Dark Maven

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

I read an interesting article in last weeks Guardian about AI targeting of that girls school in Iran and possibly how that went pear-shaped. While most of what papa Trump touches goes wrong this is a surely data shaped cock-up.

The bit in that article lands harder than all the usual breathless AI chat, because it gets to the real problem. It was not some magic machine turning evil on its own. Surprise, surprise it was stale data, bad assumptions, poor governance and human beings building speed on top of shaky foundations. That is the bit people in SocialHousing and Asset Management ought to be paying attention to, because we are in danger of doing our own smaller-scale version of exactly the same thing.

No, social housing is not a war zone (I mean now and again it may feel so!), and I am not being melodramatic. But the underlying lesson is the same. When old, wrong, shanky or incomplete data is fed into newer, faster, more sophisticated reporting tools, the output can look clever while being fundamentally unsound. The system appears confident. The dashboard looks polished. The report has plenty of decimal places. The presentation to the board feels reassuringly modern. Meanwhile the underlying asset data might be a mess. Only our asset management colleagues at the sharp end may actually realise this.

That is our Achilles heel.

I see far too much discussion at the moment about clever tools, predictive analytics, AI, optimisation engines, automated investment planning and all the rest of it, with nowhere near enough honesty about the quality of the data sitting underneath. If your component records are patchy, if installation dates were guessed fifteen years ago during a rushed LSVT stock condition exercise, if replacement history, or subsequent SCS's have not been consistently updated, if attributes have been bulk-loaded from old systems with half the meaning stripped out, then wrapping that in shiny new software does not create truth. It just creates faster nonsense.

And housing does love a bit of faster nonsense at times. We have all seen it. A landlord buys a new asset system, or switches on a new reporting layer, and within five minutes someone wants a thirty-year investment profile, a full life cycle costing model, and a heat map of future liabilities by estate, archetype and component. Lovely stuff on paper. But if your kitchen data is wrong, your roof data is vague, your windows are classified three different ways (by spot cost, by unit, by archetype, or a bit of all?), and half your components are defaulted to generic dates because nobody knew the real answer, then that LCC report is not a strategic asset. It is an expensive comfort blanket.

That is the danger with life cycle costing in particular. People often talk about it as if it is some kind of grown-up, evidence-led answer to long-term planning. In principle, it can be. In practice, it is only as good as the component data, assumptions and replacement rules beneath it. If the dates are wrong, the quantities are wrong, the useful lives are generic, or the survey data is incomplete, then the report can give a completely false sense of control. It can tell you with great confidence that spend will peak in year eight, flatten in year twelve and rise again in year nineteen, when in reality it is built on a pile of half-remembered survey notes, inherited coding structures and wishful thinking.

This is where people get seduced by sophistication. They think the answer to poor information is a better tool. Sometimes the answer is a torch, a clipboard, a proper data model and a grim few months of sorting out the basics. That is less exciting, of course. Nobody gets invited to a conference to say, “we cleaned up our component hierarchy, tightened our validation rules and stopped pretending unknown dates were known.” But that dull work is often worth more than the glossy AI strategy that comes afterwards.

In the article I highlight,  failure was not simply “technology”. The failure was letting a system run at speed while relying on information that no longer matched reality. That should ring bells in housing. We do it when asbestos records are incomplete. We do it when stock condition data is old. We do it when compliance statuses depend on weak integrations. We do it when repairs history does not feed asset intelligence properly. We do it when planned works teams, compliance teams and housing management all hold slightly different versions of the truth and nobody is quite sure which one drives the report to the board.

Then along comes a new supplier or a new platform promising insight. Suddenly old problems are dressed up in modern clothes. Instead of one vaguely  unreliable Excel spreadsheet, you get a dynamic dashboard. Instead of a crude five-year plan, you get scenario modelling. Instead of a rough estimate, you get “predictive” forecasts. But prediction based on bad source data is not insight. It is theatre.

