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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UHF

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


I’ve blogged a number of times about IOT and its potential in SocialHousing. However, I’ll be frank, I am constantly disappointed with the attitude of the sector, towards getting much practical done.

I am always surprised by the innovator suppliers and social housing organisations, pushing tech forward and I pride myself in getting deeper involved with such organisations. It’s part of the spice that gets me out of bed each morning, as folks who know me will testify.

It was while doing some work in deepest beautiful Cymru, I came across a brilliant IOT project that I think is breaking beyond some of the perceived limitations, of cost, security, acceptability (from residents) and connectivity. The last of those often seems to be a common blocker. The solution might be to rethink the bandwidth and retune.

If you are of a certain age, you will remember Radio Luxembourg. A great deal after 10pm of my mis-spent youth included John Peel, Piccadilly Radio 261 and Luxembourg medium wave 208 (fading in and out as it inevitably did). Its gone a bit under the radar, but a recent reorganisation of these frequencies, opens up so many more IOT opportunities.

Mid Wales HA have leveraged a UHF LoRaWAN Gateway, at a cost of around £500, to solve the comms piece of the jigsaw, each gateway handling 65,000 nodes. For you techies, that’s UHF ISM band 868mhz (EU). Keeping within the EU 1% duty cycle. 

So far so good, what about the sensors, the eyes, ears and noises of the IOT operation? Well, Mid Wales spent around £45 per sensor, covering temperature and humidity. These are Elsys ERS-Lite ( https://www.elsys.se/en/ers/ ) logging at 60 minute intervals into TTN (The Things Network), each with a battery life of 10-15 years, at a 60 minute spread factor 7, which is low power.

The IOT sensors at Mid-Wales HA went mostly into void properties remaining once a new tenant moves in. This is a brilliant way to introduce IOT and clearly helps allay data issues. Used and applied properly, IOT should be a benefit to residents, not a ruse to collect data with no defined purpose. The key here is to manage the asset better, add value to residents and perhaps add value around energy usage or report repair issues faster.

Mid Wales are based in lovely Newtown, in the Severn valley and their aerial on the roof of their head office, covers 20km radius and line of sight record of up to 700km. That is a possible game changer.

Collecting data is the first challenge, using it effectively and distinguishing ambient and exceptional conditions, is another matter. Sensor data from TTN is integrated into MyDevices Cayenne dashboard. ( https://developers.mydevices.com/cayenne/features/ ) Dean Marsh in IT at Mid Wales, has also been working with Capita to integrate the data directly into their Capita integrated housing management system. This all depends on the setting of triggers and alerts when values pass thresholds.

Clearly, the success and practical application of IOT in Social Housing, will rely on better integration into the key housing management systems out there. Capita and Northgate in particular I have seen are taking steps in the right direction. All suppliers need to be taking IOT seriously and providing practical interfaces, to support the sector going forward. I would be pleased to see more roadmaps turning into real product interfaces, adding to the real lives of residents and improving communities.

Mid Wales HA are doing some fantastic things here and setting a fantastic example to so many other socialhousing providers, who perhaps have more convenient terrain or connectivity and could be doing so much more, around better maintaining and protecting assets. I hope this blogpost spurs more organisations on to make IOT happen. Many thanks to Dean in ICT for sharing 👍

C’mon everyone, its happening in Wales, rest of the UK, catch up won’t you?

Related Post: Is Social Housing generally taking IOT seriously?  
 

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.

