Rat In Mi Kitchen

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

Those were the days, drinking real ale in the Eagle and Tun, corner of Banbury Street Brum, famous for being used in the pop video for the Red Red Wine single.

Decades on, the crème coloured UB40 unemployment benefit attendance card, is no longer used for signing on, killed by online UC. 

The old E&T also killed off by demolition, being unfortunately in the path/periphery of that great white elephant HS2.

Birmingham is also now our UK city most likely with kitchens with a rat in it, due to months of bin worker strikes, triggered by pay cuts suggested by a now bankrupt city council. Brum however is not the sole council with section 114 notices. They join Croydon, Nottingham, Woking, Thurrock and Barnet. My own patch Warrington Borough Council is not far behind in £1.8b in debt.

Birmingham is unique however, in that the failed implementation of a new Oracle Fusion ERP IT system was a key contributory factor in its recent downfall. Within social housing, costs of new ICT systems have sometimes derailed actions like mergers.

A detailed 67 page report is now available, which examines what went wrong.

Spookily, it contains plenty of familiar themes that I see in my various projects, soft-market exercises, procurements, reviews and Critical Friend engagements to assist clients (Councils, Housing Associations, Charities, AHB’s, RP’s etc) to reach a timely go-live while not running into too much unnecessary Change Control.

Some of the key gotcha’s are some of the usual suspects:

• Poor governance and lack of independent oversight (no third eye)
• Poor pre-project business case – a moving target
• Internal resourcing of the project poor, project staff not freed from BAU.
• Overly dependent on contractors and suppliers
• Lack of an 'Adopt' strategy, rather going down an Adapt path trying to recreate existing internal processes
• Lack of adequate engagement with operational teams when implementing
• Too much ‘Good News’ reported, led to optimism bias. Risks & issues underplayed
• UAT Testing and design weaknesses
• Go-Live was undertaken with significant known issues and risks insufficiently mitigated, trapping the council

Do any of the above sound familiar to projects you are involved in?

A re-implementation at the city council is currently in play and will be at least another year at earliest, later in 2026. I would recommend anyone changing major systems to read the full report here.

Any comments, observations or queries, please share.  

Old and stale Social Housing systems - how to scope your options ?

Get in touch , I will drop in for a brew & bring your fave chocky biscuits ☕

       Related Post: How best to understand the products you know & the vast options you maybe don't know about?

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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.

UB40 – Rat In Mi Kitchen.
(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 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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,HousingOne,Housing-One, 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, MRI Housing One, 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 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. . . . . . . . . . . . ES | FR | DE | IT | UK |

On The Waterfront

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

I remember a time when social housing people would pay good money, to visit Halton Housing Trust, to catch a glimpse of the digital future. You were best advised to pack a few sarnies, a snack, liquid refreshment and an energy bar, as catering was not generally laid on for the entry ticket price.

I never did the trip personally, but met many who had.

Reactions differed, its fair to say. Did you or one of your colleagues visit?

Some of my contacts and clients, thought they had seen the future and worked to set off and implement it, others were horrified with such a fundamentalist approach to digital first or no customer service at all. Its fair to say, those sessions generated lots of discussions and were fabulous in that respect. SocialHousing had been in its traditional mould for the most part and needed a shaking up.

Barriers to digital first thinking I encountered, included (almost comically), “Well our tenants are mostly old and won’t go for it”, to asset and repair managers telling me, “Well we can’t trust them to be logging their own repairs, they will be ordering whole kitchens & bathrooms”. No word of a lie.

Well, the world didn’t go to pot when some decent self-service was offered and all ages, took advantage, to various degrees. At HHT famously, hard to crack tenants were equipped with tablets, creatively funded, which was great. All fabulous ideas that reordered workloads to enable Universal Credit rollout to be managed.

Lets not forget that Halton and the borough I live in, Warrington adjacent, were the initial guinea pigs for the ill thought out opening UC rollout. Drastic situations called for radical solutions. Many poor folk relying on Universal credit at that time, waiting up to nine months, to receive any payments at all. Truly unacceptable. So from me maximum credit for taking a bold, alternative approach.

