How would Fad had secured his Smart Gadgets?

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

I was in a conversation just last week with a SocialHousing client I am working with, around IOT trials, security concerns and potential resident resistance. A couple of the organisations I am working with are putting a toe in the water with Switchee and navigating the technical and cultural challenges.

Although more and more smart devices are starting to be invited into our cribs, for sure there are still lots of rumour, fears and conspiracies around landlords providing them. Many fears are not justified and clearly for me, benefits always need to be used to sell/justify tenants trusting these devices to improve their environments or save them money.

Malware and threats like the Mirai botnet are indeed real and need to be considered as a risk in our own & customers homes.  

So, how best to get the basics of IOT & smart gadget security right?

Start with decent complex passwords. Always on device accounts use a mix of lower/uppercase letters, numbers, and symbols.

Switch on all digital safeguards, such as MFA (two-factor authentication) wherever available and practical.

Cut out the use of features you don’t need, such as Universal Plug and Play (UPnP), to lower the risks on and across devices.

Provide a decent isolated guest network. Have separate networks for visitors, keeping IoT devices safe from other mobile devices.

Keep on top of periodic software updates. Updates improve smart devices fixing security issues. Where automatic updates are available, be sure to switch these on.

Choose to configure with the securest network protocols and guard the network against cyber attack.

Use strong encryption, like WPA2, making it harder for intruders.

If you have smart devices at home, or IOT installations in SocialHousing or other property, monitoring environment, being used within care and support or other areas, is your team applying all of the above. Having these habits in place and sharing these with customers will reassure and perhaps allow them greater confidence to see the wider benefits.

For sure, IOT has been ‘just around the corner’ for more than 5 years. Maybe if we can properly address the ‘is that secure’ question, we will be much closer to that reality.

_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/ *** Join the discussion with Claire & Aiden *** _/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/

Struggling with Asset Management information or incorporating IOT?

Get in touch , for a chat soon over a cuppa ☕😋

       Related Post: How hard is it to get started with IOT? Here's a great Welsh example

_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/

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.

Fad Gadget – The Box' .
(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,Affinity,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 Saffron,Clearview,Clik,Cx Assets, Cloud Dialogs,CloudDialogs,Coactiva,Codeman,Comino,Commontime,Community Reward Services,Company,Competitive Dialogue process,Component Accounting,Consilium,Consolidation, Consultancy,Consultant,Consultants,Contact Manager,Context,Contractor Systems,CorVu,Cost Reductions,Covalent,Crystal Reports,Customer Relationship Management,Cx,CxFeedback, DRS,Deeplake,Designer Software,Development Systems,Director,Document,Documotive,Docuware,Dynamic AI,DynamicAI,Dynamics 365,D365,Dynamics365,Dynaway ECMK,EDM,EDRMS,ERP,ESRI,Elmhurst,Enghouse Interactive,England,English,EnterpriseBI,Estatecraft,Esuasive,Etive,Exhibition,Exponential-e, Facebook,Factorwise,Field Service management,Finance,Financial Systems,Financials,FLS,Footprint,Forms,Freezes,Fusion,Fuzzlab Gas Tag,G-Cloud,GCloud,GDPR,GGP,GIS,GasTag,Genero,GeoSolveIT,Getting best from,GoTonySmith,Grasp,Grip,Group Apex, HFI (Housing Financials interface),HG,HRA,Hardware,Hitachi Systems,Hitex,HomeMaster,Hometeam,HouSys,House,Housemark,Housemark survey,Housing,Housing 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,Keynamics, 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,More IQ,MoreIQ,Microsoft Dynamics 365,Microsoft dynamics GP 2013,Miracle,MobileIron,Mobysoft,Monopoly board images and pictures,Montal,Mr Void,MriEngage,MrVoid,MoreIQ 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,QLX, QLF, QL Yuneo,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,Rubixx, Salesforce,Salesforce.Org,SAP,SASSHA,SDM,SHBVN,SM,SOTI,SP,SQL,SQL Open Housing,SQL Reporting,SQL Server,Saffron,Safron,Saturn,Scenario,Scotland,Scots,Scottish,Scout,Sequoa,Serengeti,Serros,Server,Service,Services,Servitor,Sharepoint,Sim,SimPro, Simdel,Simdell,Slash and Burn,Social Housing ICT,Social Housing Software Applications,Social Media,Software,Software solutions,Spotlight Service,Spotlightservice,Star rating,Stores and Stock,Strategic,SunAccounts,Sunguard,Surveys,Streetwise, Swordfish,Sx3,Symatrix Human,System alignment,Systems,Systemwise, T-Files,TEAMS,TED,TFiles,TP Tracker,TSG,Tagish Casework,Tagra,Task,TAIM,Technologies (India) PVT Limited,Telecetera,Template,Terminal Services,That,Three Star,Tilt,TiltAffinity,Today,Tony Smith,Tony Smith That Housing IT Guy,TonySmith that housing IT,TonySmithHou,TonySmithHousing, ,TonySmithHousingITguy,Total,Total Mobile,Totalmobile,Trace,Tribal,Twitter, U2,UC,UK,UK Housing,Ukhousing,UniClass Enterprise,Unidata,United Kingdom,Universal,Universalcredit,Universe,Unrest, Valueworks,Van Stock,Vantage,Vantage Sentinel,Version,Virtualisation,Visitour,Visualmetrics,Voice,Voice and data,Voluntas, Wales,Welsh,Wheatley,Windows Server,Workflow and,Work Hub,Works Connect, XML,Xen App,XenApp,Xmbrace, Yuneo,TS Acutance Consulting, ...
. . . . . . . . . . . . ES | FR | DE | IT | UK |

