This Towns Data’s Not Big Enough For The Both Of Us

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/

Wow, another month when I wished I had £50 in my pension for anyone using a phrase. This months seemed to be ‘Big Data’.

I read 3 pages in Housing Tetchnology magazine about it and had countless people ask me about it this last month. It’s the next cloud computing, I tell you. Before your IT team/director/Chief Boffiin persuades you to part with budget, read this.

Lots of talk about housing organisations pooling resources for shared insights and data-led innovation. This is the new nirvana (Kurt Cobain turn in your grave mate), or is it? Much talk of big data, but what of big information? A subtle difference, but a very big one. I even noticed HACT jumping on the bandwagon. Now I have nothing against housing providers sharing data to generate insights. The practicalities are something else.
 
How many times have you generated graphs from data and presented them at a meeting and had a manager say, “What’s caused that peak in demand/satisfaction/dissatisfaction”? You have distilled the data from (big) transactional data, you are just the messenger. Shouldn’t that manager know? Otherwise why pay he/she their humungous salary? Big information comes from understanding big data.

Suppliers out there are sniffing an opportunity, it’s the same old data, buy our solutions for a different reason. Yesterdays data warehouse is today’s big data solution. A bit like hosting became cloud. Are these solutions really tapping into your ‘unstructured’ and ‘multi-structured’ data, like the kind under aspires of your housing management system?

Insights are the target outcomes. That might be why only over 40’s are on your tenant participation panels or 70% of your ASB cases are logged by the under 40’s. A switched on staff member can tell you why, or £75K of software solution can have a go at providing a result for you.

I had some direct experience of big data last year, when I did some work for a very successful NW England based retailer. One that you may well have purchased from, though one of its web guises, without even pondering who owns it. I had a raw big data feed every season 800MB in zipped size to summarise into a big information insight. The insight was 12 pages long, while the raw data needed a newly purchased 8 core i7 processor to crunch it, this way and that.

Most people who know me remember my time some years at Littlewoods and I had to dig out my knowledge of SKUs and such to make sense of 11 retailer ranges of products. It was a while I grant you, but in the dusty grey matter, it was in there somewhere. The only time in my life I was knee deep in female underwear and outerwear, but I learnt a lot about how different how everyone’s data is. Even in the retail world, everyone’s products, colours, sizes, styles are so different. Why can a bra be a 36-C, 36C, 36Med, 36 Medium, 36 Med-C? Can’t you folks call it the same thing? It’s not a lot to ask, is it?

Now in UK housing we do have some standardisation don’t we? We have some standard returns in England, Scotland and Wales and Northern Ireland. In all of these places we have city, urban and rural areas. Why we cannot have a unified set of returns has baffled me since the mid 90’s when I got involved in housing. We have more similarities than differences. Celebrate those brothers and sisters.

Still, nowhere as standard as we can take data from any RSL, ALMO or housing group and aggregate it together. Housing Management Suppliers despair when people talk about ‘standard reports’. Even HouseMark ones are not easily aggregated together. Getting back to my retail experience, comparison and cross-referencing was most of the job, and not an exact science at that.

A chat and sharing an excellent pork pie (with brown sauce) this week with a super lady, who I must really see more often, revealed some aspects of data, big and small that many organisations grapple with. Within organisations, the concept of where big data & summarised data (if I may term it that) is often so badly understood.

I have seen organisations where in the nominal ledger/chart of accounts, there is virtually a cost centre for each asset. As can be guessed I generally ask “Why are you doing that you muppet?”. It could be ignorance or mis-understanding. Big data in this context belongs in the feeder systems, not in the financial ledgers. Dawn (I must name her as she insisted I should), described one enquiry she had had from an insurance team, asking for more detail from ledgers. Quite rightly the analogy she used was that if the finance system held the cost of someone’s total shopping, the insurance application would contain the shopping list of items that was purchased.

Processes are continually being pushed downstream these days too. Quite rightly, the days of the typing pool are pretty much behind us. Another area that Dawn mentioned to me was that e-biz ordering and requisitioning, obviously filter down to the orderers, who often ask, isn’t this a finance function? Here again, big(ger) data belongs with the people ordering it, not the finance team. After all, do you get your bank to do your shopping, or do you buy the individual items and your bank bills you the tab? Dawn dear, where have you been all my life?

As a person who loves ‘One version of the truth’ and data to back up decisions and show trends, I fear a housing rush into ‘Big Data’ may take us into a cul-de-sac. Much investment may be made, but often the expertise of housing practitioners on the ground, might well provide better insight than some of our projects to mine ‘Big Data’. I am passionate about UK social housing, I cannot hide that. Building communities, using our assets better, supporting our neighbourhoods, big data, another avenue, but not a silver bullet. Discuss.

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: Drones for housing. Really? well yes actually... 

Sparks - This Towns Datas Not Big Enough For The Both Of US.


(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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The Ballad Of Big

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


We can all get stuck in our ways sometimes and get a bit used to some of the same solutions and usual suspects coming out of the woodwork. A change in the Social Housing sector, can be as good as a rest. Software As a Service (SaaS) is becoming less of a danger to ICT infrastructure teams and at last it’s improved security and ‘managed fully in the cloud’ benefits, making it genuinely attractive.