That is the bit I think the sector still does not say loudly enough. Data quality is not some boring back-office technical issue. It is operational risk. It affects compliance, investment, tenant safety, financial planning and organisational credibility. If you do not know what components you have, where they are, when they were installed, what condition they are in, and whether that information has been properly maintained over time, then the fancy reporting layer is not your salvation. It is just a better quality mirror for your confusion.

And to be fair, this is not always laziness or incompetence. A lot of landlords are carrying legacy data structures and systems that were never designed for today’s expectations. They have been through mergers, outsourcing deals, stock transfers, system migrations, rushed mobilisation exercises and years of under-investment in proper data stewardship. Bits of the truth are scattered everywhere. The asset system says one thing, repairs says another, finance codes something differently, and the survey programme has never fully caught up. Then somebody asks for a fully costed decarbonisation pathway or a stock reinvestment plan by component and tenure, and wonders why the answers wobble.Because the data wobbles, so them we assume the system is wibble.

So before anybody gets too excited about AI, digital twins, predictive replacement models or miracle dashboards, there is a simpler question worth asking. Do we trust the component data? Not “is there some data”, not “can the system produce a report”, but do we genuinely trust it enough to make expensive, high-impact decisions from it? If the answer is no, or even “sort of”, then that is where the effort belongs.
 

There is no glamour in saying your first priority is data assurance, better survey discipline, tighter updates from planned works, cleaner integrations and proper governance around defaults, assumptions and exceptions. 

But that is the grown-up answer. In housing, as in every other serious field, speed built on stale data is dangerous. The consequences may differ, thankfully, but the principle does not.
 

We should remember that every time someone waves a shiny new tool in front of us. Clever software cannot rescue weak asset knowledge. It can only amplify it. And if we are honest, that is probably the real lesson here. Our problem is not that housing lacks sophisticated systems. It is that we still too often ask sophisticated systems to compensate for basic uncertainty. That never ends well 

Is your organisation struggling to justify a software change, or worried not everything has been covered? 

Get in touch , I will drop in for a cuppa & bring the Fox's Chocolate Gingers ☕

       Related Post: As a client told me recently, the right Critical Friend, will potentially save you more money than you spend.

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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.

Mansun - Dark Mavis

(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.

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Middle Ground

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

In this post I am going to explore "What the Social Housing Front Line Really Thinks About Repairs Tech". So, strap in !

If you’ve followed this blog for a while, you’ll know I spend a lot of time deep in the weeds of housing ICT – particularly procuring & implementing contractor repairs systems, DLO set‑ups, CRM that costs a fortune and still manages to annoy residents and staff in equal measure (and the rest!).

So when I read “Middle Ground” by Joe Carpenter – a book written by someone who’s actually been out there on the tools doing 14,000+ repairs – it hit a nerve. I read it almost in just 3 sittings, (rare for me these days as I am so busy). A lot of what Joe describes is exactly what I see when I sit in contact centres, ride along in vans or are engaged to untangle the mess left by badly implemented systems. Forgive me, this is a bit of a longer read than usual, but I promise you very insightful and rewarding.

I asked Joe if he’d be up for a straight‑talking Q&A about repairs, mobile working/field service, CRM, damp and mould, and all the stuff that never quite makes it onto the glossy supplier slide decks. He very kindly like the other legendary man from Del Monte, said yes. What follows is a condensed version of that conversation – the good, the bad and the very familiar, which IMHO holds an essential mirror up to the sector as a whole.

“CRM won’t fix a relationship you don’t have”

I grew up in council housing well east of Manchester when you still had local offices, fortnightly rent collectors (the ultimate data profilers) and staff who actually knew the estates Finnigan gas & Wimpy electric heating sides. Now we’ve got more of the big centralised call centres and expensive CRM systems, that often are supposed to make things better. Why do providers keep getting CRM so wrong?

Joe’s view is blunt: "Too many landlords treat technology as a replacement for human connection instead of something that supports it". In the past, housing offices were based on the estates. Tenants could walk in and talk to someone they knew. Staff saw the blocks, the streets and the people every day, so trust and understanding was built naturally.

Now most services sit behind screens, tablets and workflows. That centralisation and distance makes it far too easy to lose sight of the people you’re meant to be serving. Even the best CRM can’t fix that on its own. If staff never see or speak to residents, the system is just logging interactions, not building relationships.

