sponsor profiles - Housing Technology

sponsored by

02 | housing technology 2012 conference & executive forum 

welcome to the third housing technology 

conference and executive forum 2012 

George Grant 

Publisher & Founder 

Housing Technology 

We hope you have a great day today – there’s certainly a lot to see 

and hear. Following our two previous conferences, we’ve managed 

to squeeze even more into a single day, with almost 40 thoughtprovoking 

presentations and more leading technology suppliers in 

the main exhibition room. 

industry viewpoints and real life experiences 

With 38 presentations running throughout the day in five streams, we’re going to keep you busy. You can pick 

and choose any presentation throughout the day – there’s no pre-booking necessary, it’s simply first come, 

first served. Each presentation will be 30 minutes long, including 5 minutes for questions, followed by a 15 

minute break. 

technology transfer & knowledge sharing 

We are very grateful to Aareon, Advanced 365, Britannic Technologies, Capita IB Solutions, CloudXL, 

ConvergeOne, Easynet, Internetalia, MET, Optical Record Systems, Orchard Information Systems, Sovereign 

Business Integration, Wyse Technology and Xmbrace for their kind sponsorship of Housing Technology 2012. 

We would encourage you to visit their respective exhibition areas for informal discussions about their latest 

products and services. 

informal networking with your peers 

Housing Technology 2011 isn’t just about the presentations and the sponsors’ exhibition. It’s also about taking 

advantage of the excellent opportunity the event offers to informally network and mingle with around 200 

like-minded housing professionals, consultants and technology experts, all of whom will have interesting and 

valuable insights into how they are using IT, technology and telecoms within social housing. 

For 2012, we have introduced networking points around the venue. Each has a different theme based on the 

14 sponsors’ focus areas; we hope these will prove a useful catalyst to bring together delegates, speakers and 

sponsors with shared interests. 

refreshments 

Please note that all refreshments, lunch and the late-afternoon drinks reception will be served in the sponsors’ 

area on the ground floor. And if you are reading this in advance of the conference itself, please note that we 

are hosting a pre-event evening drinks reception, kindly sponsored by Easynet, from 1830-2030 on Wednesday 

22 February in the Lakeside Centre to which all delegates, speakers and sponsors are invited. 

Have a great day and we look forward to catching up with you at the late-afternoon drinks reception. 

competitions & prizes! 

many of the sponsors are running some great competitions and 

prize-draws today – simply visit the individual stands to find out 

more. some of the highlights include: 

Capita IB Solutions – visit their stand and you might be the lucky winner of a Kindle. 

ConvergeOne – simply fill in your details on the postcards from the ConvergeOne stand and you could win an iPad2. 

Easynet – take part in their prize-draw for a second chance to win an iPad2. 

Orchard Information Systems – join the ‘Orchard Treasure Hunt’ by answering five questions about Orchard 

(clue: have a look in the January issue of Housing Technology magazine) and you could win a Kindle. 

Wyse – visit the Wyse stand and you might be leaving the conference with not only a Kindle but also a Wyse laptop 

(separate prizes). 

© Copyright 2012 | The Intelligent Business Company

contents 

exhibitor layout 03 

agenda 04 

keynote presentations 06 

ground floor 

first floor 

exhibitor floorplan 

business & technology presentations 08 

sponsor profiles 26 

toilets lift toilets 

suite 1 exhibition area 

entrance 

suite 4a 

suite 4b 

toilets 

ht 

office 

delegate reception 

lounge area 

lift 

lounge area 

balcony 

central buffet point 

in ground floor reception area 

suite 5 suite 6 

www.housing-technology.com | 03


agenda 

time 

0900-0930 

0930-1000 

1015-1045 

1100-1130 

1145-1215 

1230-1300 

1300-1400 

1400-1430 

1445-1515 

1530-1600 

1615-1645 

1700-1715 

1715-1800 

exhibition area 

registration & refeshments 

lunch 

drinks & refeshments 

suite 1 suite 4a 

affinity sutton 

Affinity Sutton’s recent 

implementation of a procureto-pay 

system from Capita 

IB Solutions 

sovereign business 

integration 

Shared services – Reseller 

or consumer of ICT? 

convergeone 

The new collaboration 

workspace 

orchard information 

systems 

Making sense of resident 

involvement 

bill payne, former ceo, 

metropolitan housing 

partnership 

Leadership & technology – 

Getting the basics right first 

xmbrace 

Scheduling across your services 

hastoe housing association 

Show me the T in VFM! 

customer experience 

foundation 

Future housing – Different 

customer channels & different 

work practices 

housing technology 

Closing remarks 

orbit group 

Innovation or utility IT – Why 

choose when you could do 

both? 

radian group 

Increasing customer service 

levels – The benefits of CRM 

and integrated software 

notting hill housing 

Cost reduction strategies while 

developing new IT services 

cadarn housing group 

Where’s my data gone? 

– Into the cloud 

halton housing trust 

From sloth to chameleon 

broadacres housing 

association 

Mobilising the workforce with 

Microsoft Lync 

trident housing 

Achieving project success 

during a five-year IT change 

programme 

adactus housing group 

Co-regulation, transparency and 

the web

pre-event evening drinks reception 

If you are reading this in advance of the conference itself, 

please note that we are hosting a pre-event evening drinks 

reception, kindly sponsored by Easynet, from 1830-2030 on 

suite 4b suite 5 suite 6 

places for people 

Driving collective value 

through integrated 

performance management 

regenda group 

The long road to corporate 

consolidation 

south liverpool homes 

Resident involvement – 

Partnership working 

city west housing trust 

Boosting the delivery of 

corporate objectives with 

enterprise-wide mobile 

regenerateit 

Peabody Housing wi-fi pilots – 

Showcasing key findings 

watford community 

housing 

Implementing the next 

generation of payroll, HR & 

self-service systems 

richmond housing 

partnership 

New channels for customer 

services 

family mosaic 

IT in housing – what , where, 

when and how? 

viridian 

Multi channel and mobile 

service delivery 

wyse technology 

Managing mobility and a 

changing device landscape 

gentoo group 

The importance of engaging 

front-line staff in the software 

development process 

f-fectis (netherlands) 

What’s the cost of your IT? 

The results of 10 years of ICT 

benchmarking 

shepherds bush housing 

To DLO or not to DLO? – That is 

the question 

wolverhampton homes 

Can neighbourhood websites 

increase neighbourliness? 

Wednesday 22 February in the Lakeside Centre to which all 

delegates, speakers and sponsors are invited. 

georgia group 

Leading through turbulent 

times 

aareon 

More for less – Getting 

the maximum value out 

of an IT solution in 

challenging times 

met 

Don’t ‘cloud’ the issues 

optical record systems 

BPO – Improving productivity 

& reducing the financial 

burden in the housing 

sector 

britannic technologies 

Holistic next-generation 

communication strategies 

cloudxl 

Using cloud-based solutions 

in housing 

advanced 365 

Improving flexible working 

and reducing IT costs through 

innovation 

online centres foundation 

Getting one million residents 

online 

www.housing-technology.com | 05


keynote presentations 

suite 1 | 1400 

Bill Payne, Former CEO, 

Metropolitan Housing Partnership 

Leadership & technology – 

Getting the basics right first 

suite 6 | 0930 

Georgia Group 

Leading through turbulent times 

Manley Hopkinson, Director of Leadership 

& High Performance, Georgia Group 

suite 1 | 1615 

Customer Experience Foundation 

Future housing – Different customer 

channels & different work practices 

Prof. Morris Pentel, Chairman, Customer 

Experience Foundation 

Based on considerable experience 

and knowledge, this keynote 

talk will cover the fundamental 

importance of leading from the 

front and getting the basics right 

first before getting caught in the 

detail of people and processes. 

The talk will be illustrated by 

thought-provoking real-life 

examples of this approach to 

business and IT. 

The world is changing fast. We are 

surrounded by the turbulence of 

seismic shifts in our cultures, our 

economies and our environment. 

As we approach this ‘perfect storm’, 

how are we going to navigate a 

competitive course, how can we 

motivate our people to deliver high 

performance and how are we to set 

our attitude? Manley Hopkinson’s 

illustrated story of tackling 

‘Hurricane Michael’ as a skipper of 

one of the yacht’s in the world’s 

toughest yacht race – the BT Global 

Challenge – provides all the lessons 

needed in a truly inspirational way. 

Manley Hopkinson was schooled 

in leadership through a mix of 

practical and academic experience; 

as an officer in the Royal Navy 

and the Royal Hong Kong Marine 

Police, as a skipper in the BT Global 

There is a great deal of speculation 

about how the tenant of the 

future will interact with housing 

organisations and about how 

technology will change the way in 

which organisations operate. In this 

presentation, we look at the next 

three years and talk about what is 

changing; what is a practical target 

operating model, what are the 

expectations of tenants, partners 

and staff, and can you really save 

money while delivering a better 

service? 

Bill Payne’s background is in 

housing management; he has 

been a chief executive of housing 

associations since 1984. Payne 

was CEO of Metropolitan Housing 

Partnership from 2008-2011, CEO 

of Yorkshire Housing Group for 19 

years and CEO of Moat Housing 

Society in Kent. He is a past 

President of the Chartered Institute 

of Housing and was Chair of 

Homeless International from 1997 

to 2005. 

Challenge round-the-world yacht 

race, winner of a race skiing to the 

magnetic North Pole (The Polar 

Race) and as an ‘inspiring leadership 

catalyst’ to businesses and 

organisations worldwide. 

Having been on the board of the 

Atlas Consortium and HP Defence 

UK as director of organisational 

effectiveness, Hopkinson now 

advises businesses and institutional 

leaders globally on the creation 

and running of high-performing 

organisations, working at board 

level leading transformation and 

leadership cultural change. 

At Georgia Group, we see the 

current tough times as a great 

opportunity for progressive 

organisations to push ahead of 

competitors, gain market share and 

optimise efficiency. 

As chairman of the Customer 

Experience Foundation, Professor 

Morris Pentel runs one of the most 

respected consulting businesses in 

the UK, with a track record based 

on successful work for some of the 

largest institutions in the world. He 

has been involved in the delivery 

of some of the most significant 

innovations in technology. 

Our people have built and run 

successful businesses, climbed 

Everest, hold world records for 

skiing to the North Pole, captained 

boats in the BT Global sailing race, 

have been recognised in the UK’s 

Honours system, played high-level 

sport and held senior business 

positions. Georgia Group people live 

and breathe high performance and 

our work in professional sport is 

testament to this. 

In business we have developed 

over 15,000 individuals in seven 

years across large and mid-sized 

corporations, a range of publicsector 

organisations and many 

diverse industries in Europe, the 

USA, the Middle East and Asia. 

The Customer Experience 

Foundation provides actionable 

insight into delivering better 

customer experience at a lower 

cost. It is a world-leading consulting 

practice on contact strategy and 

customer experience.

The Leading Housing Management IT Supplier in the UK 

QL Q Housing g QL Q Financials QL Q Personnel/Payroll / y QL Q Business Intelligence g 

Are you ge� ng maximum 

value out of your IT Systems? 

‘More for Less’ 

hosted by Paul O’Reilly 

Housing Technology Conference 2012 

QL Housing Management So� ware is a truly integrated, fl exible and 

highly func� onal so� ware solu� on designed specfi cally to meet the 

needs of UK Social Housing Providers 

For more informa� on on Aareon UK and the 

complete QL Product Suite visit our stand at 

Housing Technology Conference 2012 

or go to www.aareon.co.uk


business & technology presentations 

suite 6 | 1100 

aareon uk 

More for less – Getting the maximum value out 

of an IT solution in challenging times 

Paul O’Reilly, Pre-Sales Consultant, Aareon 

suite 4a | 1615 

adactus housing group 

Co-regulation, transparency and the web 

Paul Lees, Chief Executive, 

Adactus Housing Group 

Brian Moran, Director of Corporate Services & 

Company Secretary, Adactus Housing Group 

suite 6 | 1530 

advanced 365 

Improving flexible working and reducing IT costs 

through innovation 

Roy Wood, Sales Director, Advanced 365 

suite 1 | 1015 

affinity sutton 

Affinity Sutton’s recent implementation of a 

procure-to-pay system from Capita IB Solutions 

Chris Battye, Head of Business Systems, 

Affinity Sutton 

In the current economy, housing 

organisations are being forced to balance 

the goal of meeting increased customer 

demands with the real need to save 

money. The innovative use of IT can 

help you to achieve this seemingly 

impossible goal. 

Aareon, using case studies from some 

of its customers, will explain how it has 

helped organisations to increase service 

levels and efficiency while at the same 

time reducing both costs and the load on 

the IT department. 

