Agent Dan

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

Agentic AI has become one of those phrases you cannot escape in UK #socialhousing tech conversations. Suppliers talk about it with great confidence. (OBVs)

Agents that plan, decide, act, learn. Systems that do things for you, not just respond when clicked. Yet when you scratch the surface, most of what is described still lives firmly in the future tense.

Currently as far as I can see, practical use is still quite limited, but not entirely absent. While significant productivity gains are clearly possible, anyone who has dabbled with it will confirm it’s a week of defining your process and six times that defining/confirming guard rails and testing it all thoroughly iteratively. Then it might be a blind alley, as over 80% of pioneers appear to be reporting.

Where agent style behaviour is starting to show real value is on the CRM platforms, particularly Salesforce and Microsoft Dynamics 365. Not in fully autonomous decision making, but in tightly constrained, supervised tasks. Things like AI driven case triage, where incoming repairs, ASB or damp reports are automatically categorised, prioritised, and routed to the right team based on rules, patterns, and historical outcomes. That is agent-like behaviour in practice, (even if nobody really calls it that on the ground).

I think we are also seeing early but useful examples around assisted case progression. AI nudging staff officers with next best actions, chasing missing information, drafting responses, or flagging cases that are stalling against policy or SLA. Traditionally these might be templated anyway for policy consistency. In D365, Copilot style tooling is already being used to summarise long case histories, prepare updates for managers, or draft resident communications that staff then review and send. It is not autonomous, but it genuinely saves time and cognitive load.

Salesforce based housing solutions look to be a bit further along with orchestration. Some providers are experimenting with agents that span multiple systems, pulling data from CRM, repairs, and finance to support a single outcome, for example preparing a voids readiness pack or highlighting risks ahead of a mutual exchange. Still this is reliant on quality of integrations  in place at times. Again, these are supervised agents, operating within guardrails, not free ranging AI making housing decisions on its own.

On the HMS side, things are quieter.

Most UK housing management systems are still focused on embedded AI features rather than true agentic behaviour. Things like predictive repairs, arrears risk scoring, or document classification. Useful, but largely reactive and contained within a single module. The bigger challenge is that many HMS platforms are still finishing the journey to full responsive-browser based, API rich architectures. Without that foundation, serious agent orchestration across modules and systems is very hard to deliver safely. So for some its jam tomorrow.

There are a few tentative examples. Some suppliers are piloting AI driven scheduling optimisation in repairs, image diagnosis or automated follow ups in income collection. But these tend to be narrow, rules heavy, and carefully constrained. Some not really AI at all in its recent clever Trevor LLM incarnation. Sensibly so. Housing is not a domain where most CEO’s want an AI agent learning through trial and error with real people’s homes and lives.

So where does that leave us.

Right now, agentic AI in UK & Irish social housing is most credible when it behaves like a very capable assistant, not an autonomous decision maker. CRM platforms are better placed to support this today because they are already designed around workflows, orchestration, and integration. HMS suppliers are not out of the race, but many are still building the track while running on it. Many trad HMS already have plenty of under-implemented workflow and similar capability – so think on, don’t be reaching for AI if you haven’t even got to first base!

The danger is not that agentic AI will fail. It is that suppliers & CRM solution partners oversell it before it is ready, and housing providers either over commit or switch off entirely. The sensible path is boring but effective. Start with small (pay as you go), practical agents. Keep humans in the loop. Prove value in time saved, errors reduced, and residents better served.

So, less talk about the art of the possible everyone. More evidence of the possible working on a Tuesday afternoon in a housing office, over a bookies, grocers and a chemists.

Are you sufficiently implemented to be ready for AI  ? 

Get in touch , I will drop in for a cuppa & bring the Jammy Dodgers ☕

       Related Post: Don't suffer from system under-implementation

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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.

Agent Provocateur - Agent Dan

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


Access a quick list of our Social Housing ICT blog posts here , what projects do we get involved in? Access them 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,ActiveF,ActiveFinance,ActiveHousing,Acutence,Advanced,Affinity,Aidenn,Agile,Agile365,AHB,AirWatch,Alscient,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,BrikHousing,Browser Applications,BC, Business Central, 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,Esynergy,Etive,Exhibition,Exponential-e, F&O, 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, HCL,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,HousingOne,Housing-One, Housing Support Pro,HousingIT,HousingSupportPro,HyperOptic, IMS,IPC,iProperty Cloud,IT,IT Budget,IT Training,ITIL,Impact Response,In,In4,In4Systems Promaster,InfinityGroup,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,InclineIT, Keyfax,Keylogic,Keypera,Keystone,Kirona,Kypera,Keynamics, Landlord,Ledgers,Linkedin,Liquid,Locality,Localz, M3,MadeTech,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,MRI/Capita,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,Plentific,Plus,Portfolio Management System,PowerObjects,Pro,Pro-Points,Prodo,Progress,Promaster,Propeller,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,Techlabs,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,Voicescape,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

Kiss and Tell

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

For way too many reasons I enormously enjoy working in the Social Housing sector. One of the most favourable aspects is the ability of the (generally) open attitude to share experience for the greater good. I have recently written about working with clients recovering from regulator downgrades, looking to improve what they do with residents.