In Middle Ground, Joe does argue for better digital tools – but only once the basics are in place: more localised services, better communication and real connection with tenants. Tech should enhance relationships that already exist, not try to paper over the cracks when they don’t.

Where repairs go wrong – before the van door opens
I’ve spent years helping landlords pick call‑scripting tools to improve repair scripting & issue diagnosis. Joe you describe loads of bad call logging in the book. What did that look like in real life?

Joe points to one simple, very common example: anything labelled as a “vent”. With call‑handlers under pressure to get through calls quickly, job descriptions ended up vague and misleading. Strange how salesfolk often walk through a "leaking tap issue". They would never tackle a vent!

He saw cases where a glazier was sent to an electric extractor fan, an electrician sent to a trickle vent, a multi‑trade sent to the wrong type of vent entirely, or a glazier dispatched for what turned out to be a wall vent. Everything was just logged as “vent broken”.

Because the system wasn’t doing anything like capturing the right detail consistently at the start, often the wrong trade turned up, the job bounced between teams and the tenant waited longer (or forever). From Joe’s perspective, “the repair is already going wrong before anyone steps out of the van”, if the diagnosis and coding at the front end aren’t right.

Mobile working: tool or surveillance?
Joe, I am sure many of you have used a few of the mobile and job‑management systems I come across in my work. Do you think getting operatives and frontline staff involved much earlier in the procurement journey would actually improve outcomes?

Joe’s answer is an immediate “Yes”. The people using these systems every day know exactly where the pain is. They see the extra clicks, the slow and often unreliable interface syncing, the random crashes and the bits that simply don’t work on a damp block landing with no signal.

Too often, new systems feel like they’ve been designed to more monitor and control operatives, not to help them. That’s usually because no one asked the people doing the work what they actually needed.

In Joe’s view, “if you involve a proper mix of users – operatives, planners, supervisors and call‑centre staff – from the start, you’re far more likely to end up with something that supports the job instead of getting in the way. Then it becomes a tool people want to use, not something they’re forced to tolerate”.

Get out in the van
I’ve always made a point of going out in the van with DLO operatives to see how systems work in real life or at the very least spending quality time with trades. Joe, is that something you think organisations should do more of?

Joe thinks it’s essential. “When staff from other parts of the organisation ride along in the van or shadow frontline workers, they see the homes, the conditions and the practical obstacles first hand. That changes how they think about policies, processes and systems.

It also builds empathy. It’s harder to sit in an office designing clunky workflows or unrealistic KPIs once you’ve watched someone try to get three emergency jobs and a safeguarding concern dealt with before lunchtime”.

When “proof of concept” isn’t proof of anything
You mention a new mobile system being trialed on voids before being rolled out to reactive repairs. What went wrong there?

In Joe’s example, he and a colleague trialed a system on voids work for two weeks. “But voids and day‑to‑day repairs are completely different beasts. On that trial, they only worked on one sheltered scheme refurbishment.

Reactive repairs are about handling many jobs per day. Voids work is fewer, bigger jobs. Basing the success of a whole mobile system on that voids pilot was, in his words, a mistake.

Some bits worked – uploading photos, writing descriptions – but key elements like van stock and replenishment didn’t really get tested. When the system later went live for reactive repairs, those gaps became real problems”. As far as Joe knows, there was no proper operative testing (UAT) in a live reactive environment before go‑live, and that showed. So, a clear lesson to be learned right there. Voids for sure is "Gang Working", similar to planned work. On many occasions I have recommended taking those operatives out of scheduling OR managing it in a different more practical fashion.

Scheduling: one job at a time vs a full diary
Dynamic scheduling tools are a constant source of complaints. Joe you write about how you preferred seeing your whole day’s work. Would that approach suit most operatives?

Joe says “he’s never met an operative who genuinely prefers being drip‑fed one job at a time. People want to see the full diary. It helps them plan, prioritise and stay motivated”.

Joe understands why managers like the flexibility of allocating work job‑by‑job – it makes it easier to reshuffle when there’s no access or someone finishes early. But from the front line, hiding the rest of the day’s work just makes life harder.