Some of our current software suppliers are on that journey, others nearly there, while challengers from outside of the sector, often always were deployed that way.

During a piece of work looking for a Contractor, scheduling and mobile solution, over the summer, I came across one such challenger, called ‘BigChange’. It’s a solution used by many maintenance contractors, distribution and service companies, which make up a large proportion of their approx. 1000 customers. Most of their customers are based within the British Isles however they also have multiple clients across the world.

I had seen BigChange in use at an independent contractor in the North West, who is involved with multi-Client Housing Associations and their reactive repair work. It was very interesting to see BigChange contrasted with who we might regard as the usual Social Housing sector suspects.

One key difference with BigChange, is that the Contractor Solution comes fully bundled with vehicle tracking capabilities, which they offer free of charge as standard. This overlays into the whole repairs journey and provides capabilities I hear being asked for a lot, but rarely see in the flesh. IE that parcel tracking experience we are all used to. Customisable SMS and/or email updates feed back live ETAs automatically to the resident. This reduces the level of no accesses and associated costs of failed visits.

A great by product of a fully integrated job management and tracking system is that timesheets are easier to reconcile due to the fact that their compilation is automated and therefore accurate.

Of course, the real benefit is in better management KPI & BI data, as tracker vs trade operative discrepancies can be easily highlighted. Most DLO’s I have worked with have third-party van tracking. However, it’s generally the traffic manager, not the schedulers or the depot manager, who regularly gets involved with it.

JobWatch also shares expected forecast weather for future scheduled jobs. A great feature for roofing and external work. 

Checkout the BigChange solutions at HOMES, London Excel - Stand H30

Spookily enough, BigChange staff including Sales, also use the application, to keep customers (and potential prospects as I found out first-hand), aware of visit ETAs and follow-ups. That did not gain them any more points in the evaluation, but I can fully respect any software house, confident enough to run their business, on their own solutions.

How many software suppliers with over 150 directly employed staff reading this, would be confident enough to try that 🤔 ?

The fully browser/Cloud delivered BigChange solution comes with scheduler, device agnostic native apps delivering mobile working, Forms for Risk Assessments and LGSR's etc, finance system integrations, imports, exports and open API capabilities, for connecting to housing solutions.

Materials and Van Stock are supported, plus a few features that set it apart from most of the pack. The extras include a rather snazzy CRM module and neat prospect management, for DLO's looking to work in a more commercial fashion. No wonder that Mid-Wales HA and Thirteen Housing Group (with over 100 users), have recently selected this SaaS solution.

JobWatch - Plan, Manage, Schedule

Apart from their JobWatch Mobile Workforce Management solution, BigChange strike me as a great fit with a sector which is always looking to add social value. Partnerships with Transaid http://www.transaid.org/home/about-us/who-we-are/ and Brake (the road safety charity - http://www.brake.org.uk/ ) ensures this software house gives back on a regular basis. Now that's a  ‘BigChange’ from the usual software suppliers

Kevin Keegan - BigChange Ambassador

They are disrupting the repairs sector, even getting ex England international Kevin Keegan on board as a brand ambassador.  Finally, BigChange is evolving their workplace too. Agile staff are migrating to a standard 4.5 day week, with a 4 day week coming soon, at their HQ in Leeds. With forward thinking like that there really is  the possibility of more than a BigChange in our sector, it could be more a revolution.

Checkout BigChange and JobWatch at HOMES, London Excel, stand H30, November 27th /28th   - https://homesevent.co.uk/exhibitor-directory/big-change-limited

Related Post: 💕 Is Social Housing falling in love again with the DLO 💕?  
 

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.

Genesis - The Ballad Of Big.
(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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. . . . . . . . . . .

Big Neon Glitter

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

I don't know how many readers of this blog made their way the other week to the Enhanced Housing Services conference'. It was an interesting affair with some great insights from Tinder Foundations' Helen Milner OBE on getting customers, tenants, leaseholders online with accessible internet. There are great examples around that, including what Wakefield District Housing have done, rolling out free (yes free) internet access. Indeed, you can tackle much of the infrastructure in the cloud these days.

The most interesting session for me was on the outcome of the 'Big Data Project'. I think my views are well known on this one, luddite I have sometimes been called. Most folk I know are still wrestling with BP ('Big Paper') or BDS ('Big Daft Spreadsheets').

The Big Data Project has taken 18 months, involved several large Housing Associations & RSLs. Collectively it involved data from approaching 300,000 tenants. The data ranged from ASB, repairs, customer satisfaction and arrears. I have had a gig like that before and I could have predicted the outcomes. It's a shame I could not get 'Bet Fred' to take my punt on the outcome.

Matt Leach announced that after 18 months, the outcome was 'not what was expected' and surprisingly, 'the exercise did not give the sector the insights expected'. the ever optimistic Matt, now believes that the 'Internet of things will provide the next wave of meaningful housing data and the hype around IoT may well be justifiable'.  I am sure there should be another 18 month project, right there if someone will be looking to pay for it.

The IOT is already here and changing our lives, in case anyone has not noticed. That nice chap does not knock on my door, to read my meters from Siemens anymore. A dustcart does it via wireless and C8051F96x, Si102x, or Si103x EZRadioPRO transceiver chips. Similar devices will be monitoring our health, habits and interactions to a much greater extent, as the Fitbit and iWatch go mainstream. The more you think about it, we are not going to need an 18 month project to suss that one out.