Aint No Room

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

I have come across BIM / Building Information Modelling in many recent projects. Mostly in London based providers who are developing, however these are also innovations that can be leveraged in more historic and traditional situations and environments, 3D design and visualisation. Its clear to me that standards are being defined. The Construction Operations Building Information Exchange (COBie) non-proprietary data format, looks like the early leader. Hopefully this is the VHS survivor, not the innovative Betamax format, back in 1990’s we all wished had won!

Providers, consultants and professionals I have worked with in Development, are all excited at the way standard formats like COBie, can smooth collaboration throughout the build. Post handover, contractors and Socialhousing staff can also use this data to take better informed decisions going forward.

In terms of the direction of the individual UK social housing regulators, providers having better information on the location of all fitted features, with ability to share more info with residents and manage our assets better is where we are going.

BIM is good and its clearly going to be a strand of how we will better manage assets in the future, hopefully recording and identifying components mapped to three axis and easily represented visually. The potential is there to improve the performance of our assets and how they use (or lose) energy well. Successful mapping of data points, hopefully in the thousands not hundreds in our buildings can provide a vast amount of information, which can be manipulated and overlaid with other data, perhaps collated via IOT sensors.

For all the excitement of virtual modelling and having all this information to hand, its interesting how many building organisations, still have limited Asset Management solution capability, or it is siloed and looked after by two men and a dog, who fiercely gatekeep access to it. Worse of all there are still too many organisations stuck with data in Keystone, hampered by Silverlight vulnerabilities, now further isolated from the main network by ICT, for security reasons. Asset data is better integrated into wider solutions, such as CRM, Repairs, Compliance, Voids and for general use of the housing team. While BIM might be aware of an M&E installation for ventilation, does the servicing team realise that the filters should be checked & cleaned annually to keep the kit working well?

So, if considering getting started with BIM, ensure you consider it as part of your wider Asset Management data regime. Thinking about it as a whole, the #Socialhousing sector will potentially be in a better position to improve the lives of our tenants, shared/leaseholders and satisfy those evolving regulator demands, from whatever corner of the UK, we need to conform to.

_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/ *** Join the discussion with Claire & Aiden *** _/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/

Are you getting best use of your Asset Management information?

Get in touch , for a chat soon over a cuppa and a biscuit or two ☕😋

       Related Post: Does your organisation feed your development data into asset management ?