A practical suggestion he made, which actually got implemented, was a live list of communal jobs for each patch. If an operative finished early, they could check that list, pick something nearby and get it done, instead of waiting on planners who were already stretched. A simple change, but it reduced downtime and faffing about at the end of the day.

Stock, vans and the blame game
Van stock and materials management are painful in nearly every DLO I see. How did that play out for you?
When Joe worked independently, he had the freedom to buy from whichever stock supplier was quickest and most cost‑effective, and to build up his own van stock based on what he knew he needed for his patches.

"Back in the DLO, everything went through a main contracted supplier. For specialist items, that supplier went elsewhere and added admin costs on top, which meant delays and extra expense.

There was a van stock system built into the contractor system, tied to each job. In theory, you logged materials used on your PDA before closing the job. In practice, Joe found that after trying to use it properly, items kept going missing from his van stock records. He gave up and resorted to writing job numbers, addresses and parts on paper, then spending unscheduled time at the supplier’s picking everything up one job at a time.

When he tried to get it fixed, the supplier blamed the contractor system, and IT blamed the supplier. The usual integration circle, often in my experience only solved with a 3 or 4 way lock-in"

Planned vs reactive budgets & spend – talking to each other? Not really
In the book you talk about kitchens being partially replaced on repairs, then fully replaced soon after on planned programmes. Is that kind of disconnect between planned and reactive as common as it sounds?
Short answer from Joe: “Yes. He describes repeatedly contacting planners to check if there were any upcoming planned works, and either they couldn’t find anything on the system, or they had to wait on someone else to get back to them”.

That lack of joined‑up information means money gets wasted and residents get disrupted twice or worse, for work that could have been coordinated once.

Angry before you’ve even knocked on the door
Joe you describe residents being angry and disappointed before you even start the repair. With modern systems, it should be easy to share priorities and target dates. Was that information reaching residents in any meaningful way?

Joe met plenty of residents who were already frustrated before he arrived. The most common complaint and I have seen this too, first hand: “They’d been waiting far too long. That frustration got worse when he turned up without the right parts because the van stock process had failed, or when his diary was so packed he couldn’t spend enough time on the job and it had to be re-booked”.

He also saw jobs mis‑categorised. Insecure windows and doors – where a tenant couldn’t secure their home – were logged as routine rather than emergency, a diagnosis question rarely asked. Residents resorted to ropes, sticks and makeshift solutions while they waited. Meanwhile, some routine jobs were mistakenly treated as emergencies, dragging resources away from cases that really were urgent.

Damp, mould, Awaabs Law and blaming “lifestyle”
Post‑Awaab, I’m spending a lot of time talking to landlords about damp and mould ICT & processes. In your experience, how much of it is structural versus so‑called lifestyle?

From Joe’s experience, “The majority of damp and mould cases he attended were driven by the fabric and condition of the building, not resident behaviour. He points to poor insulation and cold bridging, inadequate ventilation or poorly maintained extractors, leaks from roofs and gutters, and windows and doors well past their replacement date.

Older stock simply wasn’t built for modern energy demands, and many residents can’t afford to heat their homes properly. Even when they follow advice, the property still works against them”.

He argues that preventative maintenance – regular checks of roofs, gutters, ventilation and seals – should be standard. Better use of data is critical too: if operatives are dealing with damp repeatedly in the same locations, that should trigger capital investment, not another short‑term clean and paint. Stock condition surveys need to drive action, not just sit in a system somewhere. And yes, resident education has its place, but only alongside proper investment in the homes themselves.

Safeguarding – why Joe didn’t trust the system
You mention adult safeguarding and other serious concerns spotted while doing repairs. Did the systems you used help you report those issues properly?

“There was a safeguarding team, but they sat in a different part of the organisation. Joe believes there may have been a safeguarding form somewhere in the mobile system – the same platform also did things like uniform orders and vehicle checks – but the system was so unreliable that he didn’t trust it.

