Warm Leatherette

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

If you are of a certain age you will remember the purpose of ‘a choke’, in our old 1970’s and early 80’s petrol cars. It was to increase the flow of fuel to a cold engine, to help start the engine more smoothly. Perhaps where the phrase ‘pump-priming’ may have originated. Most of us understand that that’s all about. Both are about efficiently warming up either an engine or an investment.

Partnering with a consultant, Critical Friend or supplier to expedite a project is a little like kick starting a vehicle and the process of getting to know what’s out there is the same process.

I was reminded of ‘warming up’ this last week when I was emailed out of the blue to ask if I would be responding to a portal opportunity, to help with a procurement. On one level I was surprised, on another, less so. I have never had a conversation with this organisation, done any work with them or know anyone there. With no warming up being previously done, it puts everyone at a disadvantage.

This is why I usually advocate getting to know the marketplace first, before even embarking on engaging or procuring anyone. This ensures you learn the art of the possible as well as potential budget needed. I try my best to persuade clients to know the market first, even if they have some knowledge from a few years back. Relying on old data can lead to surprises, particularly where effectively comparisons of new Cloud/browser systems, may being made with older cheaper client-server solutions, (which might by now be on their last legs, effectively declared end of life). 

Note that getting familiar with suppliers and the market is encouraged in public procurement. This is to help Social Housing, Councils and others obtain best value. Once an ITT is issued however, all communication must be formal & fair to all bidders. With a lack of 'warming up', your favourite supplier might not even express interest. A single leftfield supplier might engage landing you with a broken budget. One Scottish council went out for Document Management cold and landed up with a single supplier bidding and a £5m price tag. Exceeding budget by 235%.

The Pre-Market/warming up process can also shape the build of ITT requirements, OJEU (or post-Brexit compliant) procurement, with current/future art of the possible for transformation. Also, where mandatory requirements may be specified, additional knowledge of what’s actually possible, may prevent suppliers qualifying an opportunity out, due to not being able to meet a stated red-line. Over the years, I have also seen different suppliers qualify an opportunity out, as they had no real prior knowledge of the client. Some ‘warming up’ mostly can prevent this objection, as the impression can be that other suppliers are already closer to the client & opportunity already.

Occasionally too, suppliers can feel occasionally that they are persuaded to engage in a procurement, ‘just to make up the numbers’. I have seen this when I used to work ‘on the dark side’. Personally, I never liked that situation as so much time and effort can be wasted, when there is scant prospect of progressing.

So, in summary, don’t hesitate to ‘pull out the choke’, and embrace some ‘warming up’. It might make a real difference to your modern Cloud orientated HMS or Dynamics CRM Digital platform procurement, if you are looking to work with me, or one of the system suppliers or resellers.

If we at Acutance Consulting can help your organisation with pre-market exploration, procurement or HMS transformation, please just get in touch, for a chat over a brew. 

I will bring plenty of Ginger Nuts ☕😉

       Related Post: Make a cracking success of UAT (User Acceptance Testing) 

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.

Warm Leatherette - Trent Reznor, Jeordie White, Peter Murphy.
(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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Nothing Lasts Forever In The Same Old Scene

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


What does last forever? Not relationships, cars or software it seems. Of the latter, there is a lot of old solutions about, particularly within the Social Housing sector. It always brightens up my day when someone tells me they still have some solution based around Lotus Notes, PICK, character based screens or applications written by long gone local software houses.

On a serious (Lotus) note however, we have a few housing systems in the sector and used by local councils still managing housing, currently with an end of life deadline or heading to be legacy. Capita Academy, Civica Saffron and a mix of other, being some that I have advised on recently and have pressing deadlines. The unfortunate customers still on these, all need to organise themselves and plan a reliable way forward.

Chances are and in my experience, organisations with these applications are also likely to have legacy software in other housing teams too. Examples I have seen are very old DLO/Contractor solutions, Homelessness & signposting and case management. Often these were all purchased because these areas were beyond the scope of the original solutions. A common attribute of these peripheral items is that they rarely integrate, if at all.

A lovely memory of Saffron, Universe PICK at its best

Having a solution or piece of software for 15-20+ years can be costly. A quite fag packet check often reveals that each solution may cost £60-80k annually in support, as all those years of RPI or CPI have taken their toll. The user is a victim of compound interest %increases.

If you read this and consider panicking to rush out to fast track jumping into bed with any particular system, I would suggest taking a more measured approach. It will help you be better informed, ensure you are getting value for money, transformation you most likely desire and a modern platform for the future.

INGRES at its best Academy, lovely!

I have worked recently with several clients, where within a few weeks, we had surveyed the lay of the land, considered options up close and seen solutions first hand, having opportunity to question them in detail too. There is no ‘default’ pathway or ideal way forward, don't let anyone assure you of that.

For one particular legacy HMS, in Somerset, the best outcome was to upgrade with the existing key supplier. At a council in Scotland, with the same legacy solution, the option was to go to market and in that situation, an alternative option was successfully procured.

A number of current offerings also can provide credible, tried, tested and well integrated solutions, that were historically peripheral. So DLO Contractor, Asset Management, Homelessness, Case Management etc, can all come out of the box, on day 1 going live. Consideration of any possible future mergers, cloud strategy (as the world does seem to be going browser based and off-premise), are also crucial considerations.

My involvement rarely stops at helping to enable a procurement too. In most of my projects, my Critical Friend role enables me to see the strengths and weaknesses of various solutions, which can be examined and mitigated for future clients, during pre-market engagements or procurements. My historic experience uniquely of implementing full HMS solutions, unparalleled data migration knowledge and managing a team of implementers, does also come in the mix and makes me somewhat unique among consultants suitable for this kind of task, in the UK and Ireland.

Often within just a few weeks, it’s possible to plot a way forward and make it happen, bringing reliability and surety to dealing with end of life social housing solutions.

If you are suffering software solution end of life, feel free to contact me for an informal chat. DM me or give me a call on 07854-655009. If you get some Hobnobs in and the kettle on, I am happy to pop in for an hour, when nearby. My current projects involve me in the SW, Wales, West Midlands, Yorkshire, Central & NE Scotland

Related Post: How many Social Housing self Service Offerings fall well short of real-world offerings?  

 

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.

Roxy Music -Same Old Scene.
(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,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,CBL,CCS IT Keystone CCSIT,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,Dynamic AI,DynamicAI,Dynamics 365, 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, 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,MS Dynamics CRM2011,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,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, Swordfish,Sx3,Symatrix Human,System alignment,Systems,Systemwise, T-Files,TEAMS,TED,TFiles,TP Tracker,TSG,Tagish Casework,Tagra,Task,Technologies (India) PVT Limited,Telecetera,Template,Terminal Services,That,Three Star,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, ...
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