As I work with lots of housing related ICT projects, procurements and recovering where some journeys have seemingly gone off the rails, others experiences are really insightful. At the start of a procurement its particularly salient. With housing providers its generally very open. Where procuring just a contractor solution is a different matter. In one case a company almost the full length of Wales once, was reluctant to provide a reference opinion.

Getting a reference opinion for a product or service is a veritable minefield. Following up from a recent experience with a few lovely clients late last year, I thought it useful to tackle this area for the benefit of others out there. In my long 28 years of experience, I have seen it equally from both sides, particularly as I spent 14 years on the dark side with a housing solution supplier. At that time responding to procurements, I would routinely provide my full list of customers and in a cock-sure manner saying:  “Contact who you like as a reference”. In reality it wasn’t really being cock-sure, as I already knew how well we tried to treat and support customers and made it my business as managing director at MIS-AMS to ensure each and every one got our best attention, as if they were our only customer. That was the aim of the culture I worked to instill then, as I thought it was right and TBH its pretty much my preferred mentality.

Clients occasionally ask me what the point of reference sites are? 

.... Also, could in the procurement we score on references?

These are fair questions and in reality firstly they are most useful during soft-market analysis to understand more about the solutions out there. On the second point, slightly paradoxically during a procurement we should be looking forward not backwards, so references are of limited value. With that strangeness out of the way, lets get on to what reference sites are about. Strap in !

With whatever you are procuring, always ask for some reference sites. They should be similar to us, of our size (small or large) and actually have similar product in use as we are asking for. A lack of seeing reference sites (much like getting a 'No' sometimes ) should be a red flag. Are you going to be a pioneer with this product/software supplier? Have they no satisfied (or installed?) customers in the British isles?

Is the supplier providing its own reference? Don’t laugh, I saw one just a few weeks ago. That is not a reference, it some sales claims. I would not name that supplier here, it would be rude to do that or maybe invite some ‘cease & desist’ communications, which I am sure you would agree would be less than good. If you have no customers happy to talk positively about you, that could well be a problem.

What of the references provided?

Are they local? Are they similar in size and complexity to your organisation? Have they users & clients quite close to you that are not being suggested? Why might that be? Have they even implemented these proposed solutions?

So many questions.

Its quite common for customers serving as ‘reference sites’ for suppliers to be seeing some benefits for being a named contact. Don’t get me wrong, reference sites are doing us a favour by finding valuable time for us and to some extent we should be grateful. I always also urge my clients to return the favour too. Named reference sites might gain free consultancy days and other freebies in signing up to assist. Its suspicious where suppliers rely on just a single or limited number of reference sites. How many sites sold this particular solution are still waiting to be implemented and taken live?

My advice is to try your own contacts and peers first. Also take advantage of forums and other resources such as HR Ninjas etc. Many parts of our sector has them, such as the DirectWorks for DLO teams & solutions. These might well be more local and have a wider view of experiences. Starting with these gives much food for thought, for when you might encounter the ‘official’ references. There will be lots to learn from these, including how they had challenges as well as ones from suppliers. Also that on occasion, sloppy procurement leaves doors open for suppliers to levy additional charges (Change Control anyone?). While this phase can be very useful, it should be taken with a wee pinch of salt. Remember, we are more inclined to complain about stuff than celebrate things at times.

Issues and problems garnered from peers can often form the basis of the questions to ask of the ‘official’ references.