_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/

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 Vines – Ain’t No Room.
(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,Affinity,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 Saffron,Clearview,Clik,Cx Assets, Cloud Dialogs,CloudDialogs,Coactiva,Codeman,Comino,Commontime,Community Reward Services,Company,Competitive Dialogue process,Component Accounting,Consilium,Consolidation, Consultancy,Consultant,Consultants,Contact Manager,Context,Contractor Systems,CorVu,Cost Reductions,Covalent,Crystal Reports,Customer Relationship Management,Cx,CxFeedback, DRS,Deeplake,Designer Software,Development Systems,Director,Document,Documotive,Docuware,Dynamic AI,DynamicAI,Dynamics 365,D365,Dynamics365,Dynaway ECMK,EDM,EDRMS,ERP,ESRI,Elmhurst,Enghouse Interactive,England,English,EnterpriseBI,Estatecraft,Esuasive,Etive,Exhibition,Exponential-e, Facebook,Factorwise,Field Service management,Finance,Financial Systems,Financials,FLS,Footprint,Forms,Freezes,Fusion,Fuzzlab Gas Tag,G-Cloud,GCloud,GDPR,GGP,GIS,GasTag,Genero,GeoSolveIT,Getting best from,GoTonySmith,Grasp,Grip,Group Apex, HFI (Housing Financials interface),HG,HRA,Hardware,Hitachi Systems,Hitex,HomeMaster,Hometeam,HouSys,House,Housemark,Housemark survey,Housing,Housing 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,Keynamics, 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,More IQ,MoreIQ,Microsoft Dynamics 365,Microsoft dynamics GP 2013,Miracle,MobileIron,Mobysoft,Monopoly board images and pictures,Montal,Mr Void,MriEngage,MrVoid,MoreIQ 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,QLX, QLF, QL Yuneo,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,Rubixx, Salesforce,Salesforce.Org,SAP,SASSHA,SDM,SHBVN,SM,SOTI,SP,SQL,SQL Open Housing,SQL Reporting,SQL Server,Saffron,Safron,Saturn,Scenario,Scotland,Scots,Scottish,Scout,Sequoa,Serengeti,Serros,Server,Service,Services,Servitor,Sharepoint,Sim,SimPro, Simdel,Simdell,Slash and Burn,Social Housing ICT,Social Housing Software Applications,Social Media,Software,Software solutions,Spotlight Service,Spotlightservice,Star rating,Stores and Stock,Strategic,SunAccounts,Sunguard,Surveys,Streetwise, Swordfish,Sx3,Symatrix Human,System alignment,Systems,Systemwise, T-Files,TEAMS,TED,TFiles,TP Tracker,TSG,Tagish Casework,Tagra,Task,TAIM,Technologies (India) PVT Limited,Telecetera,Template,Terminal Services,That,Three Star,Tilt,TiltAffinity,Today,Tony Smith,Tony Smith That Housing IT Guy,TonySmith that housing IT,TonySmithHou,TonySmithHousing, ,TonySmithHousingITguy,Total,Total Mobile,Totalmobile,Trace,Tribal,Twitter, U2,UC,UK,UK Housing,Ukhousing,UniClass Enterprise,Unidata,United Kingdom,Universal,Universalcredit,Universe,Unrest, Valueworks,Van Stock,Vantage,Vantage Sentinel,Version,Virtualisation,Visitour,Visualmetrics,Voice,Voice and data,Voluntas, Wales,Welsh,Wheatley,Windows Server,Workflow and,Work Hub,Works Connect, XML,Xen App,XenApp,Xmbrace, Yuneo,TS Acutance Consulting, ...
. . . . . . . . . . . . ES | FR | DE | IT | UK |

 

Keystone Cold Crazy

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

Is it so great when stuff just creeps up on you?

You know like your need to renew your driving licence or passport, when you have known about needing to do it, for ten whole years. Many of us may have been (nearly) caught out by that one. I was earlier this year, when I realised I had less than 6 months to go on my passport, before a trip to an EU country. I did managed to sort it in time however, without the deadline tripping me up.

