Better Data Means More Efficiency and Less Risk

There’s a lot of data-related activity in social housing: Stricter and more detailed safety compliance standards, net zero carbon, property condition regulations and tenant satisfaction surveys. That’s a lot of data for social housing providers to keep on top of. You could argue that social housing property management has become a data-driven service.

Before planning any new initiatives or procuring new services there are two basic questions to ask:

• Can we trust our data?
• Can we use our data to make informed decisions?

Inefficient legacy systems and processes won’t offer the levels of accuracy and accessibility that social housing providers need to meet new regulations and expectations.

Good Data Reduces Risk

Outdated systems expose providers to growing compliance and reputational risks. Sound and complete property condition data is also an essential requirement for building a coherent and cost-effective net zero carbon retrofit strategy.

In fact, the costs of investing in modern social housing data management systems are dwarfed by  the financial risks involved in poorly planned retrofit strategies and compliance based on unreliable or incomplete data.

Before launching a procurement exercise to modernise data systems it’s worth being clear about objectives and reiterating the basis of good data management. These are:

• Clean data – Before being migrated to any new systems the data should be validated, cleaned and any gaps should be filled.
• A common data environment – collect once and use multiple times.
• Direct, real time data entry and eliminating offline processes and paper forms – No more multiple data handling.
• A single version of the truth – a unified data repository that everyone uses and an end to partners managing their own databases.
• Efficient data access on any device using cloud based solutions.

Contract Mobilisation

Fixing the data, implementing modern systems based on Microsoft Dynamics 365, and integrating with our customers’ in-house systems are priorities during the mobilisation of a new property services contract.

Our applications can integrate with all major housing management systems including Northgate, Orchard, Capita and Aareon QL.

With the right foundation of sound data and modern systems it’s possible to implement custom applications to meet a range of specific needs. These could include self-service portals for reporting repairs and keeping residents informed, operative workflows, and automated QA and reporting.

But, none of it happens efficiently and effectively without data you can trust and use.

For more information about Osborne’s approach to IT and data management for social housing repairs and maintenance contact Jo Fletcher ([email protected]).