A tour and discussion of Adactus Housing 

Group’s recent online developments that 

aim to provide a strong foundation for its 

co-regulation and transparency efforts. 

The presentation will cover AHG’s forays 

into online customer consultations, crowd 

sourcing, blogging, its wiki-approach to 

providing customer information, use of 

online mapping and graphing services, 

and adventures with ‘infographics’. The 

focus of this session will be on sharing 

experience and practical tips to help you 

achieve some of these ideas at your own 

organisation. 

Advanced 365 provides IT outsourcing, 

cloud services, mobile services and 

application development to housing 

providers. Advanced 365 works in 

partnership with its customers to deliver 

an IT platform that supports flexible 

working and improves communications. 

The Advanced 365 platform enables 

its customers’ staff and tenants to 

communicate anytime and anywhere, 

providing its customers with the 

cutting-edge, flexible and cost-effective 

IT services needed to meet the evolving 

demands of modern society. 

Affinity Sutton will concentrate on the 

technical aspects of project completion 

and explain its implementation approach 

and methodology. 

Starting with the procurement selection 

process, the presentation will discuss 

each facet of the project including project 

governance, an agreed joint approach 

and commitment to the implementation, 

effective training, and finishing with a 

summary of the positive and negative 

lessons Affinity Sutton has learnt during 

the process. 

Paul O’Reilly joined Aareon UK Limited 

in 1996 after working in housing 

management for seven years. He initially 

worked in Aareon’s implementation team, 

covering a number of roles ranging from 

trainer to implementation consultant. 

O’Reilly’s experience includes both local 

authorities and RSLs of varying sizes and 

structures. He has been Aareon’s senior 

pre-sales consultant since 2003. 

Paul Lees strongly believes that 

organisational transparency to 

stakeholders drives up quality but thinks 

that most organisations are getting this 

wrong by focusing too many resources 

on a relatively small number of tenants, 

often in unproductive meetings. He is 

active on twitter as @paulflees. 

Brian Moran cares passionately about 

governance and is a self-confessed 

technology addict. He is at his happiest 

when the two collide. He is active on 

twitter as @brimoran. 

Roy Wood has over 12 years’ experience 

designing and selling IT managed 

services. Graduating from Exeter 

University in 2000, he joined BSG 

and established himself as a business 

development specialist. 

In 2005, Wood was one of the co-founders 

of BSG’s managed service division which 

was bought by Advanced in 2009. 

Chris Battye has worked in the housing 

sector for the last eight years. Before 

that, he was the client services director 

of a Yorkshire-based solutions provider, 

where he was responsible for the 

implementation and support of firstgeneration 

ERP solutions, finance systems 

and industry-specific applications. 

Aareon UK Limited provides software to 

social housing providers. As the leading 

European housing software provider, 

we have over nine million units of stock 

managed on our software throughout 

Europe. 

Our QL product portfolio includes QL 

Housing, QL Finance, QL Personnel & 

Payroll, CRM, Mobile Working, Reporting 

Services, e-Business, Electronic Document 

Management & Workflow. 

Adactus Housing Group is a North West 

partnership between four housing 

associations and celebrates its 10th 

birthday in 2012. The group’s defining 

characteristics are its financial strength, 

breadth of experience, commitment to 

efficiency and simplicity, transparency 

and growth. To learn (much) more visit 

www.adactushousing.co.uk. 

As part of Advanced Computer Software 

Group Plc, Advanced 365 focuses on 

the delivery of managed services, cloud 

computing, application development, 

mobile delivery and software as a service 

(SaaS), helping support the group’s 150+ 

housing association customers. 

With over 55,000 homes and a 100-year 

history, Affinity Sutton is one of the 

biggest providers of affordable housing 

in England. As a business for social 

purpose, we are committed to helping 

people put down roots. We act as a 

springboard, maximising life chances 

for our residents and creating places for 

communities to thrive.

Making the cloud 

work for you 

Managed services for Housing 

Associations designed to 

reduce costs and improve the 

way you work 

• Cloud enablement 

• Utility managed services 

• Mobile services 

• Application development 

• Advanced On-Demand for your 

OpenAccounts finance system 

• Full IT outsourcing 

For more information visit our website or contact us today 

www.advanced365.com 

info@advanced365.com 

020 7880 8888



suite 6 | 1400 

britannic technologies 

Holistic next-generation communication 

strategies 

Jonathan Sharp, Sales & Marketing Director, 

Britannic Technologies 

suite 4a | 1445 

broadacres housing association 

Mobilising the workforce with Microsoft Lync 

Chris Fawcett, ICT Manager, 

Broadacres Housing Association 

suite 4a | 1230 

cadarn housing group 

Where’s my data gone? – Into the cloud 

Richard Troote, Head of Information Services, 

Cadarn Housing Group 

suite 4b | 1230 

city west housing trust 

Boosting the delivery of corporate objectives 

with enterprise-wide mobile 

Martin Barber, Head of ICT, 

City West Housing Trust Salford 

This presentation will explore 

migration strategies from traditional 

communication models and 

environments, with distributed 

architectures, complex supply chains 

and integration challenges, to joined-up 

systems and managed-service models 

using datacentre hosting, cloud services, 

next-generation networks and centralised 

‘virtual’ environments that deliver highlyavailable 

and resilient communication 

services, meet efficiency targets, reduce 

operating costs, and provide improved 

tenant access and services. 

Broadacres has implemented Microsoft 

Lync as its sole telephony system and 

used wireless headsets for all staff 

including the contact centre and 

‘Lifeline’ service. 

Mobile staff can also access Lync through 

their PDA or Blackberry and the new 

solution is really helping people to do 

their jobs better and communicate in a 

wider variety of ways. 

Many see cloud computing as the latest 

must-have accessory to their business. 

However, what does it mean in practical 

terms and what are the likely benefits for 

housing providers? 

This presentation describes Newydd 

Housing Association’s (part of Cadarn 

Housing Group) experiences of looking 

into the cloud and taking Newydd 

into a highly-controversial service. The 

presentation will also cover deciding 

which areas of the business can be moved 

into the cloud, finding the right provider, 

and performing the due diligence to 

protect organisational data. 

Many social housing providers are now 

reaping the benefits of mobile technology 

but often this technology is simply 

deployed to support a single aspect of 

mobile workforce operations, such as 

responsive repairs. 

This presentation will cover the extended 

use of enterprise mobile technology 

across multiple areas of the business to 

support key corporate objectives. 

Jonathan Sharp is a champion for 

innovation, aligning technology to 

business strategy and associated 

migration planning. He has chaired many 

workshops and seminars spanning a wide 

range of technologies. 

Throughout his 15 years at Britannic, 

Sharp has been involved in many largescale 

technology deployments including 

considerable experience with housing 

associations. 

Chris Fawcett started his career as a 

Netware engineer providing managed 

services to companies across the North 

of England. He then moved to the public 

sector and was head of ICT for a district 

council before joining Broadacres in 2009 

to deliver its ICT strategy. 

Richard Troote has managed Newydd’s 

seven-strong IT department since 2004; 

his team won ‘IT team of the year’ in 2010 

at the CIH Housing Hero’s awards. 

Troote is also the director of customer 

services for SPriNT and is an associate 

lecturer for the Open University. He has 

worked for British Airways, HM Treasury, 

DVLA and the Inland Revenue. 

Martin Barber joined City West in 

November 2008, having previously been 

deputy head of IT at Places for People. 

He has implemented numerous new 

systems within organisations resulting 

in real cultural changes for staff in the 

way they would work in the future and 

streamlining the way services were 

delivered through the use of best-ofbreed 

technology. 

Britannic Technologies is an awardwinning 

specialist in IP communications, 

systems integration and managed 

services with over 25 years’ experience. 

Our holistic approach to technology 

enables us to work with our customers 

and world-leading partners to maximise 

their investment in ICT. 

Broadacres Housing Association 

provides a comprehensive range of 

services to over 5,200 homes in North 

Yorkshire. Established in 1993, the 

association has grown both in terms of 

the number of properties it manages 

and its awareness of the needs and 

aspirations of its customers. 

Newydd Housing Association is a 

member of Cadarn Housing Group, 

providing 2,800 affordable homes in 

South and Mid Wales. The IT department 

also provides external services to public- 

and third-sector organisations with 

over 60 customers throughout the UK 

and Ireland. 

Launched in October 2008, City West 

Housing Trust owns and manages around 

14,600 homes in West Salford. 

Any money we make is re-invested 

back into improving homes, estates and 

providing better services. Our aim is to 

raise the standards of our communities, 

local areas and along the way, involve our 

customers in making a difference in their 

own futures.

Delivering VFM 

through telephony 

ICT to help housing 

associations achieve 

their key objectives 

translating business need into system design 

According to our clients, 

we know what matters in housing! 

Over the last two years Family Mosaic has developed a strategic 

partnership with Britannic Technologies that has helped create a 

business enabling, resilient telephony platform to support both 

our current and future business needs. Britannic have worked 

hand-in-hand with Family Mosaic to develop a strategy that will 

set our organisation apart from other housing associations. We 

now have a clear technology road map with a well-defined 

migration path and options to make our telephony technology 

work harder for us. Britannic’s approach to working with Family 

Mosaic is illustrative of their comprehensive understanding of 

our sector and their ability to really help organisations align 

technology with business goals. 

Since transferring our IP-Telephony support to Britannic they 

have proved from day one that they are more than just a market 

leading support organisation. It would be easy to say that we are 

a partnership and that together we are delivering quality 

telephony services to Wakefield and District Housing tenants and 

employees. But that isn’t the case; on top of being a support 

provider and partner, helping me reduce costs while still 

improving services, they are the friend that we all need from 

time-to-time. If we have a bit of a problem, or want a bit of 

advice, Britannic have demonstrated that we ‘just need to pick up 

the phone and ask them’, and that sort of support is priceless. 

www.btlnet.co.uk | 0845 050 1000 | britannictech.tv



suite 6 | 1445 

cloudxl 

Using cloud-based solutions in housing 

Jason Reid, Chief Technical Officer, CloudXL 

suite 1 | 1145 

convergeone 

The new collaboration workspace 

Mark Johnson, Managing Director, ConvergeOne 

Mark Phelps, Unified Communications & 

Collaboration Specialist, Cisco 

Ryan McKnight, Sales & Marketing Director, 

ConvergeOne 

suite 5 | 1100 

family mosaic 

IT in housing – What , where, when and how? 

Ken Youngman, Finance Director, Family Mosaic 

suite 5 | 1445 

f-fectis (netherlands) 

What’s the cost of your IT? Revealing the results 

of 10 years of ICT cost benchmarking 

Henk Korevaar, Founder, F-fectis 

Our presentation explains how to 

integrate SIP into single and multi-site 

solutions: 

• How we provide cloud-based business 

continuity and backup; 

• How we can integrate cloud-based 

numbering solutions; 

• How we can introduce SIP-based 

telephony into single and multi-site 

solutions. 

This presentation highlights the new 

ways in which the enterprise and business 

collaborate, with the explosion of mobile 

devices, social media, desktop video, 

instant messaging and virtualisation – 

welcome to the Cisco Next Generation 

WorkSpace. 

This is a collection of thoughts and 

observations on the state of IT and where 

it might be going, by a non-techie. 

If IT is now considered to be a commodity 

or utility service, then what are the 

effects on infrastructure, the role of the IT 

team, and information management? 

Is IT in the housing sector fit for purpose 

and cost effective, and how do we 

measure value? We look forward to 

hearing the audience’s views via a Q&A. 

Many IT professionals wonder whether 

they are spending too much, or perhaps 

too little on IT. This interactive session 

provides an overview of concrete 

results and experiences of ten years’ 

benchmarking the total cost of ownership 

of IT within Dutch housing associations. 

Every year the numbers published 

lead to serious reflection amongst the 

participants – key indicators will be 

shown, the ‘story behind the numbers’ 

told and some of the best and worst 

practices and trends illustrated. 

Jason Reid has spent the last 16 years 

working for Network Resource Group as 

head of technology. The acquisition of 

NRG by Actimax Plc incorporated him into 

the new role of chief technical officer for 

CloudXL. 

Mark Johnson has over 25 years’ 

experience in the communications 

sector. After serving in the Royal Signals 

he worked for Thus Plc and BT Global 

Services as a lead design specialist before 

starting ConvergeOne in 2007. 

Mark Phelps has over 30 years’ experience 

in the communications sector. After 

serving in the Royal Signals he worked for 

ICI, Gandalf, Workplace Technologies and 

Nortel before joining Cisco in 1999. 