But why did the 'Big Data Project' hit the buffers? I have even had my good friend and spiritual brother, Barry Marlow telling me that 'Big Data' is the future. "Data must be big and it's got lots of insights, we should be learning from". Well, the reason I am so sure when I state that it's no panacea, is that I have worked with big data.

It was a project concerning 800mb of it when flat text was zipped up. I did it every quarter, and it concerned retail data. Underwear, male & female since you wondered, from 11 retailers. You would expect that standard products like pants and bra's would be easy to compare and contrast. That's where you would be way wrong. The difficulties of summarising and contrasting 11 ways to describe the same size, shape, colour, SKU, even with EAN & GTIN codings is phenomenal. All this data was scraped from the internet too, none of it to be found hidden in private spreadsheets etc.

Standardisation of housing data rests on having it in some order in the first place. ask yourself, how orderly is yours? Really?

Once its obtained electronically, how can you standardise that data, in order to obtain those valuable insights? Benchmarking clubs should take us closer to that goal, but have they really? This data is rarely raw, its generally been pre-cooked along the way. Its probably naive to think otherwise.

For the moment, I guess we will have to do without the Big Neon Glitter, of Big Data. Barry old spud, don't say I told you so(!).

Related Post: Apps, arent they what we need in Housing???

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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.


The Cult - Big Neon Glitter.
(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: 360,1stTouch,4Js. , 07854655009 , ," """" ",,#UKHousing,#HousingDAY, #HomesForBritain, #Shout,1st Touch,3squared,Accuserv,Acutence,Aareon,Academy,ActiveH,Alignment,ALMO,Anite,Apex,ArchHouse,Archouse,asbestos,Asprey e-state pro,Asset Management,Aurora,Average IT Costs,App,Associates,ACL,Abritas,AMS,AX,aspireview, BO,BPR,Browser Applications,Business Objects,Business Planning, Business Process Review,Business social networking, Blockwise, Block wise,BI,BancTec,BluTek,Bluebox, Castle,CBL,Cedar Open Accounts,Cx,Change,Cheaper Housing IT,Chics, CHR,Citrix,Civica,Clearview,CMS , CCS IT Keystone CCSIT, Contractor Systems,CORE,CorVu,Cost Reductions,Covalent,CRM,Crystal Reports,CTI,CTX,Customer Relationship Management,Cashflow, COA,Coactiva,Codeman,Comino,Competitive Dialogue process,complex IT procurements,Component Accounting, Community Reward Services, Consilium, Consolidation, Consultancy,Consultant,Contact Manager,Context,CIH,Chartered Institute Of Housing,Cadcorp,Cerrus Saturn,convergeOne,CACI,CPL, CRS Director, Deeplake,Development Systems,Accuserve,Document Management,Documotive,datasystems , Microsoft dynamics GP 2013, DynamicAI, Dynamic AI, ECMK,EDRMS,England, English,EnterpriseBI,ERP Systems,ERP,Elmhurst,Estatecraft,EDM,ESRI,Exponential-e, Finance, Financial Systems, Financials, Factorwise,Facebook ,Fusion, Getting best from,gotonysmith, Grasp,Grip,GeoSolveIT,GIS,GGP, HouSys,Housing software,HG,Housemark survey,Housing Blueprint,Housemark, HRA, Housing Options, Housing Group,hotpixuk, HousingIT,hotpix,Hardware,Hitex,Housing Contact Company, Impact Response,implementations,In House,In4,InMotion, InMotion2014, InMotion2015, InMotion2016 , Exhibition, conference, Infoflow,Information Technology,Informix,inHouse,in-house workforce, Innovation,Inside Housing,Internet Portal,Internetalia, Invu,Ireland,Irish,Inphase , IT Budget,IT Training,iWorld, Innovation Group Apex,ITIL, In4Systems Promaster,IT,Insight, Keylogic,Keystone,Kirona,Kypera,Keyfax, Ledgers,Linkedin,Locality,Liquid Voice, MD ,Mr Void , MrVoid, Measuring Change,Mebus,Miracle,MISCS, mobile functionality,Monopoly board images and pictures, Montal,MS Dynamics,MS Dynamics CRM2011,Miracle Software,Management Reporting,MI,M3,MIS,MIS-AMS,Mobysoft, Northgate Codeman,Neighbourhoods and Communities, Northgate,Notice,NROSH,NINTEX , NINTEX workflow,Nintexworkflow, OA,OGC Buying Solutions,Ohms,OJEU Limits,OmFax,Omniledger,Open source software,open tender,OpenHousing,Opti-Time,Oracle,Orchard,Outsource and outsourcing,OpenContractor,ORS,OneServe, PIMMS Data Systems, Paloma,performance management systems,PfH, Pick,PIMMS,pimms4communities, Planned maintenance,People Value,Plus, Peoplevalue, PM,Progress,Promaster,Proval,Pyramid,PRINCE2,prince,Pamwin,PlanForm, Propoints, Pro-Points QL,QLX,Quiss,Qlikview, Registered Providers,Registered Social Landlord,Rent Increase Freezes,Repairfinder,Reporting,Reports,ROCC , Rocket,RPs,RSL,Reality,ReAct,reidmark,RM865, Saffron,SAP,Scots, Scottish,Scenario, Scotland,SDM,sector,TonySmithHou,Server Virtualisation,servicing, Servitor,Sharepoint,Simdel,Simdell,Slash and Burn,Social Media,Software,SQL Open Housing,SQL Reporting Services,SQL reporting services,SQL Server,Star rating,Stores and Stock,Strategic Asset Management,Sunguard ,Surveys,Sx3,System alignment, TonySmithHousing, Systemwise,SM,Sequoa,Serros,SP,Scout,score,Swordfish,Serengeti,SOTI,southview,Sunguard,Service Charges,Spotlight Service, Spotlightservice, SunAccounts Template,Task,Terminal Services, tonys , tonysm , tonysmi , tonysmith, tonysmitht, gotonysmith, tableau Business Dashboards, tonysmithth, tonysmiththa, tonysmiththat, tonysmiththath, tonysmiththatho, tonysmiththathou, tonysmiththathous, tonysmiththathousi, tonysmiththathousin, tonysmiththathousing, tonysmiththathousingg, tonysmiththathousinguy, sharepoint, share point Three Star,Today,Total repairs,Tribal,Twitter,U2, tonysmith , tonysmiththat , thathousing , thathousingIT , thathousingITguy ,TED,Tagish Casework,TP Tracker,Telecetera,Tagra,Trace, Totalmobile, Total Mobile, UniClass Enterprise,Unidata,Universal Housing,Universalcredit, universal credit, universal credits,UC,Universe,Unrest, UK, United Kingdom ,Ukhousing,UK Housing, Van Stock,Voice and data,Vantage Sentinel,Version One,Visualmetrics,Voluntas, Wales,Welsh,Windows Server,Workflow and tasking,Wheatley, Xmbrace,XML ,XenApp,Xen App .