One known about more than a decade ago deadline seems to have just tripped up many in SocialHousing. That is the popular housing applications out there, that utilised the early centuries big Microsoft trailblazing & expensive technology, Silverlight. Its late to the table response to Adobe Flash Runtime, launched 2007 and already had an end date planned by 2012.

I first blogged about its demise about 11 years ago -  , not that many folk took notice. Still, nothing was to be needed to be done until 2019.

There are a few software applications out there with Silverlight, the two key ones in many housing organisations being Keystone for asset management and 1st Touch mobile. The latter issues (in the forms designer), was announced as fixed by a replacement called ‘Versaa’ -  a couple of years back. That fix came with a cost however, as existing clients are aware.

The interesting one for me is the former and over the last three months have never been contacted by so many existing Keystone users. Several dozen appear to have only just woken up to the dangers of keeping it on their networks, particularly if there is web access. The risk of future vulnerabilities has meant that many ICT teams have moved their version to isolated internal servers and to near the top of their risk registers added to other known dangers, with good reason.

Keystone has been a very popular Asset Management package, which was bought up by Civica in 2014. I have over the years found it a very capable package, although rarely fully exploited or integrated well into HMS or other packages. In many cases, Asset Management can have been managed in its own organisational silo. In theory there is a replacement option from its owner, although its fair to say that organisations I have encountered are all keen to test the procurement market, including soft-testing.

While some lightweight options exist, it can be pretty expensive to replace Keystone properly and leverage considerable transformation too. Integrations as ever are trick to overcome, which can lead to looking more comprehensively at systems in use, particularly if they are knocking on a bit. No doubt about it, better transformation can be achieved with the assets area fully in the mix, together with potential significant savings. If you are a current Keystone user, it’s a thought worth popping into your cafetiere, and seeing if it comes out brown!

If you need any assistance getting to grips with life after Keystone, please reach out and have a chat on 07854-655009

Subscribe to our blog here on this link, to always catch the latest news on whats happening in the sector.

Acutance Consulting would be happy to help you review systems options, 

please just get in touch, for a chat over a brew ☕😋

       Related Post: Should the link between development and Asset management be much, much closer?

Catch the blog monthly archive at https://soundcloud.com/housingitguy/

_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/

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.