Simple requests, like ordering a T‑shirt, weren’t reliably reaching the right person, so he wasn’t prepared to risk a safeguarding concern getting lost in the same way. Instead, he phoned safeguarding issues through directly. Even then, he wasn’t always confident they’d be acted on, but at least he’d spoken to a human being. The conclusion is clear: if operatives can’t trust the system for basics, they won’t trust it for critical issues either”.

Right to Buy – selling off the safety net
You rightly call out Right to Buy as one of the big reasons we’ve lost so many genuinely affordable social rented homes. Scotland and Wales have scrapped it. Why do you think England still clings on?

Joe sees it largely as politics and I would be inclined to agree. ”Right to Buy is still treated as a vote‑winner in England – a symbol of aspiration and independence. Governments like being able to promise home ownership, and a lot of people who’ve benefited from RTB are a significant part of the electorate”.

The problem, he points out and its difficult to disagree with, is that it’s never worked as intended. Homes sold haven’t been replaced like‑for‑like, and plenty of ex‑council properties now sit in the private rented sector at much higher rents and also often in way worse condition.

With demand rising and social stock shrinking, he doesn’t see the current model as sustainable. Ending RTB, or at least reforming it so every sale actually funds a replacement in the same community, would be a start.

What the DLO really wants from your “fancy” systems
This is the most interesting part of our chat. Joe you’ve worked inside a DLO and now written about it. If you could design the perfect operative workflow, what would it actually look like?

Joe’s ideal model is simple but not cheap: “Keep repairs and maintenance in‑house, managed locally in small, well‑defined patches. Operatives, caretakers, cleaners and housing officers all work the same area, know the stock and know the people.

Tenants should be able to report repairs easily – via an app, a phone call or by walking into a local office where they see familiar faces. Contact centre staff would be aligned to those local patches too, so they understand common problems and local context.

On the tech side, he wants a system that gives operatives full visibility of their work in real time: all the day’s and week’s jobs on their device, with clear details, photos, tenant notes, access requirements, asbestos info and history. If you’re already at 3 Station Road and there’s another job at 6 Station Road later in the week, the system should make it easy to pick that up while you’re there”.

“Real‑time van stock integration is key, ideally with an in‑house store to keep costs under control. Raising follow‑on work should be quick and simple, not a war with drop‑downs and obscure codes. Notes, photos and signatures should upload reliably without the system freezing.

When the job is done, the status should update instantly for planners and residents, avoiding unnecessary calls and delays. In short, Joe wants tech that helps operatives fix things first time, not systems that make the job harder”.

And what about AI?
Everyone’s shouting or worried about AI at the moment. Where do you genuinely see it helping repairs, if at all?

Joe sees potential, but only if it’s aimed at real problems. “For diagnostics, AI could analyse resident reports, photos and property history so operatives arrive with the right parts and skills, instead of gambling on vague codes and half‑finished job notes”.

He also sees a role in safeguarding – spotting patterns like repeated no‑access, hazardous living conditions in photos or behaviours that suggest vulnerability, and reliably flagging these to the right team.

“On site, AI could provide real‑time support: pulling up manufacturer instructions, checking parts availability or helping an operative talk through an unexpected issue without multiple visits. And if voice and image recognition can take away some of the admin – logging notes, materials and compliance documents accurately in the background – that would free operatives to focus on the repair instead of fighting the system.

Used well, AI could also help predict failures and spot patterns in the stock, preventing breakdowns before they happen”. But as Joe would say, it needs to solve real problems, not just create flashy new ones. I am aware that many areas where maybe AI could be targeted, in reality we are barely utilising many existing features well.

Final thoughts
Talking to Joe just reinforces what many of us already know: a lot of what’s going wrong in the repairs service isn’t about a lack of systems. If anything, there are too many. The real gaps are in design, trust, culture, local knowledge and basic follow‑through.

If RSL’s, RP’s, AHB’s and council providers want different outcomes – fewer angry residents, fewer repeat visits, fewer damp and mould headlines, better use of budgets – they’ll need to start listening to people like Joe properly, build tech around real workflows and stop pretending that another magic rebrand or quickly dropped in CRM module, will magically fix years of structural issues.