Big Bang Fun

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



A question I am asked a lot, generally but not always after procurement, is should our implementation be phased or big bang?

As this question generally relates to large integrated housing management systems, the first thought is often, lets phase it. Reality is for me, is that most projects of these kind I have been involved in, have taken a big bang path. So how can we be sure that works well and what re the pros and cons of the different options, if most solution suppliers prefer a big bang?

An initial multiple module, strategy definition exercise, is a good idea, in order to ensure all staff and the project team have their expectations set as early as practically possible.

Some of the key questions relate to your type of organisation, is it simple, complicated, spread across a few locations or companies in a group structure. Also attitude to risk, something that must be considered and addressed early What resources are available, is there a big or minimal implementation team? Are there some competing business needs, which could be expected to clash with the change project?

Phasing an implementation generally will be costlier as they inevitably will take much longer to fully accomplish. Your project team will need to put in more time, as will your supplier, burning up more on-site days. I always bank on estimating three times your supplier days, on projects. Many of my clients balk at this, however most agree at the end that the estimate was not so far off.

If we do choose big bang, it is crucial that all system inter-dependences are thoroughly checked, tested and signed off, way before and as a formal precursor to go-live. Where a phased approach is utilised, expect some temporary interfaces to be needed for some months, between phases. This is something that introduces additional costs and the need to test more than once, through the lifecycle of the project.

Although in socialhousing systems, many interdependences between rents, CRM, assets & repairs point to a big bang approach being easier, if these form a single phase and maybe a second logical one with Service Charges/Factoring, Case Management and Planned/Cyclical modules, this can be a very successful approach. As can be imagined, I see various mixes of modules being replaced, some organisations including DLO/Contractor and Finance systems in the mix too. Feel free to comment or DM me about your particular project mix or your lessons learned.


Related Post: Why is KPI reporting from our integrated systems so poor? 

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.

