Jump Start

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


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