Ryan McKnight joined ConvergeOne 

in 2008 following a nine-year career 

at Vodafone UK. He is responsible for 

customer, vendor and new business 

engagements and is passionate about 

developing business relationships at every 

level among ConvergeOne customers. 

Ken Youngman has managed IT in his 

current role and others over a career 

spanning recruitment, security services, 

kitchen supply, music and now housing. 

He is a qualified accountant and a fan of 

user-friendly solutions. 

Henk Korevaar is a professional and 

experienced facilitator for innovation 

as well as author, speaker and initiator 

of numerous Dutch and international 

initiatives and projects. 

He is also the founder of INITH, the 

International Network for IT professionals 

in Housing. 

CloudXL is a national supplier of 

converged cloud solutions including 

cloud-based backup and business 

continuity solutions. We also supply 

telephony, WAN, wi-fi and mobility 

solutions. 

Our Customers include Swan Housing, 

Viridian Housing, Nottingham Housing 

and East Thames Group. 

ConvergeOne is one of the leading IT 

solutions providers in the UK. As an 

IT solutions integrator, our focus is on 

delivering an end-to-end business IT 

solution using our strategic, industryleading 

vendor partners – Cisco, NetApp, 

EMC, VMware, Citrix and Microsoft 

– to deliver a best-of-breed integrated 

infrastructure. 

Family Mosaic is one of the largest 

housing providers in London and the 

South East. We provide affordable homes 

to rent and buy as well as services to 

thousands of people who need extra 

support. 

We have around 23,000 homes and serve 

more than 45,000 people. We provide a 

range of opportunities for our customers 

such as training, employment and access 

to learning. We invest in and partner 

with local communities to help make our 

neighbourhoods better places to live. 

F-fectis is an international organisation 

based in The Netherlands, consisting 

of professional facilitators for product, 

process and services innovation projects 

and idea management workshops for 

profit and non-profit organisations. The 

use of web-based collaboration tools 

allows its global teams to brainstorm 

while in different time zones. 

In the Netherlands, its main focus is 

on the impact of new ways of working 

within housing associations as well 

as its annual total cost of ownership 

benchmark.

Improve visibility with Integra R2P 

Whether your Housing Association needs to cut costs, improve productivity or increase 

efficiencies, Capita IB Solutions knows how, and has the solutions and significant 

experience, to help you deliver significant cost savings, as well as rapid return on 

investment. 

Without changing your housing management or finance system, Integra R2P offers you a 

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Payment process. 

With Integra R2P, housing associations can automate all purchase orders and invoice 

processing, from all sources, whilst updating financial data and commitment postings. 

Contact us today to learn how Capita IB Solutions can help provide you with a 

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invoicing. To learn more please contact us on 

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Alternatively visit www.ibsolutions.com 

Get a clear picture...



suite 5 | 1400 

gentoo group 

The importance of engaging front-line staff in 

the software development process 

Scott Richardson, Neighbourhood Safety 

Development Manager (Streetwise), 

Gentoo Group 

Steve Green, Project Delivery Manager, 

Gentoo Group 

suite 4a | 1400 

halton housing trust 

From sloth to chameleon 

Neil McGrath, Executive Director of Business 

Services, Halton Housing Trust 

Neil Higham, Director of ICT, 

Halton Housing Trust 

suite 1 | 1530 

hastoe housing association 

Show me the T in VFM! 

Paul Nicholson, Head of Business Performance, 

Hastoe Housing Association 

suite 1 | 1145 

met 

Don’t ‘cloud’ the issues 

Ian Vickers, Managing Director, MET 

Gentoo has used front-line intelligence 

to gain a competitive edge within the ICT 

market. Streetwise has been developed 

by in-house IT specialists together with 

vital input from front-line staff. 

Using this methodology, it ensures the 

system meets the needs of the business 

and the wider commercial social housing 

market. As well as developing a product 

fit for purpose, this intelligence is crucial 

when developing and identifying new 

development or product opportunities, 

thereby adding value for end-users. 

The presentation will describe the journey 

of Halton Housing Trust as an LSVT from 

its early days to the present, focusing 

particularly on how HHT has used ICT 

as an enabler to deliver its mission of 

‘operating as a business with a social 

conscience’. 

HHT is now embarking on its latest ICT 

project which is the replacement of all of 

its core business applications. 

Hastoe has put technology at the heart 

its value for money (VFM) strategy and is 

reaping some unexpected rewards. But 

not everyone in Hastoe was so sure that 

technology could really improve VFM. 

Faced with a choice of radically 

improving operating margins or cutting 

an ambitious rural house-building 

programme, the sceptics were won round 

to the idea that IT is not just an expensive 

overhead, but the IT department had to 

take a long, hard look at itself first. 

Security and infrastructure specialists 

MET will be discussing important 

considerations when moving to a cloudbased 

delivery model. 

Cloud computing is now a strategic 

ambition within many boardrooms so 

it’s imperative that you choose a partner 

with specialist skills and experience for 

managing and ensuring a successful 

transition. Furthermore, the security and 

performance of your data will become 

even more critical when you have your 

applications delivered by several cloud 

providers. 

Scott Richardson is responsible for 

leading and managing all aspects of the 

group’s business development within 

the Neighbourhood Safety agenda. He 

has over 12 years’ experience in the social 

housing sector and joined Gentoo in 2005, 

gathering extensive front-line experience 

first as an enforcement officer and later in 

a data analysis role. 

Steve Green has worked in the IT sector 

for over 30 years. He is from a traditional 

development background and has 

worked in both the public and private 

sectors. He is currently responsible for 

delivering all new software projects 

within Gentoo Group. 

Neil McGrath has spent most of his career 

working in the social housing sector. 

He worked for North British Housing 

Association for 12 years before joining 

West Pennine Housing Association in 

2001 as assistant director of finance. He 

joined Halton Housing Trust as director of 

resources in 2005. 

Neil Higham has over 25 years’ ICT 

experience working in a variety of 

business sectors, both commercial and 

non-commercial. He moved into the 

housing sector in 2005 at Northern 

Counties before joining Halton Housing 

Trust shortly after its transfer in 2006. 

Paul Nicholson has seven years’ 

experience in social housing as well as 

wider experience of the public and private 

sectors after a spell with a business 

services outsourcing company. 

He is a qualified Prince 2 practitioner 

with extensive experience of successfully 

leading ICT and business transformation 

projects. 

Founder of MET and Layerseven, 

Ian Vickers continually strives for 

excellence and innovation and this is 

reflected through MET and Layerseven’s 

achievements over the years. Vickers 

is fascinated by how technology can 

improve businesses, health and education 

and is continually looking to identify 

emerging technologies that can affect 

significant change. 

Gentoo aims to make a positive mark 

on the future by investing in people, the 

planet and in property. We create bespoke 

products and services that meet customer 

and community aspirations and that are 

sustainable in the future. 

By applying innovation and creativity, we 

aspire to have a tangible and positive effect 

on the way people and communities live, 

develop and improve. 

Halton Housing Trust was formed in 

December 2005 as a result of the stock 

transfer of homes from Halton Borough 

Council. Covering the towns of Runcorn 

and Widnes, the Trust owns and manages 

over 6,100 homes. 

Our vision is to ‘deliver high quality and 

excellent services for all’ and our mission 

is to ‘operate as a business with a social 

conscience’. 

Hastoe is the country’s leading developer 

of affordable, sustainable rural housing 

across 60 different local authority areas. 

Hastoe has a strong track record for 

innovation that leads to more homes, 

closer communities and better services. 

MET specialises in ICT outsourcing, 

project design and delivery, and expert 

ICT advice. Established in 1998, MET has 

over 13 years’ experience delivering and 

supporting complex ICT projects for many 

UK flagship projects such as the East 

London Rail Line (Olympic 2012) and the 

London underground METRONET.

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Cloudxl understands these challenges and have a proven track record in delivering IP-based communication solutions.



suite 4a | 1145 

notting hill housing group 

Value for money – Cost reduction & containment 

strategies while developing new & better IT 

services 

Martin Carpenter, Head of Central Services, 

Notting Hill Housing Group 

suite 6 | 1615 

online centres foundation 

Getting one million residents online 

Helen Milner, Chief Executive, 

Online Centres Foundation 

suite 6 | 1230 

optical record systems 

Business process outsourcing – Improving 

productivity & reducing the financial burden in 

the housing sector 

Joseph Pettit, Associate Director of Business 

Development, Optical Record Systems 

suite 4a | 1015 

orbit group 

Innovation or utility IT – Why choose when you 

should be doing both? 

David Leach, ICT Director, Orbit Group 

This presentation looks at Notting Hill 

Housing Group’s experience over the last 

18 months of delivering a major change 

programme. 

Covering executive and business leader 

buy-in, the creation and delivery of 

new services, innovation and allowing 

headroom for investment in reducing 

costs, the presentation includes examples 

of the savings made and the innovations 

delivered. 

Half of everyone in the UK who is not 

online lives in social housing. It is vital 

that housing providers and other partners 

have a planned push to get at least one 

million more residents online and then 

using online services – housing providers 

will save millions of pounds and improve 

residents’ lives at the same time. 

Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) is 

widely used by companies worldwide 

as a way of reducing costs and 

allowing staff to focus on core business 

functionality. With the social housing 

sector now heavily focused on increasing 

productivity, customer satisfaction 

and making significant cost savings, 

could BPO be the answer to the sector’s 

worries? 

Optical Record Systems explores the 

business-critical daily tasks that waste 

housing providers’ time and money and 

demonstrates how BPO could improve 

service delivery and reduce the financial 

burden. 

Technology can be used to drive 

innovation and make your workforce 

more effective – truly business-aligned 

IT departments should know this and 

be providing solutions and thought 

leadership that drives improvements in 

business operations and innovation in 

service delivery. 

This ‘innovation or utility IT?’ presentation 

outlines the approach Orbit has 

embedded in its IT department as 

an enabler for business change and 

efficiency. 

Martin Carpenter leads the IT and 

facilities teams as head of central services 

at Notting Hill Housing Group which he 

joined in 2010. 

Carpenter previously worked for a variety 

of private-sector companies, including 

EC Harris and Serco. He is a Fellow of the 

British Computer Society. 

Helen Milner has worked in the online 

industry since 1985, working in the 

1980s/90s in the private sector delivering 

a ground-breaking schools online service 

in England and Australia, and since the 

late 90s in innovating services to help 

community partners deliver learning, 

usually for adults who missed out the 

first time round. 

Milner leads the team which coordinates 

the UK Online Centres partner network of 

4,000 community organisations working 

to help people to use the internet for the 

first time. She has chaired the National 

Digital Inclusion and Social Housing 

Strategy Group since 2008. 

Joseph Pettit has been working in the 

housing sector for the past five years, 

specialising in delivering document 

management solutions. 

Pettit has an in-depth knowledge 

of ‘whole life cost’ and return on 

investment-based strategies from his 

previous experience in the banking sector. 

David Leach is an innovative business 

leader with a proven track record of 

transforming businesses through the 

effective use of technology and people 

development. 

With extensive experience across Europe 

in the financial services and logistics 

sectors, he is now focused on leading 

the transition to a more ICT-enabled 

approach to front-line service delivery at 

Orbit Group. 

Notting Hill Housing is a leading London 

housing association. It offers a range 

of social and affordable housing services 

including sales, part rent/part buy, 

affordable rented housing and assisted 

care. Notting Hill Housing has been 

around since 1963 and now manages over 

25,000 properties. 

There are 8 million people in the UK 

who don’t use the internet, and are 

missing out on all sorts of benefits and 

conveniences as a result. 

We co-ordinate a network of 4,000 

community-based UK Online Centres 

across England, provide products on our 

www.go-on.co.uk website, run marketing 

campaigns, offer training and project 

opportunities and administer grant 

funding to help our centres help more 

people make the most of online life. 

Optical Record Systems has a proven 

track record in the successful delivery 

of efficient and effective document 

management to housing associations. 

A range of services have been provided 

to businesses and organisations 

throughout the UK for the past 23 years 

from our multiple sites across the UK. 

Our services help housing associations to 

remove the burden that correspondence 

handling and transaction processing 

places on their core business functions. 

Orbit is a housing organisation 

building brighter futures for people 

and communities by investing in great 

services for over 70,000 people and 

providing great places to live. With over 

40 years’ experience in the housing sector, 

we strive to always put the customer first.