However, perhaps for most organisations, the realisation is that omni-channel, a pick & mix on offer for residents, actually is an ideal solution, if its available. After all, some of us love the caramel pennies, although others like a mix in different situations. Sometimes its got to be a green foil wrapped triangle when the occasion calls.

I engage with many residents on Twitter and they have strong opinions on the mix offered of how they can contact their housing provider. Also how that is followed up, issues resolved and closed out. Its fair to say that its often after remote service failure, sometimes after self-serving, ‘Customer Service’ then kicks in. Repairs being a common theme, as ITV have highlighted.

If it can be supported and resourced, that ‘Customer Service’ element is of value to be there, at all times if needed. It was interesting last year before Christmas, that HHT opened a new customer and visitor reception area, at the Waterfront, Runcorn. More info here - https://www.haltonhousing.co.uk/about-us/news/new-waterfront-point-reception-opens-its-doors-customers-and-visitors

Of course much has changed in the management team at Halton, with some very good additions from the previous Torus Housing Group structure. Some great people I have had the pleasure to work with previously on serious transformation projects and taken a very hybrid and inclusive view of the customer service being offered.

I personally think that its good that Halton has moved closer to an omnichannel approach to customer service. It’s perhaps vindicated some of those doubters, who made those pilgrimages to Runcorn. Maybe a mix of channels to provide different strokes for different folks, was the best strategy after all…

What goes around comes around. Those 80's leg-warmers or 70's penny-round collars may well come back sometime soon!

Do let me know your feelings via DM or comments 😉

Related Post: Are we aiming high enough for our self-service?

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.

Simple Minds – Waterfront.
(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,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, 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, 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 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, ...
. . . . . . . . . . . .

As One

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

Few things stand still and its not unusual for councils and housing organisations to merge together ‘as one’ for so many reasons. Efficiency, savings, looking to deliver services in a shared way with higher levels of satisfaction, or better self-service.

Recently, I have been involved in Asset/housing system solutions including where two councils merged in the West Country, a couple of RSL’s in North East Scotland and Torus Housing Group, on my doorstep when GGHT and Helena came together. As can be expected, this is a crucial time to review existing system solutions in both organisations coming together and also have a weather eye on future fit for purpose.   

I am occasionally asked, “Is there a template for doing this, we can use”?

The honest answer to that is ‘No’, every case needs to be taken on its merits, particularly in the light of how we aim to work flexibly these days, post-Covid19. Existing housing or other systems that rely on olde-world Client-Server, clunky Citrix or Terminal Services, will be possibly top of the list for replacement. These may indeed be solutions that have been in use for many years and be on a rolling annual contract by now. Consider any contract penalties, that might mean the remaining contract costs may be payable if either organisation terminate.

In one recent project I was involved in up in Scotland, both organisations were on the same solution. There it was a no-brainer to merge into a third instance with the current HMS, which was relatively low cost. That enables the merged organisation to continue on that platform or review future possibilities, with only one system to work with. Beware changing your name or location however. Some existing contracts could trigger hefty novation fees, for suppliers effectively doing nothing at all. Keep an eye on these types of clauses, in new and existing supplier contract T's & C's.

In another project, during a long project at Torus Housing Group, which involved a deep dive into all existing applications in use and drawing up a detailed specification of the future functional requirements, 27 applications were originally in use. A rapid pre-market analysis determined the art of the possible, including future budget costs indicating combined savings of at least over £1.5m over five years. I was involved in a successful HMS/Finance procurement and implementation, slimming down to just seven applications. In that procurement, only one of the current HMS providers engaged in the procurement and the preferred option was a third supplier. I was involved as a Critical Friend throughout.