Shriekback – Go Bang.
(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: 360,1stTouch,4Js. , 07854655009 ,365Agile," """" ",,#UKHousing,#HousingDAY, #HomesForBritain,#InternetOfTenants, #Shout,1st Touch,3squared,Accuserv,Acutence,Aareon,Academy,ActiveH,AirWatch,Alignment,ALMO,Anite,Apex,ArchHouse,Archouse,asbestos, Asprey e-state pro,ActiveHousing,Asset Management,Aurora,Average IT Costs,App,Associates,ACL,Abritas,AMS,AX,aspireview,Agile365, BO,BPR,Browser Applications,Business Objects,Business Planning, Business Process Review,Business social networking, Blockwise, Block wise,BI,BancTec,BluTek,Bluebox, Castle,CBL,Cedar Open Accounts,Cx,Change,Cheaper Housing IT,Chics, CHR,Citrix,Civica,Clearview,CMS , CCS IT Keystone CCSIT,Civica Genero,Contractor Systems,CORE,CorVu,Cost Reductions,Covalent,CRM,Crystal Reports,CTI,CTX,Customer Relationship Management,Cashflow, COA,Coactiva,Codeman,Comino,Competitive Dialogue process,complex IT procurements,Component Accounting, Community Reward Services, Consilium, Consolidation, Consultancy,Consultant,Contact Manager,Context,CIH,Chartered Institute Of Housing,Cadcorp,Cerrus Saturn,convergeOne,CACI,CPL, CRS Director, Deeplake,Development Systems,Accuserve,Document Management,Documotive,datasystems , Microsoft dynamics GP 2013, DynamicAI, Dynamic AI, ECMK,EDRMS,England, English,EnterpriseBI,ERP Systems,ERP,Elmhurst,Estatecraft,EDM,ESRI,Exponential-e, Finance, Financial Systems, Financials, Factorwise,Facebook ,Footprint,Fusion, Getting best from,gotonysmith, Grasp,Grip,GeoSolveIT,GIS,GGP,Genero,GCloud,G-Cloud,HouSys,Housing software,HFI (Housing Financials interface),HG,Housemark survey,Housing Blueprint,Housemark, HRA,housingtITguy,Housing Support Pro,HousingSupportPro,Housing Options,Hometeam, Housing Group,hotpixuk, HousingIT,hotpix,Hardware,Hitex,Housing Contact Company,housing predictive analytics, Impact Response,iPayPro,implementations,iRobot,In House,InHouse,In4,InMotion, InMotion2016, InMotion2015, InMotion2016 , Exhibition, conference,Housing Management Consultant,Housing Management 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tender,OpenHousing,Opti-time,Oracle,Orchard,Optitime DRS,Outsource and outsourcing,OpenContractor,ORS,OneServe, PIMMS Data Systems, Paloma,performance management systems,PfH, Pick,PIMMS,pimms4communities, Planned maintenance,People Value,Plus, Peoplevalue, PM,Progress,Promaster,Proval,Pyramid,PRINCE2,prince,Pamwin,PlanForm, Propoints, Pro-Points,predictive analytics for housing, QL,QLX,Quiss,Qlikview, QueryView,Queryview reporting,Registered Providers,Registered Social Landlord,Rent Increase Freezes,Repairfinder,Reporting,Reports,ROCC,RobotAutomation,Rave Technologies (India) PVT Limited, Rocket,RPs,RSL,Reality,ReAct,reidmark,RM865, Saffron,SAP,Scots, "Social Housing IT",Social Housing ICT, Scottish,Scenario, Scotland,SDM,sector,TonySmithHou,Safron,Server Virtualisation,servicing, Servitor,Sharepoint, Simdel,Simdell,SimPro,Sim Pro,Slash and Burn,Social Media,Software,SQL Open Housing,SQL Reporting Services,SQL reporting services,SQL Server,Star rating,Stores and Stock,Strategic Asset 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Enterprise,Unidata,Universal Housing,Universalcredit, universal credit, universal credits,UC,Universe,Unrest, UK, United Kingdom ,Ukhousing,UK Housing, Van Stock,Voice and data,Vantage Sentinel,verse one,verseone,vWork,Version One,Visualmetrics,Voluntas, Wales,Welsh,Windows Server,Workflow and tasking,Wheatley,Works Connect,worksConnect, Xmbrace,XML ,XenApp,Xen App ..

Test The Theory

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 was doing some work this week coming up with a pretty detailed upgrade testing plan for one of the housing associations I work with. It occurred to me that it's even harder to build the initial UAT when taking software for the first time. That process can be even harder if some ground work has not been done up front on the business case and PID (Process Initiation Document).

Early in July I am doing a set course for Rod Laird designed to help people understand how to choose the right application software, avoid some of the real 'gotchas' and generally remove a lot of the stress and uncertainty of the whole process. It's something that I think might help reduce the amount of investment wasted on the wrong software/failed implementations, also bring more in on time and to budget. More on that and a booking form at http://www.rodlaird.co.uk/default.asp?page=1469

One of the big gotchas is around knowing what you are purchasing in the first place. Unlike Excel or a washing machine, which is well understood, proven, with few bugs and problems, and in use at countless places, housing application software may only be in use in a few dozen places, or not actually anywhere at all. Did you read that last bit right? Yes you did.

I have known large and sensible RSL's purchase software solutions just on the strength of a great sales pitch, a PDF or some mock up screens. Often the sale is done via a department team, e.g. From the asset management (not IT) budget, with the first that IT know of it, far down the line when it's not progressing.

Know your software that's there to be purchased. Selecting software that's not been written yet or is still a prototype, is not a problem if you know and understand that from the start. It obviously represents a risk and in my mind higher risk should equal lower prices. IE If my organisation was to be the guinea pig to test and get a new piece of software working, for a commercial company, I would like to see some significant recompense.

So how do you establish if you are the testing guinea pigs, or just another customer? Start by asking and obtaining a list of all existing live and installing users, for the proposed application. This clearly separates the facts from the sales rhetoric. If a list was not forthcoming, possibly this application is not already out anywhere after all.

Then establish who is using this software in a similar situation to you. If you are medium to large, to reduce risk it would be desirable to see other RSLs using the application in that space. If you are specialist, e.g. very C&S not general needs, is it relevant that the software is already working in that area? How well will it integrate into your other core applications? Is that proven elsewhere. Obtain clear facts, user names, contact details.

Pursue these points carefully, to establish the risk that will be involved with your project. Ensure expectations are set internally. If you have spoken with, or visited many organisations that have already implemented and working with this application, your testing should be reasonable and expectations should be that our project timetable might be achievable. Previous installs and lessons learnt, should allow a reliable one to be drawn up. If you haven't, you might be involved in effectively helping to build an application from scratch, with all the trials and tribulations that that brings. Ensure you have the facts before signing the contract.