Queen - Stone Cold Crazy.
(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,Affinity,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 Saffron,Clearview,Clik,Cx Assets, Cloud Dialogs,CloudDialogs,Coactiva,Codeman,Comino,Commontime,Community Reward Services,Company,Competitive Dialogue process,Component Accounting,Consilium,Consolidation, Consultancy,Consultant,Consultants,Contact Manager,Context,Contractor Systems,CorVu,Cost Reductions,Covalent,Crystal Reports,Customer Relationship Management,Cx, DRS,Deeplake,Designer Software,Development Systems,Director,Document,Documotive,Docuware,Dynamic AI,DynamicAI,Dynamics 365,D365,Dynamics365, ECMK,EDM,EDRMS,ERP,ESRI,Elmhurst,Enghouse Interactive,England,English,EnterpriseBI,Estatecraft,Etive,Exhibition,Exponential-e, Facebook,Factorwise,Field Service management,Finance,Financial Systems,Financials,Footprint,Forms,Freezes,Fusion,Fuzzlab Gas Tag,G-Cloud,GCloud,GDPR,GGP,GIS,GasTag,Genero,GeoSolveIT,Getting best from,GoTonySmith,Grasp,Grip,Group Apex, HFI (Housing Financials interface),HG,HRA,Hardware,Hitachi Systems,Hitex,HomeMaster,Hometeam,HouSys,House,Housemark,Housemark survey,Housing,Housing 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,Keynamics, 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,More IQ,MoreIQ,Microsoft Dynamics 365,Microsoft dynamics GP 2013,Miracle,MobileIron,Mobysoft,Monopoly board images and pictures,Montal,Mr Void,MriEngage,MrVoid,MoreIQ 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,QLX, QLF, QL Yuneo,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,Rubixx, Salesforce,Salesforce.Org,SAP,SASSHA,SDM,SHBVN,SM,SOTI,SP,SQL,SQL Open Housing,SQL Reporting,SQL Server,Saffron,Safron,Saturn,Scenario,Scotland,Scots,Scottish,Scout,Sequoa,Serengeti,Serros,Server,Service,Services,Servitor,Sharepoint,Sim,SimPro, Simdel,Simdell,Slash and Burn,Social Housing ICT,Social Housing Software Applications,Social Media,Software,Software solutions,Spotlight Service,Spotlightservice,Star rating,Stores and Stock,Strategic,SunAccounts,Sunguard,Surveys,Streetwise, Swordfish,Sx3,Symatrix Human,System alignment,Systems,Systemwise, T-Files,TEAMS,TED,TFiles,TP Tracker,TSG,Tagish Casework,Tagra,Task,TAIM,Technologies (India) PVT Limited,Telecetera,Template,Terminal Services,That,Three Star,Tilt,TiltAffinity,Today,Tony Smith,Tony Smith That Housing IT Guy,TonySmith that housing IT,TonySmithHou,TonySmithHousing, ,TonySmithHousingITguy,Total,Total Mobile,Totalmobile,Trace,Tribal,Twitter, U2,UC,UK,UK Housing,Ukhousing,UniClass Enterprise,Unidata,United Kingdom,Universal,Universalcredit,Universe,Unrest, Valueworks,Van Stock,Vantage,Vantage Sentinel,Version,Virtualisation,Visualmetrics,Voice,Voice and data,Voluntas, Wales,Welsh,Wheatley,Windows Server,Workflow and,Work Hub,Works Connect, XML,Xen App,XenApp,Xmbrace, Yuneo, ...
. . . . . . . . . . . . - | ES | DE | FR | UK |

 

It’s a fixer-upper...

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

We are all aware of one or two in our neighborhoods I am sure, yes the ‘Fixer-Upper’. Generally a property (or anything else like an ICT system) bought on the cheap purchased with full knowledge that a lot of work, substantial additional time and cash investment would be needed. 

That’s all very well with buyers going into that situation with eyes wide open, however what of new renters moving in to a let, then discovering its more a ‘Fixer-Upper’ than a property hitting the landlords ‘Letting standard’ ?

Classic issues in a Fixer-Upper are often damp, roofing and window issues, what might be more commonly referred to in social housing, as Capital Works. Small patches of damp are often caused by plumbing or roofing/draining issues. Typically tenants may report these issue instances via self-service or a call into an RSL contact service centre.

As we know, Westminster Housing & Communities dept, quite rightly are all over this issue at the moment, as can be seen by the initial report findings.

Top level observations were:
 

• Landlords relied more heavily on reactive approaches to identifying problems than proactively looking for evidence of damp and mould through surveys of their homes
• had less data or refreshed their data less frequently
• had weaker evidence about their assurance, oversight and understanding of the condition of homes

So how can landlords better use existing or newer Housing Management System solutions, to tackle the above directly?

Well, firstly an emphasis on how complaints and responsive repair requests are diagnosed and progressed. Where damp and mould issues come in as complaints, they should also be logged as a repair request. This is the envelope that can generally encompass pre-inspections, remedy work, post-inspection and follow-up surveys etc. Scripting (the likes of Keyfax, RepairFinder, ActiveHousing etc), can be enhanced around damp and mould, in order to capture additional information. This might include more precise locations in the property for example. IE not just ‘Rear Bedroom’, but in addition precise place(s), eg ‘ceiling next to back wall’, ‘To left of single glazed window’ etc.

Also, capturing extent and images if we can, is important. Tenants should be asked in plain language to determine what size the area is, if they are unable to measure. EG ‘a patch the size of a hand, full length of a wall’ etc.

Where pre-inspections are necessary, these can be specially prioritised and kept within the computer recorded Request. It is likely that an initial inspection will result in work on roof, guttering, plumbing, or other ‘Wet Trades’. I have worked with clients in some of the wettest parts of the UK (yes, wetter even than Manchester!) and generally I have experienced ‘Wet Trade’ operatives to be in short supply, particularly in colder/wetter months.