Driving cost savings through 

technology innovation 

Borderless Networks 

Collaboration 

Data Centre 

Virtualisation 

Storage 

Mobility 

Managed Services 

Cloud Based Services 

For more information visit our website 

www.convergeone.co.uk 

2 Digital Park Pacific Way Salford Quays Manchester M50 1DR 

E: info@convergeone.co.uk T: 0870 863 3300



suite 1 | 1230 

orchard information 

systems 

Making sense of resident involvement 

Aidan Dunphy, Product Manager, 

Orchard Information Systems 

suite 4b | 1015 

places for people 

Driving collective value through integrated 

performance management 

Richard Bayley, Research & Planning Director, 

Places for People 

suite 4a | 1100 

radian group 

Increasing customer service levels – The benefits 

of CRM and integrated software 

Judith Comber, Information Systems Analyst, 

Radian Group 

suite 4b | 1100 

regenda group 

The long road to corporate consolidation 

Ian Ward, Head of ICT, Regenda Group 

In its latest partnership development 

project, Orchard has been working with 

practitioners from three leading housing 

providers – Aspire Housing, Coast & 

Country Housing and South Liverpool 

Homes – to develop the first resident 

involvement and campaign management 

solutions fully integrated into the 

housing management system. 

This has required a great deal of creative 

thinking, and in this session Orchard 

will present new ideas and concepts 

which promise to drive forward business 

thinking in this increasingly important 

field. 

An executive view of how to draw all 

aspects of a housing provider together, 

from CEO to operatives. The presentation 

will cover government, economic and 

regulatory drivers, operational resource 

management, tenant engagement and 

long-term asset growth. 

Radian’s presentation will cover the 

benefits of CRM for both end-users and 

tenants, including an assessment of 

the time saved by the centralisation of 

information into one core application. 

This session will also look at workflow 

integration to streamline the reporting 

process for urgent repairs, and how 

document scanning can improve the 

quality, visibility and performance of 

business processes. 

Eight years ago, the Regenda Group 

embarked on a journey to bring five 

disparate housing associations together 

to create a single trading entity, a task 

which was only completed in March 2011. 

This session explores the reasons for 

change, the various stages on the journey, 

our planning and project management 

processes, the supporting ICT systems, the 

financial impact on the organisation and, 

not least, the impact on the quality of 

customer services. 

With 15 years’ experience in housing 

sector, Aidan Dunphy drives Orchard’s 

product strategy, responding to emerging 

needs and opportunities in the sector 

and ensuring that Orchard’s products 

are developed and communicated in the 

most effective way. 

Richard Bayley is responsible for 

developing strategy, producing 

the business plan and monitoring 

performance across Places for People. 

Before joining Places for People in 2006, 

he held several senior management roles 

at BAA plc covering strategy and planning 

for the development of Heathrow and 

Gatwick airports. 

Latterly, Bayley was head of strategic 

planning at Heathrow Airport, in charge 

of the overall Heathrow ‘Masterplan’ 

including additional runway and terminal 

capacity. 

Judith Comber is responsible for the 

implementation of system modules 

including all aspects of testing, training 

and ongoing support, most recently CRM 

within IBS Open Housing. She is currently 

working on the upgrade of Radian’s 

document scanning system across five 

office locations 

Ian Ward has worked in ICT for over 

40 years, over 30 years of which in IT 

management. He joined Regenda Group 

eight years ago as head of ICT and has 

enjoyed both the challenges and the 

rewards of working in a not-for-profit 

organisation. 

We are Orchard, the UK’s leading 

independent provider of specialist 

software solutions to the public and 

social housing sectors, but our expertise 

is just the tip of the iceberg. 

Continual investment in our in our 

products, people and culture ensures that 

innovation and customer experience are 

two of the cornerstones on which our 

business and its success is built. And with 

over 30 years’ experience in the public 

sector, we certainly know a thing or two. 

Places for People is one of the largest 

property management, development, 

and regeneration companies in the UK. 

It comprises 14 businesses focused on 

providing all the facilities and services a 

community needs to thrive. 

Places for People builds and manages 

homes, provides job and training 

opportunities, runs affordable childcare 

centres, supports new and existing 

businesses, offers financial products such 

as mortgages and loans, and specialist care 

and support services that enable people to 

live independently in their own home. 

It works in over 230 local authorities 

across the UK with a portfolio of 

over 63,000 properties and 200,000 

customers. 

With a turnover in excess of £100m, 

Radian manages around 18,000 homes in 

the South of England and supports nearly 

500 people with individual needs. We are 

a diverse and vibrant social business, with 

a strong sense of commercial reality. 

Regenda Group is based in North-West 

England with around 12,000 properties 

in the Merseyside, Wyre, Manchester and 

Macclesfield areas. We service over 30 

sheltered and specialist need schemes 

and having a thriving Direct Works 

operation (M&Y Ltd).

At Easynet we don’t just sell products, applications 

and services; we take technology and turn it into 

pragmatic solutions that address specific business 

issues. Our key strength is in the provision of 

managed networks, dedicated hosting and Cloud 

based services; with a strong emphasis on innovation 

and value, our new Enhanced EtherStream access 

portfolio now covers 80% of all UK business 

organisations and provides cost effective access to 

Public, Private and Community Cloud applications. 

With proven expertise in providing services to the 

Housing and non-profit sectors, our customers 

believe we offer the necessary building blocks to 

create solutions that are right for them. Easynet is 

responsible for managing the network and hosting 

infrastructure for a large number of Housing 

Associations & Care Homes including London & 

Quadrant Housing Trust, Metropolitan Housing 

Partnership, Notting Hill Housing Trust, Sovereign 

Housing and Richmond Fellowship Housing. 

www.easynet.com housing@easynet.com



suite 4b | 1400 

regenerateit 

Peabody Housing wi-fi pilots – Showcasing 

key findings 

Robin Knowles, Co-Founder, RegenerateIT 

suite 4b | 1530 

richmond housing partnership 

New channels for customer services 

Jonathan Creaser, Head of ICT, 

Richmond Housing Partnership 

suite 5 | 1530 

shepherds bush housing group 

To DLO or not to DLO? – That is the question 

Greg Birch, Director of Property Management, 

Shepherds Bush Housing Group 

suite 4b | 1145 

south liverpool homes 

Resident involvement – Partnership working 

Debbie O’Hare, Service Development Manager, 

South Liverpool Homes 

RegenerateIT partnered with Peabody 

in 2009 to roll out its free to end-user 

wireless internet package across two pilot 

estates in London. 

While enabling tenants to get online, 

Peabody has also been able to consider 

its own presence, how it interacts with 

tenants, improve services and drive 

efficiencies in costs and delivery. This 

presentation will disseminate key 

findings, lessons learnt and highlight best 

practice. 

How to deliver joined-up operations 

across the call centre, including web, 

email, social media, phone and SMS, and 

provide customers with 24/7/365 access 

to self-service systems. 

The pros and cons of creating a DLO and 

bringing repairs and maintenance back 

in-house. 

In 2007 Shepherds Bush Housing 

Association reached a cross roads in the 

delivery of its maintenance services; 

having used two large contractors since 

2005, by 2007 one of the contractors had 

been sacked for financial irregularities, 

leaving all of the maintenance eggs in 

one basket. 

SBHA’s board wanted the security of 

multiple contractors, while the housing 

officers wanted the simplicity and control 

afforded by one generic contractor. This 

presentation charts SBHA’s journey from 

fledgling partnering contracts through to 

the formation of a joint venture company 

based on the principles of a DLO. 

South Liverpool Homes has worked 

in partnership with Aspire Housing, 

Coast & Country Housing and Orchard 

Information Systems to develop new IT 

solutions for the management of resident 

involvement and survey campaigns. 

The project has broken new ground 

in the way that RI activity is tracked 

and analysed, and the group is forging 

links with TPAS with the aim of feeding 

back new ideas to the wider housing 

community. This session will cover the 

reasons why SLH engaged in the project, 

its experience of the IT partnership and 

the benefits that the project can offer. 

Robin Knowles is a curator and 

commentator on e-inclusion and publiclyaccessible 

technology in libraries and 

social housing. He co-founded the free to 

end user wi-fi provider RegenerateIT in 

2004, created the UK’s largest National 

Digital conference in 2005 and created 

the Digital Leaders Programme in 2009 

through which Whitehall gets to grips 

with the role digital can play as an 

enabler of transparent, efficient and 

citizen-centric public services. 

In October 2011 Knowles was appointed 

as the EU representative for the Bill 

and Melinda Gates Foundation’s global 

libraries programme. 

As RHP’s head of ICT since 2003, Jonathan 

Creaser has overseen the development 

of some ground-breaking ICT solutions 

in the housing sector, including an online 

repairs booking system that allows 

customers to book their own two-hour 

appointment slot. 

He previously worked in the travel sector 

as a global IT director and presents a 

weekly local radio programme. 

Greg Birch has worked for contractors, 

local authorities and housing associations 

during his 25 year career in maintenance 

and asset management. He is a member 

of Shepherd Bush Housing Association’s 

senior management team and is 

responsible for the delivery of the 

responsive and planned maintenance 

programmes of works to the 

organisation’s 5,000 properties. 

Birch was instrumental in the formation 

of Domus Maintenance Services, a joint 

venture company between SBHA and 

its maintenance contractor, Collective 

Maintenance Solutions which delivers 

all of SBHA’s responsive maintenance 

services. Since its launch two years ago, 

Domus has increased in size and turnover 

by 50 per cent, while consistently 

achieving top-quartile KPIs. 

In housing for five years, Debbie O’Hare 

has extensive experience of working with 

young people and communities and has 

financial inclusion within her remit. 

Her team delivered an increase of 23 per 

cent in satisfaction, with 260 tenants 

actively involved, and reduced youth 

nuisance reports by 37 per cent working 

with members of a junior board. 

RegenerateIT is a socially-motivated 

technology e-inclusion specialist at the 

leading edge of technological advances. 

Its purpose is to use the best that wi-fi 

and cloud computing have to offer to 

provide public services in an affordable, 

innovative and managed environment 

that is focused on delivering benefit 

to communities involved in training, 

learning, capacity building and social 

enterprise. Its clients range from the 

Peabody Trust to the British Library. 

Richmond Housing Partnership is a 

dynamic, innovative and customerfocused 

organisation made up of two 

RSLs which own and manage over 10,000 

properties in South-West London. 

Shepherds Bush Housing Association 

was formed in 1968 by members of the 

Church of St Stephen and St Thomas 

in Shepherds Bush who were deeply 

concerned about the lack of good quality 

affordable housing locally. SBHA is the 

parent organisation of Shepherds Bush 

Housing Group. 

We own and manage nearly 5,000 

homes across a variety of tenures as we 

believe that quality affordable homes 

are the foundation of society. We 

regenerate neighbourhoods, help 

residents to live independently, run a 

well-being service, provide a furniture 

re-use service and help people onto the 

property ladder through low-cost home 

ownership. 

South Liverpool Homes has 3,600 

properties in the Speke & Garston areas 

of Liverpool. It is helping to transform 

South Liverpool through investment, 

partnerships and by placing the 

community at the heart of everything 

we do. 

The SLH Group is about more than 

just bricks and mortar; we are creating 

places people want to live by tackling 

ASB, building skills, opportunities and 

innovative ways of involving people in 

their local community. Our mission is to 

make South Liverpool the place to be.

From ORDER... 

...To COMPLETION 

AccuServ enables DLOs and Contractors 

to manage the end-to-end process of 

housing repairs. 

• Controlling & Reducing Costs 

• Improving Productivity 

• Ensuring Delivery Against Service Levels 

To find out how Internetalia and AccuServ 

can help you, visit our stand, or contact us 

on 0800 056 9927. 

www.accuserv.co.uk



suite 1 | 1100 


integration 

Shared services – Reseller or consumer of ICT? 

suite 4a | 1530 

trident housing 

Achieving project success during a five-year IT 

change programme 

Ann Rivera, Director of Organisational 

Development, Trident Housing 

Ed Reed, Head of IT, Trident Housing 

suite 5 | 1145 

viridian 

Multi channel and mobile service delivery 

John Paul, Interim Head of IT, Viridian 

suite 4b | 1445 

watford community housing 

trust 

Implementing the next generation of payroll, 

HR & self-service systems 

Jeremy Soper, Head of Business Services, 

Watford Community Housing Trust 

Join the panel in a ‘question & answer’ 

session to debate the different models 

available for housing providers. 

Moderated by James Threapleton, 

director of housing at Sovereign Business 

Integration, the panellists will share 

their own knowledge of shared services, 

including experiences and considerations 

when considering this delivery model. 

Trident embarked on a major IT change 

programme in 2007, with the five-year 

strategy including a number of projects to 

provide better services for its customers. 