"Let the buyer beware" caveat emptor as the Romans once said. Know in advance if you will be testing a software product, not a prototype. If you can use that course, book it fast, places are limited - http://www.rodlaird.co.uk/default.asp?page=1469

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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 !

Related post: Are you making good application software choices?

Audioweb - Test The Theory.


(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!

File Under: 360,1stTouch,4Js. 07854-655009 , 07854655009 , 07854 655009 ," ""07854 655009"" ",07854-655009,#UKHousing,1st Touch,3squared, Acutence,Aareon,Academy,ActiveH,Alignment,ALMO,Anite,Apex,ArchHouse,Archouse,asbestos,Asprey e-state pro,Asset Management,Aurora,Average IT Costs,App,Associates,ACL,Abritas,AMS,AX,aspireview, BO,BPR,Browser Applications,Business Objects,Business Process Review,Business social networking, Blockwise, Block wise,BI,BancTec,BluTek,Bluebox, Castle,CBL,Cedar Open Accounts,Cx,Change,Cheaper Housing IT,Chics, CHR,Citrix,Civica,Clearview,CMS , CCS IT Keystone CCSIT, Contractor Systems,CORE,CorVu,Cost Reductions,Covalent,CRM,Crystal Reports,CTI,CTX,Customer Relationship Management,Cashflow, COA,Coactiva,Codeman,Comino,Competitive Dialogue process,complex IT procurements,Component Accounting,Consilium,Consolidation,Consultancy,Consultant,Contact Manager,Context,CIH,Chartered Institute Of Housing,Cadcorp,Cerrus Saturn,convergeOne,CACI,CPL Director, Deeplake,Development Systems,Document Management,Documotive,datasystems , Microsoft dynamics GP 2013 ECMK,EDRMS,England, English,EnterpriseBI,ERP Systems,ERP,Elmhurst,Estatecraft,EDM,ESRI,Exponential-e, Finance,Financial Systems,Financials, Factorwise,Facebook ,Fusion, Getting best from,gotonysmith, Grasp,Grip,GeoSolveIT,GIS,GGP, HouSys,Housing software,HG,Housemark survey,Housing Blueprint,Housing Group,hotpixuk, HousingIT,hotpix,Hardware,Hitex,Housing Contact Company, Impact Response,implementations,In House,In4,InMotion, InMotion2014, InMotion2015, InMotion2016 , Exhibition, conference, Infoflow,Information Technology,Informix,inHouse,in-house workforce, Innovation,Inside Housing,Internet Portal,Invu,Ireland,Irish,IT Budget,IT Training,iWorld, Innovation Group Apex,ITIL, In4Systems Promaster,IT,Insight, Keylogic,Keystone,Kirona,Kypera,Keyfax, Ledgers,Linkedin,Locality,Liquid Voice, MD ,Mr Void , MrVoid, Measuring Change,Mebus,Miracle,MISCS, mobile functionality,Monopoly board images and pictures, Montal,MS Dynamics,MS Dynamics CRM2011,Miracle Software,Management Reporting,MI,M3,MIS,MIS-AMS,Mobysoft, Northgate Codeman,Neighbourhoods and Communities, Northgate,Notice,NROSH,NINTEX , NINTEX workflow,Nintexworkflow, OA,OGC Buying Solutions,Ohms,OJEU Limits,OmFax,Omniledger,Open source software,open tender,OpenHousing,Opti-Time,Oracle,Orchard,Outsource and outsourcing,OpenContractor,ORS,OneServe, PIMMS Data Systems, Paloma,performance management systems,PfH,Pick,PIMMS,pimms4communities,Planned maintenance,People Value,Plus,Peoplevalue,PM,Progress,Promaster,Proval,Pyramid,PRINCE2,prince,Pamwin, QL,QLX,Quiss,Qlikview, Registered Providers,Registered Social Landlord,Rent Increase Freezes,Repairfinder,Reporting,Reports,ROCC , Rocket,RPs,RSL,Reality,ReAct,reidmark,RM865, Saffron,SAP,Scots, Scottish,Scotland,SDM,sector,Server Virtualisation,servicing, Servitor,Sharepoint,Simdel,Simdell,Slash and Burn,Social Media,Software,SQL Open Housing,SQL Reporting Services,SQL reporting services,SQL Server,Star rating,Stores and Stock,Strategic Asset Management,Sunguard ,Surveys,Sx3,System alignment, Systemwise,SM,Sequoa,Serros,SP,Scout,score,Swordfish,Serengeti,SOTI,south view,Sunguard,Service Charges, Template,Task,Terminal Services, tonys , tonysm , tonysmi , tonysmith, tonysmithth, tonysmiththa, tonysmiththat, tonysmiththath, tonysmiththatho, tonysmiththathou, tonysmiththathous, tonysmiththathousi, tonysmiththathousin, tonysmiththathousing, tonysmiththathousingg, tonysmiththathousinguy, sharepoint, share point Three Star,Today,Total repairs,Tribal,Twitter,U2, tonysmith , tonysmiththat , thathousing , thathousingIT , thathousingITguy ,TED,Tagish Casework,TP Tracker,Telecetera,Tagra,Trace, UniClass Enterprise,Unidata,Universal Housing,Universalcredit, universal credit, universal credits,UC,Universe,Unrest, UK, United Kingdom ,Ukhousing,UK Housing, Van Stock,Voice and data,Vantage Sentinel,Version One,Visualmetrics,Voluntas, Wales,Welsh,Windows Server,Workflow and tasking,Wheatley, Xmbrace,XML ,XenApp,Xen App     

Do It Yourself

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



Last week I was reading the July 2017 edition of Housing Technology magazine.