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


Access a quick list of our Social Housing ICT blog posts here

Could we help you or your organisation? Our contact details are here , get in touch we will be pleased to chat about your problems and help with your organisation issues.
File Under: #HomesForBritain,#HousingDAY,#InternetOfTenants,#Shout,#UKHousing, 07854655009, 1st Touch,1stTouch,360,365Agile,3squared,4Js, ACL,ALMO,AMS,AX,Aareon,Abritas,Academy,Accuserv,Accuserve,Active Housing,ActiveH,ActiveHousing,Acutence,Advanced,Agile,Agile365,AirWatch,Alignment,Allpay,Amazon Web Services,Anite,Apex,App,ArchHouse,Archouse,Asprey e-state pro,Asset Management,Associates,Aurora,Average IT Costs,AWI SX Integration Toolkit,AWS, BI,BO,BPR,BancTec,BigChange,Blockwise,BluTek,Bluebox,Blueprint,Browser Applications,Business Objects,Business Planning,Business Process Review,Business social networking, CACI,Capita One Housing,CBL,CCS IT Keystone CCSIT,CHICS,CHR,CIH,CMS,COA,CORE,CPL,CRM,CRM2013,CRS,CTI,CTX,Cadcorp,Capita,CapitaOne,Capita One,Capital Management,Cashflow,Castle,Castleton,Castleton Technology,Cedar Open Accounts,Cerrus,Change,Charges,Chartered Institute Of Housing,Cheaper Housing IT,Chics, Citrix,Civica,Civica CTX,Civica Cx,Civica Genero,Civica Saffron,Clearview,Clik,Cloud Dialogs,CloudDialogs,Coactiva,Codeman,Comino,Commontime,Community Reward Services,Company,Competitive Dialogue process,Component Accounting,Consilium,Consolidation, Consultancy,Consultant,Consultants,Contact Manager,Context,Contractor Systems,CorVu,Cost Reductions,Covalent,Crystal Reports,Customer Relationship Management,Cx, DRS,Deeplake,Designer Software,Development Systems,Director,Document,Documotive,Dynamic AI,DynamicAI,Dynamics 365, ECMK,EDM,EDRMS,ERP,ESRI,Elmhurst,Enghouse Interactive,England,English,EnterpriseBI,Estatecraft,Etive,Exhibition,Exponential-e, Facebook,Factorwise,Field Service management,Finance,Financial Systems,Financials,Footprint,Forms,Freezes,Fusion, Gas Tag,G-Cloud,GCloud,GDPR,GGP,GIS,GasTag,Genero,GeoSolveIT,Getting best from,GoTonySmith,Grasp,Grip,Group Apex, HFI (Housing Financials interface),HG,HRA,Hardware,Hitachi Systems,Hitex,HomeMaster,Hometeam,HouSys,House,Housemark,Housemark survey,Housing,Housing Contact,Housing Group,Housing Insight,Housing Management,Housing Management Consultant,Housing Partners,Housing Portfolio Management System,Hub Asset Management, Housing Support Pro,HousingIT,HousingSupportPro,HyperOptic, IMS,IT,IT Budget,IT Training,ITIL,Impact Response,In,In4,In4Systems Promaster,InfoBoss,InHouse,InMotion,InMotion2015,InMotion2016,InfoBoss,Infoflow,Information,Information Technology,Information@Work components,Informix,Innovation, Informetis,Inphase,Inside Housing,Insight,Internet Portal,Internetalia,Invu,Ireland,Irish,itLab, Keyfax,Keylogic,Keypera,Keystone,Kirona,Kypera, Landlord,Ledgers,Linkedin,Liquid,Locality,Localz, M3,MAVIS,MD,MDM,MI,MIS,MIS-AMS,MISCS,MRI,MS Dynamics,MS Dynamics CRM2011,MWL,Management,Management Server,Manifest,Measuring,Mebus,Microsoft Dynamics 365,Microsoft dynamics GP 2013,Miracle,MobileIron,Mobysoft,Monopoly board images and pictures,Montal,Mr Void,MriEngage,MrVoid, NDL,NINTEX,NINTEX workflow,NPS,NPS ASSIST,NPS Housing,NPS Job Manager Mobile,NROSH,Natural,Neighbourhoods and Communities,Nintexworkflow,Northgate,Northgate Codeman,Northgate Public Services,Notice, OA,OGC Buying Solutions,OJEU Limits,ORS,Ohms,OmFax,Omniledger,One,OneAdvanced,OneServe,Open source,OpenContractor,OpenHousing,Opti-time,Options,Optitime,Oracle,Orchard,Outsource and outsourcing,OutSystems, PIMMS,PIMSS Data,PM,PRINCE2,Paloma,Pamwin,PanConnect,People Value,Peoplevalue,PfH,Pick,PlanForm,Planned maintenance,Plus,Portfolio Management System,PowerObjects,Pro,Pro-Points,Prodo,Progress,Promaster,Propoints,Proval,Providers,Pyramid, QL,QuantSpark,Qube,QLX,Qlikview,QueryView,Queryview reporting,Quiss, RM865,ROCC,RPs,RSL,Rave,ReAct,Reality,RedkiteCRM,Red Olive,Registered,Registered Social,Rent Increase,RentSense,RentSenseLite,Repairfinder,Reporting,Reports,RobotAutomation,Rocket, Salesforce,Salesforce.Org,SAP,SASSHA,SDM,SHBVN,SM,SOTI,SP,SQL,SQL Open Housing,SQL Reporting,SQL Server,Saffron,Safron,Saturn,Scenario,Scotland,Scots,Scottish,Scout,Sequoa,Serengeti,Serros,Server,Service,Services,Servitor,Sharepoint,Sim,SimPro, Simdel,Simdell,Slash and Burn,Social Housing ICT,Social Housing Software Applications,Social Media,Software,Software solutions,Spotlight Service,Spotlightservice,Star rating,Stores and Stock,Strategic,SunAccounts,Sunguard,Surveys, Swordfish,Sx3,Symatrix Human,System alignment,Systems,Systemwise, T-Files,TEAMS,TED,TFiles,TP Tracker,TSG,Tagish Casework,Tagra,Task,Technologies (India) PVT Limited,Telecetera,Template,Terminal Services,That,Three Star,Today,Tony Smith,Tony Smith That Housing IT Guy,TonySmith that housing IT,TonySmithHou,TonySmithHousing, ,TonySmithHousingITguy,Total,Total Mobile,Totalmobile,Trace,Tribal,Twitter, U2,UC,UK,UK Housing,Ukhousing,UniClass Enterprise,Unidata,United Kingdom,Universal,Universalcredit,Universe,Unrest, Valueworks,Van Stock,Vantage,Vantage Sentinel,Version,Virtualisation,Visualmetrics,Voice,Voice and data,Voluntas, Wales,Welsh,Wheatley,Windows Server,Workflow and,Work Hub,Works Connect, XML,Xen App,XenApp,Xmbrace, ...
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Big or Small, its Complex

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


One of my aims when originally setting up my consultancy nearly nine years ago, was to bring better use of Social Housing ICT solutions, to all sizes of RPs and RSL’s.

There’s such waste in organisations of all sizes, which could easily be ploughed into core services, more or better staff, better targeting of value time with potential residents who need it, or better repairs & capital works. ICT systems need to earn their keep.