A few ‘top tips’ to consider in your reference questions –

• Ensure you are speaking to reference sites that actually have the same product that is being proposed. They might be clients of the supplier, but have completely different products purchased
• Have these folk actually implemented the products. A fun trick is to recommend someone just starting to implement. While that is useful, there should also be some ‘already live’ references…
• Have any aspects of the sold solution been de-scoped or potentially replaced by alternative products potentially from other suppliers?
• Were there any aspects of the solution that were claimed and could not be delivered? What were they as these could be focused on better in the tender process that emerges.
• Have any of the aspects of the sold solution been aborted or shelved? Why was this, supplier or client issue? Requirements might have changed rather than product fallen short.
• What problems/issues did they encounter? How were these challenges resolved? The latter more important than the former
• What timescale was sold and what was actually achieved?
• What budget was sold and what was achieved? What elements should have been better costed from the start?
• What aspects work poorly and why? Particularly around integrations ?
• Which supplier implementers and consultants worked best with the reference site and any that can be named as working less well? These are possibly the ones we might want in a new project…
• What has post-go-live support been like? Has help-desk response been decent, did user groups and events promised materialised?
• Have requested or costed changes been delivered in a timely manner?
• What is account management like? Have personnel remained static and you have felt well managed with supplier being knowledgeable about issues or not?
• What are upgrades, patch releases and bug fixes like? Are they regular and controlled well? Have upgrades caused issues?

Remember that some of the above might result from poor project management or not having a Critical Friend on-board driving accountability, safeguarding against poor resourcing, or management sponsors not correctly setting priorities when required. Issues need not always be caused by the supplier.

Intelligence from all of the above can feed into the formal tender, framework or other procurement questions, enabling better value to be leveraged and improved choices to be made. Good references certainly aid great procurement and way better governance.

I hope I have left some good food for thought and useful nugget takeaways. As ever, you are welcome.

Planning a procurement or test of the market coming up?

Get in touch, for a chat soon over a brew & some Fox's Classics (you're worth it) ☕

       Related Post: Warming up the market will always improve your procurements 

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

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.

Brian Ferry (of Roxy Music) – Kiss and Tell.
(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

 

Shut 'Um Down

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

Its all very well for you switched on and on the ball organisations, all your quality data in the Cloud and most of your staff applications presented in any modern browser they want to work with. But spare a thought for the Councils and Socialhousing providers, who are still working hard to complete (or maybe just start) that journey. It’s not through want of trying generally I would say. Often budget holds organisations back, sometimes its way more complex, or cultural. While the benefits of Cloud should be quite obvious, however suppliers often fail to make the case for a sale, particularly finance budget holders !

Pretty much eight out of ten of my recent clients, have been trying to move on from something, often multiple challenges. All sizes of organisation are facing this, from managing under 150 homes on an MS Access solution, up to those having tens of thousands assets. Keeping cybersecure is also a growing challenge.

A recent theme has been the vulnerabilities of one of the sectors old favourite Asset Management solutions Keystone, showing up being discovered, getting on for two years since Microsoft pulled security updates for Silverlight. That was no surprise however, since I originally blogged about it in early August 2012, a full 12 years ago. The on-premise servers its installed on can be ‘isolated’ from the network and outside world, although this does make it more challenging to use asbestos info and other asset data, particularly to enhance repairs service and keep it safe & compliant. A quick move off Keystone is not particularly practical to its owners suggested replacement. It certainly looks like a slow transition if its selected. There are good alternatives out there, although insight and third-party guidance would be advised, for folk going down that path.

Solaris desktop in all its glory

Its amazing how much old kit is out there, much of it way beyond its sell-by-date and some clearly on its last legs. 

If I had £50 for every time ICT techie told me that they dreaded servers needing a reboot and feared they might not come back up, I would certainly have £600 this year by now. Late, great names such as SunOS, Solaris pop up, decade old not-upgraded SANs, either technically out of support or close too practically. While many organisations have been in a transition off these boxes/platforms for some months or years, clearly some are yet to start on that journey.

 

The other area that pops up are legacy domains. Some of these are sometimes in the EU and being used in the UK or visa-versa, clearly not totally compliant after Brexit. Also, there are still many group organisations with remnants of original constituent domains left over. These often contain lots of unstructured data, files, documents, spreadsheets etc, many of which historically should have been data cleansed. Again, easier said than done in order to achieve a sufficiently high level of social housing GDPR compliance.

An accurate and up to date infrastructure and application inventory is an essential tool. Clearly, running on recent versions of our applications (harder when not Cloud apps OBVs) is also essential, particularly where we need to rely on supplier helpdesks for support. Its not unusual for me to encounter applications many years out of date, which based on software contracts helpdesks shouldn’t even be taking calls for. However, annual support and maintenance is still being paid on time!

So, have ICT check and update your inventory, getting a short-medium term strategy formed to migrate away and shut your troublesome legacy hardware & infrastructure down. While its perhaps not a quick move, it will shore up foundations to a smoother future for staff and your ICT team supporting it all  

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

If you are stuck on legacy SocialHousing solutions, reach out

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

       Related Post: How can the right Critical Friend guide you to a new system?

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

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.

Gil Scott-Heron & Brian Jackson - Shut 'Um Down.
(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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Friction

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

Just the other week, I was asked, “Why do you think our project to install a COTS (commercial off the shelf solution), went wrong, over-ran and needed a budget increase of nearly £2m to complete”?