Interestingly it had articles that extolled the go-live virtues of HMS packaged solutions (4 supplier success stories) and also big ERP (1) at Sanctuary Housing. Strangely, on page four there was also a success story, from a 12,000 home landlord who had gone it alone, DIY just like the old days, how we used to do it.

It was very interesting to read Lawrence Gardner’s article and to hear about the journey he has taken the Wrekin on, for the last five years. I am sure it can feel quite good to have broken free from the shackles of your software suppliers and can dedicate resource to the specific issues being encountered, rather than waiting for ‘Roadmap Enhancements’ to be delivered. Lawrence did not outline what software tools, over just five years it had been developed in, with just 11.5 man years. Clearly Telford rather than Hanoi or Bangalore, is where certain key HMS software providers, should be cutting their code.

My experience of developing a rich HMS solution at my old shop, between 2004-2008, was about 26 professional developers beavering away for about 4 years. That’s 104 person years in Microsoft VB6 technology. We might assume the Wrekin have not developed this in .net. Few clues here then, for any of the UK’s 300+ RSLs/RPs, to pick over, to replicate this themselves. The Wrekin have got previous form on the product front however, if anyone remembers the Hand-e-work solution. Possibly speculating, ‘Hand-e-Housing’ may be released in the coming months. Watch this space.

However, I have had lots of chats over the years with many clients, who have wanted to consider building a HMS from scratch. They often ask, “How difficult can it be?”, “It’s just people and properties isn’t it?”. I have also had that conversation with one client who had their own in-house housing system up until about 7 years ago and after having a (mainstream HMS) package for a while, were considering building one again.

I asked, “Why did you abandon your last in-house HMS then?”. The reply was that it fell behind with needs of the housing team, regulator, returns/KPIs and was poorly documented, so vulnerable to key staff leaving/retiring too. They clearly did not have 104 person years to chuck at it either, so it would have been a pretty basic solution, at best. Understandably, a (sensible) decision was made to select another packaged HMS.

There are alternatives out there as well as DIY, MS Dynamics CRM, ERP from a number of sources, as well as the usual packaged HMS solutions. Each come with their own risks, costs and anticipated richness of functionality. That latter deliverable is perhaps easier to evaluate with a package solution, less so on a project involving much faith and trust, based on high hopes and often extravagant sales promises.

When you are using an external software supplier, at least (as some RSLs & Housing Groups) are finding, you can always dig out the contract and with some assistance, take them to/threaten a trip to court for damages. Bear in mind it would be very hard to do that with your own ICT team, if they didn’t manage such a good job of the deliverables, as the Wrekin.

Related Post: Dont leave documenting your in-house ICT solutions, it soon could be too late!  

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.

Gloria Gaynor - Do It Yourself.
(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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Adolescent Sex

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

Thank you to one of my Twitter followers last week at the Housing Technology Conference for providing a perfect definition of ‘Big Data’. Have you ever considered that its actually more like ‘Adolescent Sex’ and it was confirmed to me with a roomful of housing system bods down at the Oxford Belfry.

I asked, in a session with CIH visionary Barry Marlow, who here is using ‘Big Data’ as all we seem to hear these days is that it’s our saviour. Barry too has been sucked in to the big data hype. Not one of about 45 people raised their hands. My response was “Actually Barry, what we have proved here is that housing has not yet actually got to grips with ‘Small Data’. In fact we are still drowning under thousands of spreadsheets, carefully groomed and maintained by our staff in silos.

How confident are you of how many spreadsheets can be found in your shared drives & user areas? A few dozen, few hundred, few thousand, tens of thousands? Paddy Power give me poor odds on it, but I would wager towards the latter. So did the attendees in our session.

My twin sister from another mother @NasrinFazal, crystallised it by the following graphic:

Dan Ariely:
Big data is like teenage sex: everyone talks about it, nobody really knows how to do it, so everyone claims they are doing it ...

Now, you could say that big data is in fact lots of collections of small data. Our problem is that we have on the whole been pretty pants, at actually using the expensive systems we spend £hundreds of thousands on, in creating joined up data of use to us.

If you are feeling smug, try asking the question, “How many properties have we got and of what bedroom sizes & types”? If you need to consult more than one system or application and you cannot reconcile to a single figure, you are probably not “practising safe data” are you?

Related Post: Why does our Workflow not make everyones housing work, flow then?

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You can link with me on LinkedIn here - http://uk.linkedin.com/in/tonysmiththathousingitguy It would be great to connect !

Japan - Adolescent Sex.
(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, or you could benefit from any of our services please get in touch and let me know!