While I work with many providers managing thousands or tens of thousands of homes, recently I have done a lot of work with much smaller landlords, of 400, 160 and just 34 properties. I have met some incredible staff and some residents too, who often see housing as well as support from these landlords.

In a recent procurement process, with a client with under 2,000 properties under management, one supplier declined to submit a completed ITT. The reason given amounted to the client wanting ‘functionality that was more common in a larger RSL’.

Now bidders quite often pull out of procurements for a wide range of reasons, not always citing the real reason why. A prospect could be qualified out by a sales manager, maybe because its felt too ‘cold’ an engagement – i.e. there’s no existing relationship. Perhaps a supplier is already suitably committed or want to concentrate on more ‘solid’ prospects. That’s not a problem, some great proposals came in, however it got me thinking.

Thinking about my recent client with under 200 managed homes, its amazing how sophisticated this organisation is, compared with ones maybe of 7,000 homes or more. Under UK legislation, the smaller organisation still has Gas safety, EPCs, Asbestos, all kinds of other compliance to deal with, in addition to asset management, Universal Credit rollout (& attendant issues that brings) and GDPR. These add a massive overhead if solution features are missing or poorly integrated.

In some ways a procurement with a bigger socialhousing client can be an easier prospect than with a more compact one, as there is more likely to be a few ‘spare’ admin staff (or more likely admin staff with some ‘spare’ capacity), who might take up the slack, for missing or lightweight system features being offered.

Smaller providers are the backbone of much provision these days, in small towns, all across the UK. While working hard to make a difference, these smaller RPs/RSLs need innovative ICT solutions that ease the burden on staff, when trying hard, delivering top notch service. So suppliers, I would expect more requests for functionality just like the ‘bigger players’.

The challenge for suppliers, particularly as all the mainstream players migrate to browser delivered solutions, is how to deliver solutions while keeping implementation days low. That might be by delivering more of an out of the box ‘best practice’ config, or simplifying that whole integration phase, taking a leaf how we work with apps. No one trained us to use Amazon or online banking, but we managed it, didn’t we?  

Once our #socialhousing suppliers crack that, they will seriously crack that smaller market, who are suffering pretty much most of those same complexities as larger organisations, but with maybe 200, not 20,000 homes.

Related Post: Fail to prepared for UAT and you have prepared to fail...  
 

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.

Lana Del Rey – Mariners Apartment Complex.
(c) Tony Smith, Acutance Consulting www.acutanceconsulting.co.uk 07854-655009