If you work in housing and haven’t read “Middle Ground” yet, it’s well worth a look. And if you’re a supplier, maybe read it before you build/pitch your next “game‑changing” product. Here’s just one of the places you can buy it - Amazon , but do support your nearest local bookshop too ! 

Joe also has an excellent Substack, check him out at Behind The Tools.  

 
While this is a pretty condensed version of my chat with Joe, I am sure I will come back and explore some more areas discussed in detail, in the coming months.

Are you considering a transformative change to your DLO solutions ? 

Get in touch , I will drop in for a hot brew & bring the Tunnocks Teacakes ☕

       Related Post: Webchat - is it really worth bothering ?

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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.

Birdland - Middle Ground

(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.

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Old Highs, New Lows

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

Having worked in all sectors of IT across my working life, I can’t say I made a conscious decision to spend getting on for 28 years in SocialHousing ICT, but there you go. Over the years I have been the natural sponge and absorbed whatever sectors I toiled in, even remembering my retail or logistics experience, often decades later.

Many of my friends, contacts and clients will know I spent my first fourteen housing sector years at MIS Active Management Systems, home (originally of HAMIS and) ActiveH, last 5 of which as Managing Director for my sins. Mostly happy times with many decent hardworking people, not without its quirks and politics as most small companies have. Glen Lewis and Richard Chambers will be familiar to many, as will some of the others, a few with a SOH bypass who made a Christmas appearance in my ‘Hamis Recorder’.

In some of the sales demos I attended back in the 2010's pitching for MIS, we often bumped into Ian Lockwood or Chris Harvey coming into the prospect for the afternoon session. It was good to take a good few of those back then. Many of those RSLs are just about back out again now.

When I first started, there were over 25 products/suppliers available to anyone needing a housing management system. With the agreed sale of MIS-AMS announced today (somewhat quicker than Homemaster last month), that reduces the bigger supplier beast to the UK Housing procurement equivalent of the four corners of Jurassic Park. Aareon, Civica, MRI (now Capita owners) & NEC. Which of these might be the most precarious and whose long term fate might be more tied to its VC owners?

A bit like the movie, a lot of these solutions feel like they are sharing a lot of the old shared stale DNA. With such similar multiple solutions in so little hands, it’s a wonder the Competition & Mergers Commission is asleep at the wheel yet again with this new ‘we are thrilled & proud’ PR messaging from the purchaser. Where will this leave InclineIT & ActiveF (ActiveFinance) then? 

Still that leaves one true indy innovator left standing, Rubixx. No debt, no external investors or shareholders. What a luxury to only answer to clients. A solution that if you have not already taken a look at, you should take a shufty. Simon Reay has got most legacy solutions on his bingo card, he should have picking up over 30 deals in the last three years. I recall Simon proudly telling be when he had won Melville HA from MIS up in Midlothian. Actually that was the first HMS implementation I ever did back in 1998.  Like Simon, I will be fascinated to see how selling a culture of caring about customers, now plays out under a new regime

One class of alternative solutions that I can hardly see spooking the C&MC, are the resellers of CRM based platform housing solutions. You know the ones, Microsoft Dynamics 365 or Salesforce. These are the new alternatives to the traditional suppliers, providing freedom from solutions being bought up and flexibility to do something else. These RSLs often have deeper pockets too. Strangely when some of these housing CRM resellers are historically snapped up by big outfits, they are often suffocated. Why can’t some of the Jurastic’s manage to tap into this potential and take on a reseller building more expensive solutions? Maybe their management structures cannot support it or maybe just the imagination is not there. Maybe we will have to wait until Plentific try their hand at this?

What will the big suppliers propose to the market from their bag of product? Even now I experience confusion where rival options are available. One of the biggest challenges, is often integration, that is particularly older products have not been plugged together before and its still challenging at time in 2025. Just cause it has the same logo on it, should not con you into thinking integration will be a breeze.Also, how much innovation is occurring ? Some of our larger suppliers seem reluctant to invest big.