Major benefits are now being realised 

with increased productivity and customer 

satisfaction. There have been many 

technical challenges, partly from doing 

so much at once, but the project 

successes have been reflected in the 

benefits realised, with significant changes 

to mobile working and the use of smart 

technology as a business enabler during 

2010/11. 

Viridian is modernising its service delivery 

to make the best use of new technology 

and to meet customers’ emerging 

expectations. Managing multiple 

channels of communication requires 

new approaches but the service centre 

remains at the heart of Viridian’s strategy. 

Which comes first – legacy application 

integration or customer-facing 

applications? Viridian has decided to 

prioritise the customer-facing parts of its 

service delivery and the presentation will 

describe the progress made so far and the 

challenges ahead. 

This presentation will identify key 

learning points from the implementation 

of a new HR and payroll system. 

Along with a general overview of the 

project, the main topics covered will be 

pre-implementation decisions around 

the division of responsibilities, project 

resources and preparation for the 

introduction of a self-service approach 

to payroll and absence management, 

and post-implementation experiences in 

terms of support, enhancement and staff 

acceptance. 

The panel will include: 

• Harneck Chilemba, Director of Finance, 

Tower Hamlets Community Housing 

• Phil Day, Director of Resources, Thrive 

Homes 

• Peter Gibbs, Finance Director and 

Company Secretary, Eastend Homes 

• Tyron Stalberg, PML Group 

• Tony Van Veghel, Director, South Thames 

Gateway Building Control 

Ann Rivera joined Trident in 2003 and she 

has over 15 years’ senior management 

experience in the private, public and notfor-profit 

sectors, utilities, cable television, 

and entertainment organisations. Ann 

is also the chair of Welcome, a charity 

supporting people rebuilding their lives 

following misuse of drugs and alcohol. 

Ed Reed joined Trident in 2008 and is 

responsible for the development and 

maintenance of IT strategies for the 

organisation. He has over 13 years’ project 

and programme management experience 

within the private, public and not-for 

profit sectors. 

As director of IT at Circle Anglia from its 

creation in 2005 until 2010, John Paul 

was responsible for the integration the 

two founder members and the expansion 

of the group. 

Qualified in housing (FoCIH) and general 

management (MBA) as well as IS, he 

now provides interim management 

and consultancy services to the social 

housing sector. 

Jeremy Soper has worked for Watford 

Community Housing Trust for four years, 

initially as head of ICT and more recently 

as head of business services. He has been 

responsible for significant enhancements 

in the ICT service, including 

implementation of mobile working, 

electronic document management, asset 

management, HR/payroll, and is now 

also responsible for facilities and service 

improvement. 

One of the leading independent providers 

of managed ICT and consultancy services 

to the UK’s housing sector, Sovereign 

helps its clients to implement effective 

ICT solutions to solve a variety of business 

problems. 

Sovereign provides a broad range of 

services including business and ICT 

consultancy, through ICT systems and 

software development to co-location, 

hosting, managed services and 

outsourcing. 

Trident was formed in 1965 and, as a 

result of growth through several 

mergers, is now one of the Midlands’ 

leading housing associations and social 

businesses, managing approximately 

3,000 homes. 

Trident Social Investment Group has 

established a strong reputation as a 

provider of good quality affordable homes 

and support services to vulnerable groups. 

Viridian is a housing association 

providing social housing to over 30,000 

residents across London and the South 

East, the Midlands and West Sussex. 

We have around 16,000 homes and 

work in partnership with local authorities, 

organisations and residents to create 

safe, sustainable communities. We 

support our residents helping them 

to make the most of opportunities in 

their lives. 

Watford Community Housing Trust 

is a not-for-profit organisation with 

charitable status which owns around 

5,000 properties in Watford and 

Three Rivers. 

WCHT is a community gateway 

organisation where residents opt in to 

become members, making them legal 

shareholders and allowing them to 

make decisions about how their homes 

are managed and how WCHT’s services 

are administered.

Don’t ‘Cloud’ the Issues 

Cloud computing is now a strategic ambition within many a 

boardroom and so it will be imperative that you choose a partner 

with specialist skills and experience for managing and ensuring a 

successful transition. Security and performance of your data will 

become even more critical when you begin to have your applications 

delivered by several Cloud providers. 

MET has over a decade of knowledge and experience ensuring 

that our customers enjoy optimum security and application 

performance across all of their systems. 

twitter.com/METLtd 

Head office 

216 Fort Dunlop 

Fort Parkway 

Birmingham 

B24 9FD 

Telephone: 0121 730 4830 

Fax: 0121 730 4857 

E-mail: sales@met.co.uk 

Web: www.met.co.uk



suite 5 | 1615 

wolverhamption homes 

Can neighbourhood websites increase 

neighbourliness? 

Kate Hughes, Head of Communications, 

Wolverhampton Homes 

Kevin Harris, Consultant, Networked 

Neighbourhoods 

suite 5 | 1230 

wyse technology 

Managing mobility and a changing device 

landscape 

David Angwin, EMEA Marketing Director, 

Wyse Technology 

suite 1 | 1445 

xmbrace 

Scheduling across your services 

Nick Shipton, Sales Executive, Xmbrace 

The benefits and challenges of setting 

up neighbourhood websites, how you 

can get started, and important lessons 

to learn. 

The current trends for increased mobility, 

new computing devices and changing 

device ownership, such as ‘bring your own 

device’, are creating real challenges for IT 

departments. At the same time, cloudcomputing 

services let departmental 

computer users bypass the IT department 

if IT cannot deliver new services fast 

enough. 

This presentation will address these 

trends and show how a strategy based 

on current cloud client and management 

technology enables secure, simple, and 

flexible access to services and keeps IT in 

a leadership position. 

A booking and scheduling system is one 

of the fundamental building blocks of an 

organisation’s IT environment, whether to 

improve productivity, deliver back-office 

efficiencies, or enable a multi-disciplinary 

contact centre (or self-service platform) to 

handle the often complex booking rules 

when making appointments; Xmbrace 

offers one solution for all your services. 

Kate Hughes is passionate about the 

potential of social media to transform 

the way social landlords communicate. 

She was one of 24 Housing’s ‘Top 30 

Under 30 Future Leaders’. She blogs about 

social housing communication at www. 

socialhousingcomms.blogspot.com and is 

an avid user of Twitter: @katehughes. 

Kevin Harris is a consultant with 

Networked Neighbourhoods. He has 

25 years’ experience in community 

development, including pioneering work 

on neighbourhood online networks. He 

has worked in various neighbourhoods in 

England, and has been an adviser to the 

UK government on social inclusion and 

new technologies. 

David is a leading spokesperson on cloud 

client computing, which brings together 

desktop virtualisation, thin and zero client 

computing, unified communications and 

green IT. With over 20 years’ experience 

in IT software, hardware and services, 

he can speak with authority on desktop 

and mobile computing choices and their 

impact. 

Angwin’s background includes technical 

and product management, bringing new 

solutions to market, as well as marketing 

and business management roles with US- 

and UK-based high-tech companies. 

Nick Shipton has been involved in 

implementing and marketing Xmbrace’s 

solutions for over five years and is now 

responsible for Xmbrace’s continued 

growth into the corporate booking sector. 

Before joining Xmbrace, he was involved 

in the implementation of ERP systems 

within the aerospace manufacturing 

sector. 

Wolverhampton Homes is an arms length 

management organisation (ALMO) 

which manages 23,500 properties for 

Wolverhampton City Council. It was 

established in 2005 and was rated three 

stars (Excellent) by the Audit Commission, 

with ‘excellent prospects for improvement’. 

Since its launch, customer satisfaction with 

housing services has increased from 74 per 

cent to 82 per cent. 

Networked Neighbourhoods 

combines expertise in social media, 

communications, research and 

community development. It works with 

public service agencies, using technologybased 

approaches to stimulate 

community involvement, facilitate 

constructive conversations between 

citizens and those who serve them, and 

support more efficient service provision. 

Wyse Technology is one of the global 

leaders in cloud client computing. The 

Wyse portfolio includes thin, zero and 

cloud PC client solutions with advanced 

management, desktop virtualisation 

and cloud software supporting desktops, 

laptops and mobile devices. 

Wyse has shipped more than 20 million 

units worldwide and over 200 million 

people interact with its products each day. 

Xmbrace is the market leader in 

the provision of appointment and 

resource scheduling solutions to the 

UK public sector, helping over 150 

organisations deliver business change 

and driving improved customer service 

and performance, offering customers 

the opportunity to implement an 

organisation-wide corporate booking 

solution.


sponsor profiles 

aareon uk ltd 

web 

www.aareon.co.uk 

telephone 

02476 323 723 

contact 

Emma Page, Marketing 

Consultant 

The QL product portfolio includes: 

advanced 365 

web 

www.advanced365.com 

telephone 

020 7880 8888 

email 

info@advanced365.com 

contact 

Roy Wood, Sales Director 

social media 

twitter: @Adv365 

blog: www.advanced365.com/blog 

Aareon is the leading European housing IT provider, 

with over 9.5 million units of stock managed on 

our software throughout Europe. Our position as 

a profitable, growing and innovative organisation 

enables us to set the standard for business processes 

in the housing sector both today and in the future. 

Aareon has over 100 customers in the UK, varying 

in size from small organisations with just a few 

hundred units of stock to larger businesses with tens 

of thousands of properties, with customers the length 

and breadth of the UK and the Channel Islands. 

As innovators within the housing management 

field, we have an excellent track record of delivering 

change, working in close partnership with our 

clients to enable them to work in new ways and 

transform their decision-making process. 

Aareon is a company which partners with housing 

organisations to help transform their service delivery. 

Aareon is the only housing management software 

supplier in the UK with software designed specifically 

for social housing providers. Our total focus on 

housing, our wide perspective and our belief in 

building strategic relationships allows us to lead the 

market. We feel that this also brings real-life benefits 

to our most important partners – our customers. 

Our main objective is to provide software that gives 

your organisation a clear picture of its assets, its 

customers and its finances. We aim to help you to 

improve delivery of key agendas – excellent service, 

value for money and efficiency in business processes. 

Rent Accounting 

Reactive Repairs 

Customer Relationship Mgt (CRM) 

QL Financials 

Asset Mgt & Component Accounting 

Development Module 

Documotive EDM 

Waiting List, Allocations & CBL 

Planned Maintenance 

TaskCentre Alerts 

Direct Debits 

Reporting Services 

Questionnaires 

QL Personnel/Payroll 

Advanced 365 designs, deploys, operates and improves IT 

managed services from the desktop to the data centre 

which help housing associations to align their IT to their 

core business requirements. Working as part of Advanced 

Computer Software Group (Advanced) plc, Advanced 

365 focuses on the delivery of managed services, cloud 

computing, mobile solutions, application development 

and software as a service (SaaS), helping support the 

group’s 150+ housing association customers. 

In September 2011, Notting Hill Housing Trust 

(NHHT) contracted Advanced 365 to deliver a 

private cloud managed IT service for four years with 

the option of extending it for a further two years. 

This £7.4m outsourced IT service contract will be 

key to supporting NHHT’s growth plans and flexible 

working environment, ensuring 99.5% service 

availability. 

Martin Carpenter, head of central services, Notting Hill 

Housing Trust, said, “Advanced 365’s outsourced IT service 

will support our growth aspirations and deliver a range 

of benefits, from flexible anytime and anywhere IT 

access for staff through to improved service for tenants. 

The QL Product Portfolio 

QL offers your organisation the ability to build a 

solution that performs multiple business functions 

within the same core database. This means that all 

of your housing, financial, personnel and payroll 

information can be held in one secure place, with no 

troublesome interfaces to worry about. Transactions 

in one part of the system update other relevant 

data automatically – and in real time! 

• QL is a truly integrated and highly functional 

software solution designed specifically to meet 

the needs of social housing providers. Easy to 

implement, easy to use and easy to run, QL 

makes your staff’s jobs easier while streamlining 

your processes and giving you access to the 

information you need to make the right business 

decisions at right time. 

• QL Housing is used by a diverse array of 

organisations throughout the UK, for property 

management in the social rented, private 

residential, commercial and student lettings 

sectors. 

• QL provides simple but comprehensive enquiry 

facilities, allowing your staff to access information 

easily and efficiently and giving you a 360° view of 

your customers at the touch of a button. 

• QL is a flexible solution that helps you to improve 

service delivery by streamlining and automating 

your business processes and providing you with a 

technical platform enabling mobile, remote and 

office-based employees to be more productive. 