Access a quick list of our Social Housing ICT blog posts here

Could we help you or your organisation? Our contact details are here , get in touch we will be pleased to chat about your problems and help with your organisation issues.
File Under: #HomesForBritain,#HousingDAY,#InternetOfTenants,#Shout,#UKHousing, 07854655009, 1st Touch,1stTouch,360,365Agile,3squared,4Js, ACL,ALMO,AMS,AX,Aareon,Abritas,Academy,Accuserv,Accuserve,Active Housing,ActiveH,ActiveHousing,Acutence,Advanced,Agile,Agile365,AirWatch,Alignment,Allpay,Amazon Web Services,Anite,Apex,App,ArchHouse,Archouse,Asprey e-state pro,Asset Management,Associates,Aurora,Average IT Costs,AWI SX Integration Toolkit,AWS, BI,BO,BPR,BancTec,BigChange,Blockwise,BluTek,Bluebox,Blueprint,Browser Applications,Business Objects,Business Planning,Business Process Review,Business social networking, CACI,Capita One Housing,CBL,CCS IT Keystone CCSIT,CHICS,CHR,CIH,CMS,COA,CORE,CPL,CRM,CRM2013,CRS,CTI,CTX,Cadcorp,Capita,CapitaOne,Capita One,Capital Management,Cashflow,Castle,Castleton,Castleton Technology,Cedar Open Accounts,Cerrus,Change,Charges,Chartered Institute Of Housing,Cheaper Housing IT,Chics, Citrix,Civica,Civica CTX,Civica Cx,Civica Genero,Civica Saffron,Clearview,Clik,Cloud Dialogs,CloudDialogs,Coactiva,Codeman,Comino,Commontime,Community Reward Services,Company,Competitive Dialogue process,Component Accounting,Consilium,Consolidation, Consultancy,Consultant,Consultants,Contact Manager,Context,Contractor Systems,CorVu,Cost Reductions,Covalent,Crystal Reports,Customer Relationship Management,Cx, DRS,Deeplake,Designer Software,Development Systems,Director,Document,Documotive,Dynamic AI,DynamicAI,Dynamics 365, ECMK,EDM,EDRMS,ERP,ESRI,Elmhurst,Enghouse Interactive,England,English,EnterpriseBI,Estatecraft,Etive,Exhibition,Exponential-e, Facebook,Factorwise,Field Service management,Finance,Financial Systems,Financials,Footprint,Forms,Freezes,Fusion, Gas Tag,G-Cloud,GCloud,GDPR,GGP,GIS,GasTag,Genero,GeoSolveIT,Getting best from,GoTonySmith,Grasp,Grip,Group Apex, HFI (Housing Financials interface),HG,HRA,Hardware,Hitachi Systems,Hitex,HomeMaster,Hometeam,HouSys,House,Housemark,Housemark survey,Housing,Housing Contact,Housing Group,Housing Insight,Housing Management,Housing Management Consultant,Housing Partners,Housing Portfolio Management System,Hub Asset Management, Housing Support Pro,HousingIT,HousingSupportPro,HyperOptic, IMS,IT,IT Budget,IT Training,ITIL,Impact Response,In,In4,In4Systems Promaster,InfoBoss,InHouse,InMotion,InMotion2015,InMotion2016,InfoBoss,Infoflow,Information,Information Technology,Information@Work components,Informix,Innovation, Informetis,Inphase,Inside Housing,Insight,Internet Portal,Internetalia,Invu,Ireland,Irish,itLab, Keyfax,Keylogic,Keypera,Keystone,Kirona,Kypera, Landlord,Ledgers,Linkedin,Liquid,Locality,Localz, M3,MAVIS,MD,MDM,MI,MIS,MIS-AMS,MISCS,MRI,MS Dynamics,MS Dynamics CRM2011,MWL,Management,Management Server,Manifest,Measuring,Mebus,Microsoft Dynamics 365,Microsoft dynamics GP 2013,Miracle,MobileIron,Mobysoft,Monopoly board images and pictures,Montal,Mr Void,MriEngage,MrVoid, NDL,NINTEX,NINTEX workflow,NPS,NPS ASSIST,NPS Housing,NPS Job Manager Mobile,NROSH,Natural,Neighbourhoods and Communities,Nintexworkflow,Northgate,Northgate Codeman,Northgate Public Services,Notice, OA,OGC Buying Solutions,OJEU Limits,ORS,Ohms,OmFax,Omniledger,One,OneAdvanced,OneServe,Open source,OpenContractor,OpenHousing,Opti-time,Options,Optitime,Oracle,Orchard,Outsource and outsourcing,OutSystems, PIMMS,PIMSS Data,PM,PRINCE2,Paloma,Pamwin,PanConnect,People Value,Peoplevalue,PfH,Pick,PlanForm,Planned maintenance,Plus,Portfolio Management System,PowerObjects,Pro,Pro-Points,Prodo,Progress,Promaster,Propoints,Proval,Providers,Pyramid, QL,QuantSpark,Qube,QLX,Qlikview,QueryView,Queryview reporting,Quiss, RM865,ROCC,RPs,RSL,Rave,ReAct,Reality,RedkiteCRM,Red Olive,Registered,Registered Social,Rent Increase,RentSense,RentSenseLite,Repairfinder,Reporting,Reports,RobotAutomation,Rocket, Salesforce,Salesforce.Org,SAP,SASSHA,SDM,SHBVN,SM,SOTI,SP,SQL,SQL Open Housing,SQL Reporting,SQL Server,Saffron,Safron,Saturn,Scenario,Scotland,Scots,Scottish,Scout,Sequoa,Serengeti,Serros,Server,Service,Services,Servitor,Sharepoint,Sim,SimPro, Simdel,Simdell,Slash and Burn,Social Housing ICT,Social Housing Software Applications,Social Media,Software,Software solutions,Spotlight Service,Spotlightservice,Star rating,Stores and Stock,Strategic,SunAccounts,Sunguard,Surveys, Swordfish,Sx3,Symatrix Human,System alignment,Systems,Systemwise, T-Files,TEAMS,TED,TFiles,TP Tracker,TSG,Tagish Casework,Tagra,Task,Technologies (India) PVT Limited,Telecetera,Template,Terminal Services,That,Three Star,Today,Tony Smith,Tony Smith That Housing IT Guy,TonySmith that housing IT,TonySmithHou,TonySmithHousing, ,TonySmithHousingITguy,Total,Total Mobile,Totalmobile,Trace,Tribal,Twitter, U2,UC,UK,UK Housing,Ukhousing,UniClass Enterprise,Unidata,United Kingdom,Universal,Universalcredit,Universe,Unrest, Valueworks,Van Stock,Vantage,Vantage Sentinel,Version,Virtualisation,Visualmetrics,Voice,Voice and data,Voluntas, Wales,Welsh,Wheatley,Windows Server,Workflow and,Work Hub,Works Connect, XML,Xen App,XenApp,Xmbrace, ...
. . . . . . . . . . .

48 Twitter Crash

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


Last week it was again a pleasure to be part of the 2019 #HousingDay with Leslie Channon, Barry Malki , Mark Lawrence and Jon Land of HQN
 

Leslie has been an involved social housing resident for many years and now a shared owner. Leslie's landlord Cottsway kindly provided facilities where various sessions could be filmed and we had a dedicated space with internet access.

Followers of HousingDay will be aware of our Wordpress site and Twitter Account that connects with the social media world. This year we managed to have the #HousingDay hashtag trending at number three on Twitter. That was a tough call ahead of ‘Merkel’ (Angela with a announcement on EU / UK Brexit) and something called the ‘Rugby World Cup’ (anyone heard of that one?).

We reached number three by about 11am in the morning, which was probably the quickest ever, with tens of thousands of tweets, retweets, faves & mentions across the whole UKhousing community. We also had a collection of live streamed videos, broadcast straight from the Cottsway office in Witney.

For the first time ever, we crashed our Twitter Account due to the volume of over 2,500 tweets by 11am on @HousingDay 😊

That’s something that I have never quite managed before, but it could not have been for a better cause. The way the whole housing community engaged, including lots resident reaction of all kinds, was again really incredible.

Readers of this blog and followers familiar with my Twitter stream, will be aware of the varied work I do, across landlords managing a few dozen to tens of thousands of homes. Personally I tend to see landlords improving systems / solutions and therefore are trying hard to bring benefits to residents and their communities.