With the urge of the sector to select best of breed to mix and match, how will this pan out with achieving data standards aspirations? Also, how much more needs to be budgeted for more client side maintenance of solutions, rather than contacting that single supplier help desk?

When merged and the usual skill ‘wastage’ occurs, how well will that combined helpdesk for three housing systems going to function for customers? A new call logging system does not always make a better helpdesk. While Aareon have recently moved to a new system, how will all those support staff and clients take now to going back to a supplier they may have left just a few years ago, or maybe just in a transition away from Aareon?

So how will success be judged here?

Well by RSLs & SocialHousing organisations, probably if these buyouts lead to significant investment & innovative product. That has certainly appeared to have happened with Rubixx and NEC, as can be seen by consistent new wins. Will we see a return to procurement wins from the others, or just a sweating of existing customer revenues? No one wants to just feel like a number in a supplier's sales ledger, squeezed each year by increased costs. Always as ever, are the dangers of suppliers trying to re-contract. It will take 12-18 months to see how this all settles down.

Well if you are staff or customer touched by this today, I wish you well on your journey to or from AWS Appstream, Fixflo, Arthur, Assetcore, MRI Documotive, Homeo, OpenAccounts etc. Thinking about it, these are all blending into each other now, aren’t they? Maybe only Rubixx & the CRM resellers will clean up after this one - lets see !

Any comments, observations or queries, please share.  

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

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

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

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

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I would be pleased to connect with you on LinkedIn - http://uk.linkedin.com/in/tonysmiththathousingitguy Message me with any issues or queries, you would like to be explored in this blog. We generally receive a couple of suggestions each month.

Bob Mould – Old Highs, New Lows.
(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,acquisitions, 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,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,HousingOne,Housing-One, Housing Support Pro,HousingIT,HousingSupportPro,HyperOptic, IMS,IT,IT Budget,IT Training,ITIL,Impact Response,In,In4,In4Systems Promaster,InfoBoss,InHouse,InMotion,InMotion2015,InMotion2016,InfoBoss,Infoflow,Information,Information Technology,Information@Work components,Informix,Innovation, Informetis,Inphase,Inside Housing,Insight,Internet Portal,Internetalia,Invu,Ireland,Irish,itLab,InclineIT Keyfax,Keylogic,Keypera,Keystone,Kirona,Kypera,Keynamics, Landlord,Ledgers,Linkedin,Liquid,Locality,Localz, M3,MAVIS,MD,MDM,MI,MIS,MIS-AMS,MISCS,MRI,MS Dynamics,MRI,MS Dynamics CRM2011,Microsoft365,microsoft 365,MWL,Management,Management Server,Manifest,Measuring,Mebus,More IQ,MoreIQ,Microsoft Dynamics 365,Microsoft dynamics GP 2013,Miracle,MobileIron,Mobysoft,Monopoly board images and pictures,Montal,Mr Void,MriEngage,MrVoid,MoreIQ, MRI Housing One, NDL,NINTEX,NINTEX workflow,NPS,NPS ASSIST,NPS Housing,NPS Job Manager Mobile,NROSH,Natural,Neighbourhoods and Communities,Nintexworkflow,Northgate,Northgate Codeman,Northgate Public Services,Notice, OA,OGC Buying Solutions,OJEU Limits,ORS,Ohms,OmFax,Omniledger,One,OneAdvanced,OneServe,Open source,OpenContractor,OpenHousing,Opti-time,Options,Optitime,Oracle,Orchard,Outsource and outsourcing,OutSystems, PIMMS,PIMSS Data,PM,PRINCE2,Paloma,Pamwin,PanConnect,People Value,Peoplevalue,PfH,Pick,PlanForm,Planned maintenance,Plenfific,Plus,Portfolio Management System,PowerObjects,Pro,Pro-Points,Prodo,Progress,Promaster,Propoints,Proval,Providers,Pyramid, QL,QLX, QLF, QL Yuneo,QuantSpark,Qube,QLX,Qlikview,QueryView,Queryview reporting,Quiss, RM865,ROCC,RPs,RSL,Rave,ReAct,Reality,RedkiteCRM,Red Olive,Registered,Registered Social,Rent 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 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