Voids management 

Estate Management 

Gas Servicing 

I-Housing 

Contractor Module 

1st Touch Mobile 

Supporting People 

We also anticipate cost savings of up to 20% per 

annum compared with delivering this in-house. The 

Advanced 365 outsourced solution will provide us 

with an excellent foundation for the future. Staff 

and customers will have ready access to flexible, 

reliable and efficient IT systems and we will be able 

to quickly and easily take advantage of new and 

emerging technologies, ensuring that the Trust 

remains at the cutting edge of service delivery.” 

As part of Advanced, Advanced 365 also provides 

Advanced On-Demand, a cloud-based application service 

from Advanced and supports OpenAccounts, the leading 

financial management software package for the housing 

market, and other industry-leading software from 

sister company Advanced Business Solutions. 

Delivered on a cost-per-user-per-month basis with 

three different service options, Advanced On-Demand 

offers faster time to deployment with FastStart, 

guaranteed levels of service, and a single point of 

contact for all hardware and application support. 

In all cases, Advanced 365’s aim is to ensure the 

client views IT as an asset and not a liability.

Orchard Housing 

Creating opportunities through 

enhanced intelligence. 

The first solution with integral 

Resident Involvement and 

Campaign Management. 

To find out more, why not attend 

Aidan Dunphy’s session or visit us 

at our stand in the main atrium. 

www.orchard-systems.co.uk



britannic technologies ltd 

web 

www.btlnet.co.uk 

telephone 

0845 056 2000 

email 

enquiries@btlnet.co.uk 

social media 

twitter: @britannictech 

facebook: www.facebook.com/ 

britannictech 

youtube: www.youtube.com/ 

britannictech 

Britannic Technologies is an award-winning specialist 

in IP communications, systems integration and 

managed services with over 10 years’ experience in 

the housing sector and carries Housing Specialism 

accreditations. Current clients include Cheshire 

Peaks and Plains, Family Mosaic, Wakefield & District 

Housing, Sanctuary Housing and Worthing Homes. 

Our ‘holistic’ approach to technology enables 

us to work with our clients to maximise their 

investment in ICT. Working together with worldleading 

partners, we ensure that our technology 

and services accurately support our clients’ business 

requirements, internal communications and 

expectations. Our approach enables customers to 

maximise their return on technology investment, 

improve productivity, enhance tenant services and 

care, achieve substantial cost savings and plan for 

the future with confidence. 

We offer a wide range of solutions for the housing 

sector including the latest unified communications 

systems, converged networks and multimedia 

contact centres. 

• We help clients to improve access to tenants, 

enhance customer service, support equality and 

diversity, achieve KLOEs and meet the green 

agenda. 

• Our managed solutions help underpin business 

continuity plans, enable mobile and flexible 

working and deliver value for money. 

• Our cloud service platform and next-generation 

network enables us to cost-effectively connect 

locations and people together as a single 

networked and integrated platform, managing 

effective communications across staff, customers 

and contractors with resilient and cost-effective 

online community networks. 

By working with Britannic Technologies, our clients 

can draw on 25 years’ experience in telephony and 

contact centres and work with an organisation 

which is leading the way in new wave technologies 

such as SIP, telephony virtualisation, unified 

communications, WAN governance and systems 

integration. 

We were founded in 1984 and quickly established 

an enviable reputation in the market for delivering 

high-quality telecommunications solutions and 

services, complemented by our ability to innovate 

in the market. 

Throughout this time we have developed our 

position within the fast-evolving telecoms market 

by partnering with world-leading manufacturers 

and service providers to deliver best-of-breed 

solutions to organisations throughout the UK, 

constantly underpinned by our total commitment 

to customer care and integration capabilities. 

Today, we are one of the largest and most 

technically-able independent communications 

companies in the UK, providing both national 

and international solutions with a focus on IP 

communications, (multi-channel) call centre 

solutions, call recording, networking, systems 

and CT (computer telephony) integration and 

applications development to provide further 

efficiencies by creating valuable links between the 

telephone system and housing management system. 

We are focused on providing our clients with 

quality products and services that support and 

enhance their business requirements, matched by 

a structured development path for the future. Our 

approach enables our clients to rationalise their 

suppliers and service providers with a partner who 

has the technical and commercial expertise and 

desire to take ownership on behalf of our clients. 

Since our inception, we have focused on working in 

partnership with our clients with the specific aim 

of adding real value to their business operations 

through the effective utilisation of technology, 

complemented by a total commitment to customer 

care. We believe it is this philosophy which has 

enabled our continued success and strong customer 

relationships, many of which span more than 

20 years. 

We are committed to keeping pace with the 

evolving market place and continuously improving 

the products and services we offer our clients. 

We have implemented BS EN ISO9001 as the 

model for our quality management system 

which provides the framework to monitor our 

development and support our highly customerfocused 

approach to business. 

Our clients are achieving significant costs savings 

of up to 50%. They have increased management 

visibility and control and reduced the management 

burden of ICT. 

We support them to achieve greater efficiencies, 

provide personalised customer service and adopt a 

flexible managed service framework for changes, 

additions and enhancements without the need to 

rework budgets. 

We provide clarity out of the confusion across the 

telecoms sector with tried and tested strategies 

that deliver cost savings, greater business agility, 

automatic business continuity and demonstrable 

benefits for tenants and housing associations 

alike, and identify how and where technology can 

effectively be used to support the desire to attain 

3-Star and Excellent status.

Efficiency 

Service Quality 

Value for Money 

Business Sustainability 

Business Intelligence 

Performance 

IT Services & 

Business Solutions 

Strategic IT consultancy 

Shared IT services 

BCP/DR 

Mobile working 

Virtualisation & cloud computing 

IT training 

Programme & project management 

Relocation IT services 

Merger & acquisition 

- integration IT support 

System & software implementation 

Application support 

Outsourced IT services 

Colocation & managed hosting 

T: 020 8216 3333 

E: housing@sovereign-plc.co.uk 

W: www.sovereign-plc.co.uk 

Bridging the Gap between Technology 

& Business Success



capita ib solutions 

web 

www.ibsolutions.com 

telephone 

01462 476 800 

email 

marketing@ibsolutions.com 

Capita IB Solutions, part of Capita plc, is a market 

leader in providing world-class integrated business 

software solutions to service-centric organisations. 

With a product and services portfolio of outstanding 

depth, its offerings extend from e-procurement 

and bespoke software to enterprise-wide financial 

management software, which provide efficiencies 

across the entire organisation. 

Capita IB Solutions helps its customers achieve 

results and business objectives by identifying 

mission-critical issues and implementing innovative 

and customised solutions that are designed to 

generate revenue, reduce costs and provide fast 

access to management information. 

Improved Processes 

With over 30 years’ experience, Capita IB Solutions’ 

unparalleled ability to successfully deliver 

improved processes is achieved by understanding 

its customers’ unique needs and providing the 

capability to deliver automated systems through 

the use of technology. These solutions, which 

include web access, custom development, workflow, 

business intelligence and document management, 

help customers to increase margins and improve 

cash flow. 

Few companies in the software applications 

industry can match our focus, experience, expertise 

and successful track record in delivering advanced 

products and services to streamline and automate 

financial processes. 

Integrated Solutions 

Each solution in our portfolio stands alone as 

a best-of-breed solution, or can be seamlessly 

integrated to create a total enterprise solution for 

housing associations. Together, our solutions cover 

the full range of an organisation’s requirements, 

including our financial management, repair-to-pay 

and procurement solution, Integra Open Enterprise. 

Integra Open Enterprise 

Modules include: 

• General ledger 

• Procurement 

• Accounts payable 

• Invoice approval 

• Attachment manager 

• Accounts receivable 

• Cash management 

• Budgeting & forecasting 

• Fixed assets 

• Expense management 

• Stock management 

• Job costing 

• Business intelligence 

• Catalogue expert 

The application supports an inherent flexibility 

which allows the system to reflect the 

management structures and working procedures of 

any organisation. 

It offers a range of facilities, including: 

• Comprehensive business and management 

information 

• Document management 

• PC desktop integration 

• E-business gateways 

• Integral workflow 

• Authorisation and escalation routines 

• User-friendly customisation tools 

The integration of our solution extends to the web 

through Integra Open Enterprise e-Series, a suite 

of self-service applications. Integra e-Series includes 

functionality aimed at remote, occasional and 

non-financial users and, as with the client-server 

interface, it is provided in a user-friendly 

and intuitive format with consistency across 

all functions. 

The solution is supplied with fully-integrated, 

powerful, industry-leading, cross-modular graphical 

reporting and business intelligence tools. These 

include functionality to provide multi-dimensional 

data analysis, performance monitors, pre-defined 

standard reports and business alerts; all ensuring 

that information is proactively used, not just 

collected. 

The integrated and online nature of the application, 

coupled with improved business workflow 

processes and user-friendly enquiry and report 

generation facilities, supports faster access to 

management information and improved decision 

making. 

Integra Repair-to-Pay (R2P) 

Integra R2P is configured, rather than customised, 

to support your spending policies and procurement 

procedures. In a nutshell, Integra R2P is a unique 

repair-to-pay solution which integrates with your 

existing financial/housing management system 

to automate all purchase orders and invoice 

processing, from all sources, while updating 

financial data and commitment postings. Integra 

R2P can help to: 

• Increase spending controls 

• Post commitments 

• Enhance visibility and BI 

• Boost accounts payable productivity 

• Reduce transaction costs 

Integra R2P helps enforce internal controls, such as 

electronic requisition approvals by the appropriate 

supervisor, using approved vendors, and checking 

budgets before permitting purchases. 

Through Integra OCR, the system electronically 

matches invoices and purchase orders and uses 

automated workflow to resolve discrepancies. 

Capita IB Solutions employs more than 120 

professional people, serving over 500 customers 

including Spectrum Housing Group, St George’s 

Community Housing and Stevenage Homes.

When it comes to user 

desktop, mobile, smartphone 

and tablet management, 

we know who’s in charge... 

you 

you you you 

We know you’re faced with an ever-increasing range of housing 

professionals needing efficient, secure access to their data over 

your network. From anywhere, at anytime, and often on their 

own handheld devices. 

That’s how Wyse Cloud Client Computing can help. 

With a range of advanced software and secure, energy efficient 

and quiet hardware that’s specifically designed to give you the 

desktop and device visibility, control and management you need. 

So, regardless of how your users wish to work. 

The outcome’s the same. You’re in charge. 

Visit the Wyse stand today to speak to a specialist or visit us online.



cloudxl 

web 

www.cloudxl.co.uk 

telephone 

0207 0962700 

CloudXL makes the benefits of virtualisation, cloud 

servers and private cloud computing accessible to a 

broader range of organisations. 

Created from the merger of business telephony 

experts Actimax and IT services specialists Network 

Resource Group, CloudXL applies more than 20 

years of experience to helping organisations 

reduce the cost and complexity of using cloud 

computing as a way to boost performance, increase 

collaboration, and streamline business processes. 

We have the engineering pedigree and technical 

prowess to help organisations make the transition 

to cloud-based services and we aim to be the 

partner of choice for customers looking to exploit 

the scalable potential of the cloud, while they focus 

on their core commercial functions. 

We are successful because: working in partnership 

means we take responsibility for the provision of 

secure, robust and easy-to-manage services, with 

business continuity underpinning everything we 

do. It also means we shape solutions that are right 

for each customer, using on-site technology mixed 

with cloud virtualised servers where applicable. 

Our vision is to be the number-one provider of 

business communication solutions. We will achieve 

this by continuing to prove our worth to businesses 

in the private sector and organisations vital to our 

communities in the public sector including social 

housing organisations. 

• We have excellent award-winning case studies, 

references & website; 

• We have a state-of-the-art premises and 

showroom; 

• We have a good infrastructure with highly-trained, 

motivated and experienced staff; 

• We provide real value solutions based on solving 

business problems, not just providing technology. 

Our business model 

CloudXL offers a full life-cycle turnkey approach by 

aggregating product solutions: 

• Cloud-based business continuity and backup 

• An aggregated virtual network proposition 

• A fixed-to-mobile convergence solution 

• Unified communications 

• Best-of-breed suppliers 

• Pre-sales assessments 

• Infrastructure purchase & installation 

Solution examples 

• Viridian Housing – A multi-site resilient VoIP 

solution, incorporating a multimedia contact 

centre deployed within a Citrix environment, 

with the flexibility of hot-desking to help the 

organisation in efficiently providing social housing 

to over 30,000 residents across London and the 

South East, the Midlands and West Sussex. 