Tony Smith @HousingITguy & Leslie Channon @LeslieChannon

#HousingDay showcases such a lot that’s good in the sector. The day attempts as best we can, to show the full range of resident views too.  From lots of engagement I have with residents, a number of their experiences could be way better.

Personally, I like to see the bad as well as the good experiences aired. Those also allow landlords to improve processes and target better management of staff and third party contractors. In my opinion, not acting on bad service to turn it around, learning from it, is a missed opportunity, for everyone.

Failing service should NEVER be swept under the carpet in the sector, although I see the majority of residents experience great value and there's respect both ways. Always be improving is my ethic, as anyone who has ever worked with me would probably confirm. The sector must take the same approach, always.

On opportunities, now is the time to think if your organisation would like to host #HousingDay next year. If you are interested, please contact Leslie Channon, Jon Land or myself and we will be pleased to discuss practicalities, for Oct 2020.

We hope you enjoyed the event this year and will support it again!

Related Post: A shame we still seem to be a long way off from a solar panel on every roof  
 

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.

Suzi Quatro – 48 Crash.
(c) Tony Smith, Acutance Consulting www.acutanceconsulting.co.uk 07854-655009


Access a quick list of our Social Housing ICT blog posts here

Could we help you or your organisation? Our contact details are here , get in touch we will be pleased to chat about your problems and help with your organisation issues.
File Under: #HomesForBritain,#HousingDAY,#InternetOfTenants,#Shout,#UKHousing, 07854655009, 1st Touch,1stTouch,360,365Agile,3squared,4Js, ACL,ALMO,AMS,AX,Aareon,Abritas,Academy,Accuserv,Accuserve,Active Housing,ActiveH,ActiveHousing,Acutence,Advanced,Agile,Agile365,AirWatch,Alignment,Allpay,Amazon Web Services,Anite,Apex,App,ArchHouse,Archouse,Asprey e-state pro,Asset Management,Associates,Aurora,Average IT Costs,AWI SX Integration Toolkit,AWS, BI,BO,BPR,BancTec,BigChange,Blockwise,BluTek,Bluebox,Blueprint,Browser Applications,Business Objects,Business Planning,Business Process Review,Business social networking, CACI,Capita One Housing,CBL,CCS IT Keystone CCSIT,CHICS,CHR,CIH,CMS,COA,CORE,CPL,CRM,CRM2013,CRS,CTI,CTX,Cadcorp,Capita,CapitaOne,Capita One,Capital Management,Cashflow,Castle,Castleton,Castleton Technology,Cedar Open Accounts,Cerrus,Change,Charges,Chartered Institute Of Housing,Cheaper Housing IT,Chics, Citrix,Civica,Civica CTX,Civica Cx,Civica Genero,Civica Saffron,Clearview,Clik,Cloud Dialogs,CloudDialogs,Coactiva,Codeman,Comino,Commontime,Community Reward Services,Company,Competitive Dialogue process,Component Accounting,Consilium,Consolidation, Consultancy,Consultant,Consultants,Contact Manager,Context,Contractor Systems,CorVu,Cost Reductions,Covalent,Crystal Reports,Customer Relationship Management,Cx, DRS,Deeplake,Designer Software,Development Systems,Director,Document,Documotive,Dynamic AI,DynamicAI,Dynamics 365, ECMK,EDM,EDRMS,ERP,ESRI,Elmhurst,Enghouse Interactive,England,English,EnterpriseBI,Estatecraft,Etive,Exhibition,Exponential-e, Facebook,Factorwise,Field Service management,Finance,Financial Systems,Financials,Footprint,Forms,Freezes,Fusion, Gas Tag,G-Cloud,GCloud,GDPR,GGP,GIS,GasTag,Genero,GeoSolveIT,Getting best from,GoTonySmith,Grasp,Grip,Group Apex, HFI (Housing Financials interface),HG,HRA,Hardware,Hitachi Systems,Hitex,HomeMaster,Hometeam,HouSys,House,Housemark,Housemark survey,Housing,Housing Contact,Housing Group,Housing Insight,Housing Management,Housing Management Consultant,Housing Partners,Housing Portfolio Management System,Hub Asset Management, Housing Support Pro,HousingIT,HousingSupportPro,HyperOptic, IMS,IT,IT Budget,IT Training,ITIL,Impact Response,In,In4,In4Systems Promaster,InfoBoss,InHouse,InMotion,InMotion2015,InMotion2016,InfoBoss,Infoflow,Information,Information Technology,Information@Work components,Informix,Innovation, Informetis,Inphase,Inside Housing,Insight,Internet Portal,Internetalia,Invu,Ireland,Irish,itLab, Keyfax,Keylogic,Keypera,Keystone,Kirona,Kypera, Landlord,Ledgers,Linkedin,Liquid,Locality,Localz, M3,MAVIS,MD,MDM,MI,MIS,MIS-AMS,MISCS,MRI,MS Dynamics,MS Dynamics CRM2011,MWL,Management,Management Server,Manifest,Measuring,Mebus,Microsoft Dynamics 365,Microsoft dynamics GP 2013,Miracle,MobileIron,Mobysoft,Monopoly board images and pictures,Montal,Mr Void,MriEngage,MrVoid, NDL,NINTEX,NINTEX workflow,NPS,NPS ASSIST,NPS Housing,NPS Job Manager Mobile,NROSH,Natural,Neighbourhoods and Communities,Nintexworkflow,Northgate,Northgate Codeman,Northgate Public Services,Notice, OA,OGC Buying Solutions,OJEU Limits,ORS,Ohms,OmFax,Omniledger,One,OneAdvanced,OneServe,Open source,OpenContractor,OpenHousing,Opti-time,Options,Optitime,Oracle,Orchard,Outsource and outsourcing,OutSystems, PIMMS,PIMSS Data,PM,PRINCE2,Paloma,Pamwin,PanConnect,People Value,Peoplevalue,PfH,Pick,PlanForm,Planned maintenance,Plus,Portfolio Management System,PowerObjects,Pro,Pro-Points,Prodo,Progress,Promaster,Propoints,Proval,Providers,Pyramid, QL,QuantSpark,Qube,QLX,Qlikview,QueryView,Queryview reporting,Quiss, RM865,ROCC,RPs,RSL,Rave,ReAct,Reality,RedkiteCRM,Red Olive,Registered,Registered Social,Rent Increase,RentSense,RentSenseLite,Repairfinder,Reporting,Reports,RobotAutomation,Rocket, Salesforce,Salesforce.Org,SAP,SASSHA,SDM,SHBVN,SM,SOTI,SP,SQL,SQL Open Housing,SQL Reporting,SQL Server,Saffron,Safron,Saturn,Scenario,Scotland,Scots,Scottish,Scout,Sequoa,Serengeti,Serros,Server,Service,Services,Servitor,Sharepoint,Sim,SimPro, Simdel,Simdell,Slash and Burn,Social Housing ICT,Social Housing Software Applications,Social Media,Software,Software solutions,Spotlight Service,Spotlightservice,Star rating,Stores and Stock,Strategic,SunAccounts,Sunguard,Surveys, Swordfish,Sx3,Symatrix Human,System alignment,Systems,Systemwise, T-Files,TEAMS,TED,TFiles,TP Tracker,TSG,Tagish Casework,Tagra,Task,Technologies (India) PVT Limited,Telecetera,Template,Terminal Services,That,Three Star,Today,Tony Smith,Tony Smith That Housing IT Guy,TonySmith that housing IT,TonySmithHou,TonySmithHousing, ,TonySmithHousingITguy,Total,Total Mobile,Totalmobile,Trace,Tribal,Twitter, U2,UC,UK,UK Housing,Ukhousing,UniClass Enterprise,Unidata,United Kingdom,Universal,Universalcredit,Universe,Unrest, Valueworks,Van Stock,Vantage,Vantage Sentinel,Version,Virtualisation,Visualmetrics,Voice,Voice and data,Voluntas, Wales,Welsh,Wheatley,Windows Server,Workflow and,Work Hub,Works Connect, XML,Xen App,XenApp,Xmbrace, ...
. . . . . . . . . . .