Its a too common tale and an interesting question and also one that I had limited scope to comment on, as I was not aware of the project in question, nor was involved in my current remit with the organisation. For sure, software implementations go wrong, friction occurs and this post will try to cover some of the key gotchas, around COTS projects.

Firstly, is a COTS solution for you?

Maybe it isn’t and you should be building something from scratch, particularly if you are seeking a particularly unique solution to a unique problem. Most problems are not unique and if you have peer organisations, successfully using commercial solutions, that should really be the first avenue to investigate. Why re-invent the wheel if you can see a number of solutions to compare and contrast and find the one that gives a good fit.

Choosing a good COTs solution is a bit like finding your life partner (and who is 100% happy with theirs?). All other halves have some irritating features, but no-doubt if you are still together, a great majority of things work out between you pretty well. Don’t throw the idea of a COT solution out because others have had issues. It can sometimes be difficult to get to the bottom of issues as organisations and managers rarely are comfortable sharing their failures. In practice, much can always be learned looking closer into what went wrong, ready for the next up-coming projects.

Many projects fail pretty early on, with the initial specification of what’s needing to be achieved and what’s needed from the COTS solution. A too high level or no spec at all is not recommended and always is likely to lead to receiving an initial bargain supplier quote. If your needs are vague, so will be pricing.

On the other side of the fence, back in the day as a supplier, I have often looked at an initial requirement and honestly determined it as easily done for £200k. I was generally carefully to detail exactly, what was included, which would generally flush out multiple missed additional requirements. Not all supplier sales folk would or do. My experience of many years doing implementations taught me that sales need to go better, otherwise the poor implementation consultants ultimately pick up the gaps later. That £200k could quite easily increase by a factor of ten, depending what was missed.

Costs should always be assessed and compared over the full contracted project life, typically five, maybe ten or more years these days. It’s a level playing field then for all.

Factor in all database licences, Cloud instances (you know, Live, Train, Test etc), additional software (MDM managers and security solutions) or hardware (tablets, laptops, workstations etc), from the very start.

Contracts are important and far too many projects I have reviewed, started with a poorly constructed one, or something I can recognise as a suppliers original, with little or no clarifications / alterations. In the instance of one client I worked with, a 108 page supplier contract had just been signed / countersigned at the bottom, committing that organisation to a five year minimum cost of over £700k, even if no solution was ever implemented or goes live. I was told the ICT director had ‘just signed it’, as it looked quite large and complicated. It was not balanced in favour of a more even relationship between client & supplier, even though the proposed product was just freshly released.

Which brings me on to another key area. Are we contracting to established and proven product? Does the solution exist at all, or is it just a ‘wire frame’ or cosmetic prototype? Are there any other live users, utilising it in the manner we expect to? If not, expect high risk, of to be perhaps footing the bill later, to make the solution work or finish it for your needs.

Risk is the third factor in what I would call the ‘holy trinity’ of procurement, together with well specified requirements and accurate cost. If your organisation has a relaxed attitude to risk, IE cost could be three times or more expensive or take 3-5 times longer than expected, a more relaxed approach could be taken. If like most Local Authorities, Councils or squeezed Social Housing providers, there is a pretty fixed budget and its absolutely needed live in x months, due diligence needs to fierce. Contract penalties need to be writ’ large.

So lets imagine we have our preferred supplier, suitable product and tight contract. There is plenty that can go wrong over an 18 month project. Client or supplier could resource it badly, both need to get that right, with my preference finding ways to get the A-Team involved. Quality and experienced staff, support better outcomes, go-lives and future system/process transformation.

Extended implementations are more costly and delay realisation of expected benefits.

While all projects can be expected to encounter some change control, that strong spec mentioned earlier, helps control what comes up and what’s valid. Where good contract and specifications have been available, over the last decade I have probably saved clients getting on for £1m in total, in rejected change control. Much of it due to supplier disconnect between sale and implementation, rather than sharp practice.

One last thought, keep your project focused. While this is a challenging prospect over perhaps an 18-24 month project, try hard to stay fixated on achieving original project outcomes. Understand when projects are drifting and challenge suppliers and your own team quickly, to keep on track.

While this has been a bit of a whistle stop tour of this subject, I hope its helpful to organisations considering or embarking on a new COTS implementation project. Comments or questions welcome – feel free to get in touch!

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

please just get in touch, for a friendly chat over a Jaffa Cake & a coffee ☕😋.

       Related Post: Complexity of solutions, can make it very hard to always 'Keep it real' 

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.

Television – Friction.
(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,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,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, ...
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