• Poplar HARCA – A housing and regeneration 

community which owns and manages 

around 8,500 homes in East London originally 

communicated over a multi-site, networked TDM 

solution which was seamlessly migrated to a fully- 

resilient VoIP infrastructure, incorporating 

unified communications, hot-desking, remote 

working and a multi-site contact centre and 

intelligent queuing solution. This empowered 

the organisation to deliver improved services 

to its clients and staff with an efficient and 

flexible solution to cater for their everyday 

communications. 

• Nottingham Community Housing Association – 

One of the largest locally-based housing groups 

in the East Midlands, managing over 8,000 

homes and housing more than 15,000 tenants 

in Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire, Lincolnshire, 

Leicestershire, Northamptonshire, Rutland and 

Warwickshire, delivering communications with 

a resilient VoIP and providing improved services 

with their contact centre and intelligent queuing 

solution. 

• Swan Housing Association – A client for over 14 

years, Network Resource Group (NRG) provides 

fully out-sourced support for Swan Housing 

Association (SHA) and its subsidiaries which 

includes provision for a fully-managed service 

desk between 8am and 8pm, a fully-managed 

WAN solution, a fully-managed IP telephony 

environment and high level consultancy and 

IT development services working with senior 

directors and at board level when required. 

NRG has successfully deployed IT systems and 

infrastructure as the organisation has grown, 

now supporting nearly 300 users over 20 sites 

throughout Essex and East London. NRG’s 

proactive approach has reduced Swan’s IT 

overhead in server hardware to 20% of the original 

capacity, saving on energy, cooling, floor space, 

support costs and reducing risk by deploying 

successful DR and BCP policies and systems. 

• East Thames Group – East Thames Group (ETG) is 

a high-profile social housing organisation based 

in Stratford and is one of the key developers for 

the proposed Olympic Village. Network Resource 

Group (NRG) has worked with ETG for over eight 

years providing its core WAN connectivity to 

over 90 remote locations across East London and 

Essex. Originally the deployment was a standard 

VPN-based solution with firewalls and routers 

for each connection; since the deployment of 

LANKonnect, ETG has implemented a new Citrix 

(thin client) solution for all remotes sites as well 

as the deployment of a uniform Cisco IP telephony 

solution providing service to many of the remote 

sites connected via LANKonnect. 

• One Housing Group – Having initially provided 

Toynbee Housing Association with a 15-site 

WAN, NRG won a competitive tender process 

in 2007 following the merger that formed One 

Housing Group (OHG). Initially taken on as a costeffective, 

QoS-enabled WAN, NRG’s LANKonnect 

WAN has grown with OHG to provide resilient 

services across 90 sites, meeting business 

development requirements and featuring layertwo 

triangulation to allow for seamless failover in 

the event of circuit loss, providing zero downtime 

for all services including real-time traffic.

Helping Housing Organisations 

Book All Appointments Across All Departments 

Housing Organisations provide their residents with a vast range of services 

including allocations, surveying, anti-social behaviour and community 

projects, to name but a few. Offering these services on a consistent 

appointed basis not only drives efficiency but also improves the quality 

of service delivery. 

OPTI-TIME Corporate Resource Booking provides a 

single, intuitive solution to book and manage 

resources across your entire organisation including 

people, meeting rooms and equipment, enabling: 

• Improved efficiency of resources 

• More responsive customer service 

• Reduced travel costs 

• Standardised booking interface 

across all services 

• Reduced system administration costs 

• Self-service enablement 

Call us on: 020 7953 5043 

Email us at: sales@xmbrace.com 

Or visit: www.xmbrace.com



convergeone 

web 

www.convergeone.co.uk 

email 

info@convergeone.co.uk 

easynet 

web 

www.easynet.com 

telephone 

020 7032 5477 

contact 

Chris Hughes 

email 

housing@easynet.com 

ConvergeOne is a leading IT end-to-end solutions provider 

covering the UK, Europe and worldwide in association with 

its specifically-selected vendors and partners. 

ConvergeOne delivers the full solution lifecycle, 

namely pre-sales, preparation and planning, design, 

implementation and integration, operations and 

support, and optimisation. 

Housing Overview 

ConvergeOne is primarily focused on the housing 

sector and has built the best partnerships to 

deliver a best-of-breed solution for housing IT 

infrastructures that are not only flexible and 

productive, but cost effective providing true RoI 

and TCO statistics. 

At ConvergeOne, we like to understand what the 

housing IT objectives, desires and constraints are. 

We fit our solutions around the specific needs of the 

housing association and we have the partnerships 

in place to address or review any element of the 

housing infrastructure, whether that be the storage 

or virtualisation requirement, the housing system 

applications, the performance of the network 

and security infrastructure, or simply down to IP 

telephony, mobility and unified communications. 

We understand that housing associations need to 

concentrate on what they do best; housing, care 

and support. We want to ensure that you have an 

efficient and productive way to address your IT issues 

and requirements through our single interface. 

ConvergeOne is a truly end-to-end managed solutions 

provider, addressing ALL needs of the housing 

association in a very volatile and dynamic market place. 

Technologies 

ConvergeOne provides every IT infrastructure 

technology with a structured approach ensuring 

that the infrastructure is resilient, scalable, 

performant, available, but most importantly, the 

correct solution for the housing association. The 

foundation should provide the most optimised 

service for the mission-critical and performancesensitive 

data, including voice and video. 

Easynet is a provider of managed network, hosting 

and cloud-based services, coupled with a wide range 

of value-added integration services such as video 

conferencing, security, unified communications and 

telephony. 

Established in 1994, Easynet has a history of 

bringing to market the latest innovative access 

solutions which leverage their network asset – one 

of the largest in the UK. With a strong emphasis 

on innovation and value, Easynet’s new enhanced 

EtherStream access portfolio now covers 80% of 

all UK business organisations and provides costeffective 

access to WAN as well as public and 

private cloud applications. 

Easynet’s Smart MPLS services guarantee the 

on-going optimisation of customers’ WAN 

infrastructures. When combined with its managed 

hosting and cloud-based solutions, these services 

form the perfect platform to support the virtualisation 

and unified communication projects that most 

customers have or are looking to have in place. 

Services 

ConvergeOne provides the full range of services 

across the five architectures, namely network and 

security foundation, collaboration, datacentre and 

virtualisation, video and business transformation. 

We want to ensure that the housing association 

can plan, integrate and adopt new ways of 

collaborating and working, as this can be a very 

daunting experience to some employees in the new 

workspace. We also provide professional, managed 

and full service and client management services. 

Partners and Vendors 

ConvergeOne has selected the best-of-breed 

vendors and partners to support the full end-toend 

offering. This provides not only ConvergeOne 

with the confidence of what the housing sector 

should be receiving, but the housing associations 

themselves. ConvergeOne has partnered with Cisco, 

NetApp, EMC, VMware, Citrix and Microsoft; as you 

can see, these are the global number one’s and 

two’s in their specialist fields. 

ConvergeOne also has a large partner channel, 

where we ensure that all technologies provided 

from this avenue are validated against 

ConvergeOne’s high delivery and service 

standards. We always ensure that our housing 

sector customers get the best that’s available in 

technology, with a single point of contact for all 

technology requirements. 

Initiatives 

ConvergeOne is continually looking at leading 

ways to improve and enhance our services within 

the housing sector, ensuring that the housing 

associations we support are IT and business leaders 

within this sector. 

With our relationship with Housing Technology, we 

are close to identifying the strategic direction of 

housing and how to support the adoption. 

The question isn’t why ConvergeOne, but why not? 

Through a consultative approach, Easynet engages 

with its customers to fully understand their 

individual challenges and translates technology 

into solutions that address a specific business 

issue. With proven expertise in delivering tailored 

services to the housing sector, customers include 

Metropolitan Housing Partnership, London & 

Quadrant Housing, Sovereign Housing and Notting 

Hill Housing Trust. 

Easynet was positioned in the ‘Visionaries’ quadrant 

in Gartner’s 2010 ‘Magic Quadrant for Pan-European 

Network Service Providers’ which is testimony to its 

outlook on technology and ability to execute. 

Within the UK specifically, Easynet has been an 

accredited supplier on the OGC Buying Solutions 

framework for the last eight years which provides 

customers with reassurance and confidence that 

their purchasing solutions are from a trusted 

supplier to the UK public sector.


internetalia 

web 

www.internetalia.com 

telephone 

0800 056 9927 

email 

info@internetalia.com 

met 

web 

www.met.co.uk 

telephone 

0121 730 4830 

contact 

Kelvin McGlynn 

email 

sales@met.co.uk 

social media 

twitter: @METLtd 

With its flagship AccuServ product, InterNETalia 

delivers best-in-class housing repairs management 

solutions for housing organisations and contractors. 

Formed in 1997, InterNETalia develops ERP and 

contract job management software solutions. Our 

AccuMet and AccuServ solutions deliver real value 

in our chosen markets and are widely deployed 

by housing organisations, contractors, the steel 

stockholding industry, and in the heating, plumbing 

and electrical sector. 

Responding to significant customer demand, 

InterNETalia solutions have been developed to 

facilitate remote access, so they can be accessed 

either by our clients’ customers or by our clients’ 

own employees operating in the field or from a 

remote location. For example, in the AccuServ 

system this means that field operatives and 

engineers can use PDA handheld devices to look 

up appliance details and historic job details, and to 

record visit details while on site. 

Equally, our contractor & DLO clients can make 

AccuServ available over the internet via a secure 

web portal to enable authorised staff at councils, 

housing associations and private clients to query 

on-going jobs themselves or review the up-to-the 

minute gas compliance level. 

InterNETalia works with SME sector and semi-state 

contracts organisations and our strength lies in our 

ability to analyse operations in these sectors and 

define where a software solution could add value, 

transforming implementation costs into a profitmaking 

investment. 

Our in-depth experience allows us to undertake 

a clear project management approach to all our 

projects. This ensures that project targets and 

deliverables are defined in advance, and that 

projects are delivered on time and within budget. 

AccuServ 

For housing organisations operating their own 

direct labour repairs organisation, AccuServ 

provides an integrated solution to help drive 

an efficient and effective service for tenants. It 

combines comprehensive repair management, 

MET provides integrated ICT solutions to accelerate 

the performance of organisations across the UK. We 

apply technology expertise to solve real business 

challenges and we create secure, reliable and green ICT 

environments. Our solutions are built using the most 

innovative products on the market and our delivery is 

through a managed service or on a project basis. 

The culture at MET is based on innovation and 

over 13 years, we have been among the earliest 

adopters for many new technologies. This has 

established us as an expert ICT partner for many 

household names. Working in true partnership 

as an extension to the in-house IT department, 

we provide expert knowledge and resource to 

implement and manage infrastructure, server and 

desktop solutions, allowing in-house personnel to 

focus on more strategic projects. Experience has 

www.housing-technology.com | 35 

stock control and reporting with integrated mobile 

working to enable greater control, productivity and 

service delivery. 

The advantages to be gained by housing 

organisations from operating an effective repairs 

management solution are now well established and 

we can point to many UK housing organisations 

such as Shepherds Bush Housing Group and 

Bournemouth Borough Council which are actively 

using AccuServ to drive significant business benefit: 

• Improve management and control of repairs 

• Form closer partnership with contractors 

• More closely manage the DLO 

• Increase productivity 

• Enhance service delivery 

• Agree open-book arrangements with contractors 

• Gain end-to-end visibility of the repairs process 

• Increase customer satisfaction 

AccuServ effectively manages the full range of 

activities in housing repairs. For example, Brent 

Housing Partnership uses AccuServ specifically to 

manage its voids activity, where AccuServ uses a 

unique series of events to manage the flow of work 

through the system. Each event represents one of 

the trades, and the SOR codes tie in to each event. It 

is therefore very easy to manage the flow of trades 

and to identify progress on each void job so you can 

maintain detailed job costings and stock control. 

The gas servicing module is used by Shepherds 

Bush Housing Group to ensure it is consistently 

at 100% compliance, with AccuServ producing all 

tenant letters for the entire gas programme, from 

the first appointment letter all the way through to 

going legal. 

So with AccuServ from InterNETalia, you have 

a best-in-class solution that manages specific 

functions such as voids or gas compliance, and can 

be used to manage your entire end-to-end proactive 

and responsive repairs activity spanning your direct 

labour teams and any external contractors in a 

single integrated housing repairs management 

solution. 

shown us that this approach lowers the total cost 

of ownership and increases performance across the 

ICT environment. 