Going Places

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


As anyone who reads this blog occasionally, will know, I do a lot of work right across the social housing sector, in locations right across the UK, improving systems and how I can help clients extract the absolute max from them.

Key to this in my opinion for going places, is keeping up with technological solutions and with what others are doing successfully with those. Cracking both of these is actually not as easy as it may seem. For example, I bring a cornucopia of product experience, to the work I do, which I work hard to keep up to date. My ear is always to the ground about new emerging tech, suppliers doing a great job with landlords, and ones somewhat less good.

Conferences and exhibitions are great sources of information, exposure to the most up to date products and some of the most innovative current suppliers. While its useful to meet suppliers at exhibitions (and you should!), one of the most useful feature is to hear how organisations have used those solutions and the journey they have experienced. Some of these sessions can be gold dust to organisations looking to get the most from those solutions and verify what progress has been made and time taken. Two of the key elements to every project.

Going back a decade or more, there was a wide range of conferences and exhibitions, covering systems and associated ICT solutions for SocialHousing. Being honest, many of those seemed to be structured more around suppliers. Conference spots were more about suppliers talking themselves up and actually attendees often learned nothing. I had sat in sessions where I would have learned more Googling it or chatting to users over a beer. Its not surprising that many of those events have hit the buffers and are no more.

These days there is a single ‘go-to’ conference event, early March each year, which in my opinion, has always set out to put the client experience first, which is way better for suppliers and guests. I think that is what explains the success of Housing Technology’s Annual Conference and Exhibition, now 12 years on and due for March 4th & 5th 2020.

I will be there (natch) and as I usually do, will be urging all the clients I work with to attend too. Many are looking to supplement or change solutions, but all are looking to learn from others. The Housing Technology Conference is the perfect opportunity to chat to others, often in the bar or an informal setting. I have often learnt more over a Dead Pony IPA or a pot of Camomile tea at the HT conference, than sitting through two days of demos. No kidding!

These days I know its harder than ever to get a few days out of the office. Its not a free buffet lunch, it’s a working day and will take you forward with better systems and experiences.

If you have not already signed up a place at Housing Technology, grab one soon before they reach full capacity. Here is the link for booking at the Doubletree by Hilton Oxford Belfry - https://www.housing-technology.com/event/housing-technology-2020-conference/#section-8

March 2020 provides an interesting line-up of exhibitors, reflecting the current fashion of hybrid solutions, integrating or attempting to replace traditional housing packages. I surely need to make that a subject of a future blog. Key takeaways from presentation sessions, obviously will gravitate around better using tech for cost reductions, business change and innovation.

