 off. In the same way that ‘Pret’ are finding city/town centres are not the honeypots they once were, conferences may need to find a new normal. People already are exploring much more economic alternatives. I am a big fan of Ocean Media, I wouldn’t celebrate them becoming the new Kodak, but they like other conference organisers need to find their realistic new normal.

If conferences want to stay relevant and profitable, perhaps some rethink is necessary. We can have fantastic virtual conferences, with many more attendees than before, all contributing, also with a great mix of suppliers, that see their reasoning for being there too. With no costs for physical space, hotels, security, staff to organise, prawn sandwiches and buffet food etc, I am wrong in thinking that prices should be much lower for exhibiters and attendees too, in the virtual world, not higher?

I would be interested in hearing comments on these thoughts.


Related Post: Why are some implementers incentivised to fail? 


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I would be pleased to connect with you on LinkedIn - http://uk.linkedin.com/in/tonysmiththathousingitguy Message me with any issues or queries, you would like to be explored in this blog. We generally receive a couple of suggestions each month.

Mantra - Dave Grohl, Josh Homme, Trent ReznorMantra - Dave Grohl, Josh Homme, Trent Reznor.
(c) Tony Smith, Acutance Consulting www.acutanceconsulting.co.uk 07854-655009


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