This can lead to work being deferred or perhaps parked until capital/planned programmes are due, later in the year. To safeguard the chance of the issue not being picked up by these later works, the Request should be kept open. Closing the request in this instance, has not solved the tenants issue, and artificially reports as a successful outcome at the RSL. This is a major danger, particularly if that programmed work on that block/scheme, never takes place or budget is reallocated. 

Few asset stock condition surveys that I regularly see in use, actually ask questions specifically around damp & mold. These need to be incorporated if your asset management team have not already done so, in order to direct the surveyors right to it.

Where repeat Requests and customer contact occurs on damp/mould, these point to underlying resident issues not being solved. From the landlords viewpoint, this will no doubt cost more later in damage to the asset. From the tenant viewpoint, service is poor and their health could be placed in danger.

Data, having lots of it current and accurate around condition, is the key to closing out these issues properly and reporting coherently. You would expect by now, the sector was making good use of IOT to monitor properties and heating/ventilation efficiency. We still seem slow to put the Internet Of Things to much use unfortunately. This could be a source of great data. Perhaps a whole future blog there on pioneers doing significant rollouts in 2023.

Recent articles I have read cite ‘Tenant Life style’ as a sometime source of damp and mold issues. While lack of outdoor drying areas, heating/washing habits, occupier behaviours etc, can contribute to these issues, I doubt very much that religious practices and ablutions, rather than poor/expensive heating and noisy/insufficient ventilation, is to blame in many cases.

While we have improved central heating, insulated and double-glazed, we have reduced the amount of default ventilation in our homes too. Some additional communication can be really helpful as regards drying areas, opening windows etc, to tackle those aspects. Residents experiencing challenges in keeping homes sufficiently warm, may also benefit from advice via tenancy sustainment teams. For sure, we are all seeing increased fuel bills, with no early prospect of things normalizing soon. Noting that these types of discussions have taken place in our systems, will be helpful later in better targeting help, with potential reducing budgets.

Our systems can help landlords tackle damp and mould issues from a number of angles. Better the Ukhousing sector starts getting a grip on these issues, way before the regulator, ambulance chasers or God forbid, the coroner comes calling. As ever, remember even the best processes, technology and solutions, requires a good organisation culture too, driven best from the very top.

If we at Acutance Consulting can help your organisation with data issues, 

please just get in touch, for a friendly chat over some lemon drizzle Cake & a brew ☕😋.

       Related Post: Integrate your stock condition surveys into your HMS data 

Catch the blog monthly archive at https://soundcloud.com/housingitguy/

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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.

Its a fixer upper – Yard Act.
(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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. . . . . . . . . . . .

Living Wills (In A Box)

If you do the Twitter thing, follow me at @hotpixUK
or LinkedIn here uk.linkedin.com/pub/tony-smith-bsc-hons-acih/a/979/351/

Living Wills are the latest thing for housing asset management professionals to be thinking about, and your wider board. There has been a growing interest in a number of regulated sectors in the benefits that can come with the use of formal recovery and resolution plans, which are commonly known as living wills.  These are documented plans to ensure an effective recovery or a rapid and orderly resolution in the event of material financial distress or business failure.

A number of my customers in the housing sector are analysing assets in a pre-emptive look at how to prepare for future uncertainty. Housing IT can assist in this area, by identifying poorly performing areas of stock. Also by correlating other local data, such as local ward crime maps, susceptibility to floods, radon or other hazards, desirability, amount of void churn etc. It is possible to rate these factors to easily identify stock outside of the norm, the first resort for sale in the event of uncertainty. A number of legal organisations are attempting to provide advice on this area. Trowers' overview can be viewed here http://www.trowers.com/uploads/Files/Publications/2013/Bulletins/HCA_discussion_paper_final_response_document.pdf

The housing organisations most at risk are those that have diversified beyond the conventional housing remit. Many organisations these days are looking to shore up revenues, by expanding repair service, service charges or as is becoming more and more popular b2b (business to business) services. The degree of these on an organisations balance sheet is an indicator to the degree to which living wills should be considered. It has been suggested that 5% would be a suitable figure, although many forward thinking housing groups, I suspect will be way beyond that level.