There will clearly something for everyone, if you manage 200 or over 20,000 homes. The current trend towards innovative SaaS delivery, should mean that any size of organisation, should be able to take advantage of many of the modern cloud and browser solutions out there. Hopefully, suppliers and providers exhibiting at HT2020 will be able to show off what’s possible and provide an indication if it might fit your budget.

If you are attending, feel free to say hello if spot me down there, I am always up for chewing the fat and exchanging experiences. If you have yet to book for a single or both days, just follow this link :-  https://www.housing-technology.com/event/housing-technology-2020-conference/#section-8

This year too, I will be choosing some specific sessions, to review for a post conference blog and round up in Housing Technology magazine. More than ever this year, I am looking forward to the key tech conference for Housing, in our sector.

Related Post: A shame we still seem to be a long way off from a solar panel on every roof  
 

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.

Paul Weller – Going Places.
(c) Tony Smith, Acutance Consulting www.acutanceconsulting.co.uk 07854-655009


Access a quick list of our Social Housing ICT blog posts here

Could we help you or your organisation? Our contact details are here , get in touch we will be pleased to chat about your problems and help with your organisation issues.
File Under: #HomesForBritain,#HousingDAY,#InternetOfTenants,#Shout,#UKHousing, 07854655009, 1st Touch,1stTouch,360,365Agile,3squared,4Js, ACL,ALMO,AMS,AX,Aareon,Abritas,Academy,Accuserv,Accuserve,Active Housing,ActiveH,ActiveHousing,Acutence,Advanced,Agile,Agile365,AirWatch,Alignment,Allpay,Amazon Web Services,Anite,Apex,App,ArchHouse,Archouse,Asprey e-state pro,Asset Management,Associates,Aurora,Average IT Costs,AWI SX Integration Toolkit,AWS, BI,BO,BPR,BancTec,BigChange,Blockwise,BluTek,Bluebox,Blueprint,Browser Applications,Business Objects,Business Planning,Business Process Review,Business social networking, CACI,Capita One Housing,CBL,CCS IT Keystone CCSIT,CHICS,CHR,CIH,CMS,COA,CORE,CPL,CRM,CRM2013,CRS,CTI,CTX,Cadcorp,Capita,CapitaOne,Capita One,Capital Management,Cashflow,Castle,Castleton,Castleton Technology,Cedar Open Accounts,Cerrus,Change,Charges,Chartered Institute Of Housing,Cheaper Housing IT,Chics, Citrix,Civica,Civica CTX,Civica Cx,Civica Genero,Civica Saffron,Clearview,Clik,Cloud Dialogs,CloudDialogs,Coactiva,Codeman,Comino,Commontime,Community Reward Services,Company,Competitive Dialogue process,Component Accounting,Consilium,Consolidation, Consultancy,Consultant,Consultants,Contact Manager,Context,Contractor Systems,CorVu,Cost Reductions,Covalent,Crystal Reports,Customer Relationship Management,Cx, DRS,Deeplake,Designer Software,Development Systems,Director,Document,Documotive,Dynamic AI,DynamicAI,Dynamics 365, ECMK,EDM,EDRMS,ERP,ESRI,Elmhurst,Enghouse Interactive,England,English,EnterpriseBI,Estatecraft,Etive,Exhibition,Exponential-e, Facebook,Factorwise,Field Service management,Finance,Financial Systems,Financials,Footprint,Forms,Freezes,Fusion, Gas Tag,G-Cloud,GCloud,GDPR,GGP,GIS,GasTag,Genero,GeoSolveIT,Getting best from,GoTonySmith,Grasp,Grip,Group Apex, HFI (Housing Financials interface),HG,HRA,Hardware,Hitachi Systems,Hitex,HomeMaster,Hometeam,HouSys,House,Housemark,Housemark survey,Housing,Housing Contact,Housing Group,Housing Insight,Housing Management,Housing Management Consultant,Housing Partners,Housing Portfolio Management System,Hub Asset Management, Housing Support Pro,HousingIT,HousingSupportPro,HyperOptic, IMS,IT,IT Budget,IT Training,ITIL,Impact Response,In,In4,In4Systems Promaster,InfoBoss,InHouse,InMotion,InMotion2015,InMotion2016,InfoBoss,Infoflow,Information,Information Technology,Information@Work components,Informix,Innovation, Informetis,Inphase,Inside Housing,Insight,Internet Portal,Internetalia,Invu,Ireland,Irish,itLab, Keyfax,Keylogic,Keypera,Keystone,Kirona,Kypera, Landlord,Ledgers,Linkedin,Liquid,Locality,Localz, M3,MAVIS,MD,MDM,MI,MIS,MIS-AMS,MISCS,MRI,MS Dynamics,MS Dynamics CRM2011,MWL,Management,Management Server,Manifest,Measuring,Mebus,Microsoft Dynamics 365,Microsoft dynamics GP 2013,Miracle,MobileIron,Mobysoft,Monopoly board images and pictures,Montal,Mr Void,MriEngage,MrVoid, NDL,NINTEX,NINTEX workflow,NPS,NPS ASSIST,NPS Housing,NPS Job Manager Mobile,NROSH,Natural,Neighbourhoods and Communities,Nintexworkflow,Northgate,Northgate Codeman,Northgate Public Services,Notice, OA,OGC Buying Solutions,OJEU Limits,ORS,Ohms,OmFax,Omniledger,One,OneAdvanced,OneServe,Open source,OpenContractor,OpenHousing,Opti-time,Options,Optitime,Oracle,Orchard,Outsource and outsourcing,OutSystems, PIMMS,PIMSS Data,PM,PRINCE2,Paloma,Pamwin,PanConnect,People Value,Peoplevalue,PfH,Pick,PlanForm,Planned maintenance,Plus,Portfolio Management System,PowerObjects,Pro,Pro-Points,Prodo,Progress,Promaster,Propoints,Proval,Providers,Pyramid, QL,QuantSpark,Qube,QLX,Qlikview,QueryView,Queryview reporting,Quiss, RM865,ROCC,RPs,RSL,Rave,ReAct,Reality,RedkiteCRM,Red Olive,Registered,Registered Social,Rent Increase,RentSense,RentSenseLite,Repairfinder,Reporting,Reports,RobotAutomation,Rocket, Salesforce,Salesforce.Org,SAP,SASSHA,SDM,SHBVN,SM,SOTI,SP,SQL,SQL Open Housing,SQL Reporting,SQL Server,Saffron,Safron,Saturn,Scenario,Scotland,Scots,Scottish,Scout,Sequoa,Serengeti,Serros,Server,Service,Services,Servitor,Sharepoint,Sim,SimPro, Simdel,Simdell,Slash and Burn,Social Housing ICT,Social Housing Software Applications,Social Media,Software,Software solutions,Spotlight Service,Spotlightservice,Star rating,Stores and Stock,Strategic,SunAccounts,Sunguard,Surveys, Swordfish,Sx3,Symatrix Human,System alignment,Systems,Systemwise, T-Files,TEAMS,TED,TFiles,TP Tracker,TSG,Tagish Casework,Tagra,Task,Technologies (India) PVT Limited,Telecetera,Template,Terminal Services,That,Three Star,Today,Tony Smith,Tony Smith That Housing IT Guy,TonySmith that housing IT,TonySmithHou,TonySmithHousing, ,TonySmithHousingITguy,Total,Total Mobile,Totalmobile,Trace,Tribal,Twitter, U2,UC,UK,UK Housing,Ukhousing,UniClass Enterprise,Unidata,United Kingdom,Universal,Universalcredit,Universe,Unrest, Valueworks,Van Stock,Vantage,Vantage Sentinel,Version,Virtualisation,Visualmetrics,Voice,Voice and data,Voluntas, Wales,Welsh,Wheatley,Windows Server,Workflow and,Work Hub,Works Connect, XML,Xen App,XenApp,Xmbrace, ...
. . . . . . . . . . .