Its fair to say that sometimes I have seen two councils or RSLs merge and choose a new third solution when procuring  to merge into, as that is a clean slate for both. I have never seen a merger deliberately go out to do this, but it can happen a lot. This approach does enable a new start as regards transformation and also a chance to move to a new SaaS/browser delivered basis for the future. Be aware that a few housing system suppliers now have SaaS/browser options, that can be migrated to.

There are also some hybrid paths to consider too. For councils this might logically utilising a Digital Platform to provide an integrated and unified view on existing systems, effectively hiding them. This year I was involved in procuring a Digital platform for a couple of councils, with at least one most likely accessing their HMS for retained housing stock in this way.

So, I hope if you are part of an organisation looking to merge, there has been some food for thought here. Feel free to get in contact if you are starting out on this journey, pre-scoping whats available, ready to procure, or may need just a little help in managing your supplier to get your new solution happily live.

Don’t forget if you are going in the other direction de-merging, rather than merging, we can help with that too!

Related Post: 'How to ask the best questions to extract the truth in our procurements?'

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.

Merge Of Equals – As One.
(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,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, 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, 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 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. . . . . . . . . . . .

Becoming Cx

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/

I must have written in these posts the phrase sometimes good things go bad and occasionally bad things come good somewhere along the line. It is a truism and I saw one positive one being played out at this last week’s Civica Conference held at Manchester Central. It was great to meet some old pals and some recent good eggs! If you are reading this, you will know who you are.

The conference does cover the vast range of Civica’s portfolio, but clearly the housing related features were of most interest to me. There were some inspirational speakers too. Andrew McMillan, Consultant and Former Head of Customer Service at John Lewis, was particularly good. He highlighted how consistency can create an exemplary customer care culture. Something that many RSL’s and housing organisations are struggling to achieve across all their channels, telephone into the customer service centre, interactions on the web and with repair operatives, (who because they wear a florescent jacket or fleece with your organisations name on it, should be able to deal with any request....).

The new Cx housing system was getting a good airing and quite rightly so I think. If I had £50 from all my more clued up housing system contacts who have asked me about it, I would have about £450 by now. Everyone switched on is curious. It’s the first new designed from the ground up housing system in 10 years and some features like the Contact Management truly are designed with future needs in mind, rather than ‘preferences for email etc bolted on later’.  Very brave in MHO and just one of the clever aspects that will make this a true player in a marketplace, against some aging solutions. If too many of your housing systems still look like DOS or Windows95, don’t bank on keeping it if you get involved in a merger. Civica are potentially on to a winner here if handled well.

On securing a drink at the Hilton bar on Deansgate, from Martyn Rees he was typically conservative about the significance of Cx, which was understandable. I would expect him to under-promise and do his best to over deliver. That's how you surprise.

I am sure he knows how good this all should be and Michael O'Reilly gave it a great overview at the Civica Housing User Group session on Thursday afternoon. I was pleased to see some of the sexier features shown, such as the forms & questionnaire designer and the Lettings application progression widget looked so good. Also proud to say to Mark Holdsworth, “that was my idea buddy”.

If handled well, implemented quickly, stops pulled out at some significant sites that are already signed up to upgrade, when its available for them, Civica have a real chance with a game changer on their hands. As any procurement person knows, for five years plus, tenders have been asking for pure browser delivery plus SQL Server.

Citrix, Terminal Services or Oracle in a browser etc, are the standard responses. With Windows8, touch screens and gestures will soon reach the office after mobile workers start to have them. If your device has a browser, your staff can join the Cx party.

Civica are tooling up too for the implementation phase of Cx. A tricky act to get that right that one, as I know myself, I have implemented enough tricky projects. Hopefully Jeff has got the A-Team signed up for that delivery outfit, hope he has got some black transit vans with red stripes on order...

If you are a UH, 4Js, CTX, Saffron or Genero user, do contact me and let me know what you think about Cx, is it something you are considering or are you squeezing more value out of what you have? Find me using the links on the right or via Linkedin.

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 !

The Sneaker pimps - Becoming X .


(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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