Preparing an active 'Living will' plays an important role in securing tenants interests. This is assurance that social housing assets would be protected in the event of a landlord getting in to financial distress or a business/governance failure. Moves to implement this were started over a year ago - http://www.insidehousing.co.uk/hca-sets-out-plans-for-tougher-regulation/6526446.article . Julian Ashby, chair of the HCA regulation committee, back in April 2013, said the regulator is ‘open-minded’ about how to achieve its objectives. Mr Ashby, in his foreword to the document, says: ‘This document is designed to start a period of intensive dialogue with the sector.’

At the time of voids becoming active, the costs of refurb, preparing to let etc, coupled with other environmental factors, might mean that your Living Will policy may trigger a sale. More on that herehttp://tonysmiththathousingitguy.blogspot.co.uk/2014/08/love-in-void.html

Being prepared is no bad thing and easier with some forward planning. Do you really know your assets from different angles? Would you be able to quickly identify a few million pounds worth of assets to divest if needed, and know they were the optimum ones to unload? Why not speak to your asset team and see how they are using IT and available data to develop a picture of your assets? Your managers may be well on top of it, alternatively they may need some help, soon. Living Wills may be required by more lenders into the future, all RP's and RSLs need to be prepared.

Read On To : Keystone Sold

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You can link with me on LinkedIn here - uk.linkedin.com/pub/tony-smith-bsc-hons-acih/a/979/351/ It would be great to connect !

Living In A Box.


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

PS As usual, if there are subjects you might like me to tackle on this blog, please get in touch and let me know!

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(Pro)Master and Servant

If you do the Twitter thing, follow me at @hotpixUK
or LinkedIn here uk.linkedin.com/pub/tony-smith-bsc-hons-acih/a/979/351/


Interesting news this week that one of the larger standalone asset management applications has been acquired by one of the larger housing management system providers. IN4, authors of Promaster has been swallowed up by ‘toon independent software house Orchard.  Many may recall a similar path that Codeman went down being bought by Anite, then becoming Northgate.


In both cases here is a product that runs on a different database platform than the buyer, Codeman SQL & Oracle, Promaster SQL-ish and Progress. Promaster had tried to encroach into housing territory with call logging and response repair modules, but of the many standalone products out there, it appeared to me as notoriously hard to integrate.  Taking this into account it’s maybe unlikely that Orchard may pick up more HMS customers by the acquisition. Moving everything to a MS SQL database platform looks to be the wisest move from where I am standing, if Orchard are interested.

As a customer of Promaster and I have met a few, I am sure you would have been reassured that no big changes are in the short term pipeline.  Promaster users might well benefit from improvements in support and call logging that Orchard might bring to the marriage. Maybe that formatted address may be split into sortable datafields soon. In the other direction, Orchard may well be able to incorporate new asset & planned maintenance functionality into the core housing offerings, lifted from what is successful in Promaster. 

It is becoming less and less logical to go for a standalone asset management module, when most HMS suppliers have already stepped up to the plate and improved their offerings. I hope you have noticed this, its crept up on many housing customers and many would be well advised to look again what your core software supplier can now provide.

It will be interesting to see what evolves out of this, something good I hope. I will keep my ear to the ground as to what my contacts tell me.

Tell me what you think of your asset management applications. Take the survey here.

You can link with me on LinkedIn here - uk.linkedin.com/pub/tony-smith-bsc-hons-acih/a/979/351/ It would be great to connect !

Read on to, Keystone, the next one to fall:

http://tonysmiththathousingitguy.blogspot.com/2014/05/turn-to-keystone.html

Depeche Mode- Promaster and servant.


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

PS As usual, if there are subjects you might like me to tackle on this blog, please get in touch and let me know!

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