Personal Feeling

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


I bet like me, you are a frequent user of Amazon and perhaps eBay too.

On these platforms we pretty much know the commodity or product we are after.

It’s specification can be pretty well checked, known or investigated in advance.

Therefore it’s natural to feel you can trust to buy from just looking at a few photos or camera angles, to confirm we are buying the right thing.

What about software applications?

Would you be happy spending £60k upwards on a solution, just from a PDF or a remote Webex?

I and I am sure you have coming confirmed requirements or investigated product via webinars. It does make perfect sense in the modern world and can cut down on the miles travelled and the size of the carbon footprint. Essential these days if we are even going to make a start on saving the planet.

Indeed, I have experienced a few demos, where a number of ‘suited & booted’ chaps (all men, natch), have rucked up, with one guy flying in especially from Dublin. The latter, who was 30 mins late, said maybe 3 sentences, including his title, which had ‘business development’ in amongst many other fine nouns describing his rank and status. When they left, my client asked, ‘WTAF was all that about’? My only suggestion was that they thought that would help the prospect feel good.

That was going too far I thought.

A few weeks ago, I had a strange experience, from the other end of the demo spectrum.

In a process where a demo was always outlined as needed and slots defined well in advance, at a named location, one good sounding prospect called me up. They said they were selling a SAAS (Software as a service) offering, so had stopped doing face to face demos and just do it all by webinar. This was a solution that came with a couple of dozen implementation days and might have been a 5 year deal, with a potentially expanding organisation.

I let them know that all other bidders were coming to see us and reminded them that they were only about 60 miles away. Worth the trip I thought for a £60k+ gig. Even my Mancunian powers of persuasion were insufficient to tempt them out of their cosy office. I was as disappointed as my client too.

Their attitude was that the implementation, SAAS or not, was expected to be a journey and meeting the supplier face to face was very important. Indeed, we would be meeting sales people, who are generally the most optimistic and flexible folk. Implementers are often more downbeat, particularly when they ponder, ‘I am not sure you bought that’ etc. A member of the evaluation panel reflected my exact thoughts. If the salesman was not interested in us at this early stage, how interested might the implementers be later ,if we choose this solution?

Needless to say, they didn’t demo and unfortunately had to be dropped from the opportunity.

People still do at the end of the day, buy from people. A demo and how the supplier & it’s sale is communicated, can make an enormous difference. I have heard of many unfortunate stories & witnessed a few myself where a misogynistic comment or an insult to tenants/residents, while s board member was on the evaluation panel, has resulted in low demo scored & one supplier (who was leading until then), being ejected from the process.

Please feel free to add your thoughts and experiences, below in the comments.

I fully believe that prospects buy solutions from people better in a face to face scenario and that tells you much about how the future scenario of the relationship might pan out. Do seek help to incorporate good testing of functionality in your evaluation, as without that, all the supplier warm words in the world, will not make your project fly.

I don’t think you can sell solutions via automated emails & cold calls either. That does not seem to satisfy many people at all.

Related Post: Think carefully when you design your self-service, what will your customers do next?  

 

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


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