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Could we help you or your organisation? Our contact details are here , get in touch we will be pleased to chat about your problems or issue.
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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!

File Under: 360,1stTouch,4Js. 07854-655009 , 07854655009 , 07854 655009 ," ""07854 655009"" ",07854-655009,#UKHousing,1st Touch,3squared, Acutence,Aareon,Academy,ActiveH,Alignment,ALMO,Anite,Apex,ArchHouse,Archouse,asbestos,Asprey e-state pro,Asset Management,Aurora,Average IT Costs,App,Associates,ACL,Abritas,AMS,AX,aspireview, BO,BPR,Browser Applications,Business Objects,Business Process Review,Business social networking, Blockwise, Block wise,BI,BancTec,BluTek,Bluebox, Castle,CBL,Cedar Open Accounts,Cx,Change,Cheaper Housing IT,Chics, CHR,Citrix,Civica,Clearview,CMS , CCS IT Keystone CCSIT, Contractor Systems,CORE,CorVu,Cost Reductions,Covalent,CRM,Crystal Reports,CTI,CTX,Customer Relationship Management,Cashflow, COA,Coactiva,Codeman,Comino,Competitive Dialogue process,complex IT procurements,Component Accounting,Consilium,Consolidation,Consultancy,Consultant,Contact Manager,Context,CIH,Chartered Institute Of Housing,Cadcorp,Cerrus Saturn,convergeOne,CACI,CPL Director, Deeplake,Development Systems,Document Management,Documotive,datasystems , Microsoft dynamics GP 2013 ECMK,EDRMS,England, English,EnterpriseBI,ERP Systems,ERP,Elmhurst,Estatecraft,EDM,ESRI,Exponential-e, Finance,Financial Systems,Financials, Factorwise,Facebook ,Fusion, Getting best from,gotonysmith, Grasp,Grip,GeoSolveIT,GIS,GGP, HouSys,Housing software,HG,Housemark survey,Housing Blueprint,Housing Group,hotpixuk, HousingIT,hotpix,Hardware,Hitex,Housing Contact Company, Impact Response,implementations,In House,In4,Infoflow,Information Technology,Informix,inHouse,in-house workforce, Innovation,Inside Housing,Internet Portal,Invu,Ireland,Irish,IT Budget,IT Training,iWorld, Innovation Group Apex,ITIL, In4Systems Promaster,IT,Insight, Keylogic,Keystone,Kirona,Kypera,Keyfax, Ledgers,Linkedin,Locality,Liquid Voice, MD ,Mr Void , MrVoid, Measuring Change,Mebus,Miracle,MISCS, mobile functionality,Monopoly board images and pictures, Montal,MS Dynamics,MS Dynamics CRM2011,Miracle Software,Management Reporting,MI,M3,MIS,MIS-AMS,Mobysoft, Northgate Codeman,Neighbourhoods and Communities, Northgate,Notice,NROSH,NINTEX , NINTEX workflow,Nintexworkflow, OA,OGC Buying Solutions,Ohms,OJEU Limits,OmFax,Omniledger,Open source software,open tender,OpenHousing,Opti-Time,Oracle,Orchard,Outsource and outsourcing,OpenContractor,ORS,OneServe, PIMMS Data Systems, Paloma,performance management systems,PfH,Pick,PIMMS,pimms4communities,Planned maintenance,People Value,Plus,Peoplevalue,PM,Progress,Promaster,Proval,Pyramid,PRINCE2,prince,Pamwin, QL,QLX,Quiss,Qlikview, Registered Providers,Registered Social Landlord,Rent Increase Freezes,Repairfinder,Reporting,Reports,ROCC , Rocket,RPs,RSL,Reality,ReAct,reidmark,RM865, Saffron,SAP,Scots, Scottish,Scotland,SDM,sector,Server Virtualisation,servicing, Servitor,Sharepoint,Simdel,Simdell,Slash and Burn,Social Media,Software,SQL Open Housing,SQL Reporting Services,SQL reporting services,SQL Server,Star rating,Stores and Stock,Strategic Asset Management,Sunguard ,Surveys,Sx3,System alignment, Systemwise,SM,Sequoa,Serros,SP,Scout,score,Swordfish,Serengeti,SOTI,south view,Sunguard,Service Charges, Template,Task,Terminal Services, tonys , tonysm , tonysmi , tonysmith, tonysmithth, tonysmiththa, tonysmiththat, tonysmiththath, tonysmiththatho, tonysmiththathou, tonysmiththathous, tonysmiththathousi, tonysmiththathousin, tonysmiththathousing, tonysmiththathousingg, tonysmiththathousinguy, sharepoint, share point Three Star,Today,Total repairs,Tribal,Twitter,U2, tonysmith , tonysmiththat , thathousing , thathousingIT , thathousingITguy ,TED,Tagish Casework,TP Tracker,Telecetera,Tagra,Trace, UniClass Enterprise,Unidata,Universal Housing,Universalcredit, universal credit, universal credits,UC,Universe,Unrest, UK, United Kingdom ,Ukhousing,UK Housing, Van Stock,Voice and data,Vantage Sentinel,Version One,Visualmetrics,Voluntas, Wales,Welsh,Windows Server,Workflow and tasking,Wheatley, Xmbrace,XML ,XenApp,Xen App