Our solutions cover many areas and the efficiency 

of each one makes a real difference to the dayto-day 

operations in a business. User productivity 

and business performance are driven by a secure, 

reliable and robust ICT environment, and we deliver 

that through a combination of the following: 

• Managed services 

• Communications 

• Storage and virtualisation 

• Business continuity 

• Infrastructure 

• Information Security Services



optical record systems ltd 

(ors) 

web 

www.orsgroup.com 

telephone 

02380 267 755 

contact 

Joe Pettit 

email 

joe.pettit@orsgroup.com 

social media 

twitter: @opticalrecords 

facebook: www.facebook.com/ 

OpticalRecordSystems 

orchard 

web 

www.orchard-systems.co.uk 

telephone 

0191 203 2500 

email 

info@orchard-systems.co.uk 

Optical Record Systems (ORS) has over 20 years’ 

experience within the document management 

industry and is the market leader in document 

management and data capture solutions. 

Over the years, ORS has been providing a 

professional, confidential and completely secure 

document management service to our customers, 

while constantly developing our products and 

solutions to match the changing needs of the 

market place. This continual development has 

resulted in a wide range of solutions that support 

our customers’ requirements, no matter what the 

application and this has earned ORS a reputation 

for high-quality service and efficiency. 

With success in military, housing association 

and corporate sectors confirming our heritage 

and passion for delivering complete document 

management and data capture solutions, ORS is 

independent of any single solution and software 

and as such we aim to deliver impartial advice 

on all of the solutions available, while meeting 

the specific requirements and budgets of our 

customers. 

ORS supports the required solution as an end-toend 

service provider and once implemented, the 

solution will require little or no manual intervention 

from our customers. 

Our core services are: 

• Scanning services 

• Automated invoice processing 

• Forms capture 

• Mailroom services 

• Document management software 

• Consultancy services 

Intelligent software, Realise possibility 

We are Orchard, the UK’s leading independent 

provider of specialist software solutions to the public 

and social housing sectors – but our expertise is just 

the tip of the iceberg. Continual investment in our 

products, people and culture ensures that innovation 

and customer experience are two of the cornerstones 

on which our business, and its success, is built. With 

over 30 years’ experience in the public sector, we 

certainly know a thing or two. 

We pride ourselves on our values. Our philosophy is 

one of hard work, integrity and reliability, both in our 

products and in the way we conduct our business. 

With our welcoming approach, we listen intently to 

customers’ needs, establish connections and develop 

a unique, flexible working relationship. 

How refreshing that, in a world increasingly 

dominated by electronic communication, 

e-commerce and impersonal service, a company 

like Orchard still takes the personal approach. We’ve 

set strong guiding philosophies about the way we 

do business. Along with our agile solutions, we 

have developed an identity of which our staff and 

customers can be proud. 

But reputations are never built on intentions – we 

have delivered on our promises since day one. In an 

uncompromising and competitive market, where 

We also offer a number of additional services 

depending on the needs of our customers. 

Our dedication to fresh and innovative document 

management solutions has been recognised in 

both the 2010 and 2011 DM Awards, with ORS being 

awarded ‘Website of the Year’ for its innovative 

and user-friendly content and ‘Compliance Product 

of the Year’ for its bespoke HousingDocs software 

product. We are proud to be part of this select 

group of winners, which includes multi-national 

companies such as Fujitsu, Kodak and IMBL, 

confirming our status within this sector. ORS is the 

only industry-recognised, award-winning provider 

to UK housing associations. 

Over the last two years, ORS has launched 

HousingDocs, a unique and bespoke document 

management software package specifically created 

for UK housing associations, and HousingMail, 

a mailroom service exclusively tailored to the 

housing sector. 

ORS is already helping over 150 customers in the 

housing sector including A2Dominion, Paragon, 

Viridian, North Lincolnshire Homes and Bromford 

Group with their document management solutions. 

We provide them with a wide range of services 

from simple weekly scanning through to fullyoutsourced 

document management solutions and 

mail handling. 

We also have a portfolio of blue-chip customers 

from a range of sectors, including EDF Energy, 

Barclays Bank, B&Q, MITIE Group and the Ministry 

of Defence. 

standard expectations have never been so high, 

we have shown unerring strength, dependability 

and innovation. And we will continue to provide 

the exceptional service and support our customers 

deserve. 

What can Orchard do for you? Simply put – we can 

make it easier for you to manage your business 

Orchard Housing is an easy-to-use software 

application, giving social housing organisations a 

multi-functional, comprehensive and up-to-date 

management system in which daily tasks can be 

carried out more simply, efficiently and quickly. 

The acquisition of Applaud in 2011 has added a 

number of solutions to our portfolio, including 

corporate performance and risk management, 

web content management and collaborative 

management. 

We maintain commercial relationships with 

business partners who can supply products which 

complement our principal products to ensure we can 

provide comprehensive solutions to our customers’ 

needs, including: 

• Orchard Financials – Managing extensive financial 

information across your organisation can be evermore 

challenging. We provide you with straightforward 

Continued on next page


continued 


integration 

web 

www.sovereign-plc.co.uk 

email 

housing@sovereign-plc.co.uk 

software solutions which enable you to deal with 

processes and applications faster, effectively and 

economically. To further enhance the Financials 

solution, Orchard can also provide payroll and 

personnel management software. 

• Orchard Asset and Asbestos Management – Asset 

appraisal and management, including asbestos 

management, property development lifecycle 

management. 

• Orchard Mobile – Comprehensive facilities for 

mobile computing, including processes for the 

completion of forms that may be required for staff 

carrying out estate inspections. 

• Orchard Workforce Scheduling – Workforce 

scheduling and management. 

• Orchard Document Management – Electronic 

document and records management. 

• Orchard Information Management – Business 

intelligence and management information. 

• Orchard Communicator – The only SMS-messaging 

solution designed specifically for the housing 

sector, this workflow-based solution can respond 

to inbound requests from tenants and can also 

manage outbound campaigns such as surveys. 

• Orchard Development – Development appraisal, 

lifecycle modelling and project management. 

• Orchard GIS – Geographic information solutions. 

• Orchard ICT – hosting and managed services. 

Achieving Efficiency and Quality 

Proud to be independent, Sovereign offers truly 

impartial IT services to ensure investments in IT deliver 

the improvements you need. We keep abreast of all 

developments and technological advances so that 

we can continue to advise and support our clients 

appropriately, offering real value for money. 

Our services include: 

• Strategic IT consultancy 

• Shared IT service appraisal and design 

• Cloud computing strategy and solution design 

• IT training 

• Programme and project management 

• Office relocation IT services 

• System and software implementation 

• Application administration and support 

• Outsourced IT services 

• Co-location and managed hosting services 

Bridging the Gap between Technology & Business 

Success. 

Latest news - Data centre expansion in March 2012 

Sovereign announces the expansion of its existing 

data centre services. The business-focused data 

centre will allow Sovereign to further its delivery of 

co-location, hosting, managed IT and outsourced IT 

services, providing clients with security, reliability 

and flexibility. Based in Cockfosters just 14 miles 

North of central London and inside the M25, the 

brand new data centre – ‘Metro Point’ – will enable 

Sovereign to provide scalable and tailored services, 

allowing enterprises to operate business-critical 

technology within a controlled environment. 

www.housing-technology.com | 37 

Intelligent evolution. Resting on our laurels is not 

our style. Innovative thinking is. 

We remain as dedicated as we have always been to 

providing agile and effective solutions – while our 

hunger for innovation grows. We are always open to 

new ideas, fresh thinking and imagination. 

By investing in our staff, we continue to build our 

knowledge and expertise, embrace new ideas 

and develop our approach, with a simple focus; to 

improve the service we offer to the people who are 

most important to the success of our business – 

our customers. 

We are not like other companies. Our principles 

would not allow it. 

We recognise the importance of our corporate 

social responsibility and have in place a policy 

on volunteering. This enables our employees to 

participate in projects to enhance the wellbeing 

of local people, by working with organisations 

dedicated to this aim and also in projects to raise 

sponsorship for both local and national charities. 

We are currently investing in four apprentices as 

part of our corporate social responsibility strategy. 

We strongly believe our apprenticeship scheme can 

provide people with opportunities which may not 

have been available to them otherwise. 

With more and more companies moving business 

critical applications into data centres every day, 

Richard Barker, CEO, explains why Sovereign’s 

expansion of its data centre services has come at 

this point in time: “Sovereign has been offering 

data centre services for over 15 years and as such, 

brings a wealth of experience to the industry. As 

the demand for hosted and outsourced IT continues 

to grow, Sovereign felt that now was the time to 

launch our brand new facility to all of our clients as 

it will allow us to operate on a much wider scale. 

Our experience, proactive attitude and proven 

abilities combined with our knowledge of the 

overall IT industry as well as associated vertical 

sectors will provide our existing clients as well as 

our prospective clients with a smooth transition 

from on-premise IT to outsourced IT.” 

With a fierce commitment to the development of 

its standards and quality of service, Sovereign has 

been awarded the ISO27001 accreditation and is 

currently in the process of applying for the ISO14001 

and ISO9001 accreditations, as well as the highlycoveted 

Tier III Data Centre status from the Uptime 

Institute. Once certified, it will be the only Tier III 

accredited data centre within the M25. 

With Sovereign’s focus centred on flexibility, 

services can be tailored to meet the client’s precise 

specifications and/or as business growth demands. 

Alternatively, services are available to be purchased 

on an off-the-shelf basis. From design and 

procurement through to operation and ongoing 

support, Sovereign manages as much of the process 

as required.



wyse technology (uk) ltd 

web 

www.wyse.co.uk 

telephone 

0118 934 2200 

contact 

Charlotte Andrews 

email 

candrews@wyse.com 

social media 

twitter: @wyseEMEA 

xmbrace 

web 

www.xmbrace.com 

telephone 

0207 953 5043 

email 

info@xmbrace.com 

Wyse Technology is the global leader in cloud client 

computing. 

The Wyse portfolio includes thin, zero and cloud 

PC client solutions with advanced management, 

desktop virtualisation and cloud software 

supporting desktops, laptops and mobile devices. 

Cloud client computing replaces the outdated 

computing model of unsecure, unreliable, energyintensive 

and expensive PCs, while delivering lower 

TCO and a superior user experience. 

Xmbrace is the market leader in the provision of 

dynamic appointment and resource scheduling 

solutions to the UK housing sector. 

Since we were formed in 2001, we have helped over 

100 organisations to transform their operations and 

to deliver a more efficient, effective and customer 

focused service. We do this through our market 

leading application OPTI-TIME and a team at 

Xmbrace which has extensive skills and experience 

in housing repairs, resource management and 

operational best practice. 

At Xmbrace we help housing organisations to 

address the following key areas: 

• Responsive repairs – Enabling every repair to 

be appointed, for these appointments to be 

kept and providing the flexibility for more 

jobs to be completed on the first visit. This is 

achieved through OPTI-TIME’s ability to manage 

appointments and then dynamically allocate work 

throughout the emerging day, optimising trades 

and keeping promises to residents. 

• Planned maintenance & voids – Enabling 

organisations to reduce the lapsed time 

associated with planned maintenance and 

voids through planning and scheduling multiple 

trades and inter-dependent work. By dynamically 

managing such projects with OPTI-TIME reduces 

project duration and idle time of operatives. 

• Corporate resource booking – OPTI-TIME not only 

enables housing organisations to maximise the 

performance of their operatives, but also any 

human or tangible asset within the organisation. 

OPTI-TIME can assist any department within a 

housing organisation to deliver a more efficient 

and effective appointed service to residents. It 

also allows smarter and more efficient use of 

assets such as meeting rooms, vehicles and 

equipment, with a single, organisation-wide 

resource booking capability. 

Wyse has shipped more than 20 million units and 

over 200 million people interact with their products 

each day, enabling leading private, public, hybrid 

and government cloud implementations worldwide. 

Wyse partners with leading IT vendors, including 

Cisco, Citrix, IBM, Microsoft and VMware. 

• Mobile working – It is OPTI-TIME that enables ‘one 

job at a time’ working for housing organisations 

and which has enabled them to gain the 

maximum benefits from mobile working. 

OPTI-TIME provides the central intelligence, fed 

in real-time by your mobile working capability 

and managing which job is allocated to which 

operative, in order to best utilise the resources 

available and deliver the best service to the 

customer. 

• Customer communication – OPTI-TIME also enables 

housing organisations to deliver a more proactive 

service to residents and as a result dramatically 

reduce areas of inefficiency. For example, once 

an appointment has been booked, OPTI-TIME can 

automatically SMS the resident with details of 

the appointment; the day before the appointment 

a reminder can be sent, and once the operative 

is on their way, yet another reminder can be 

sent. This low-cost, fully-automated, proactive 

communication approach has significantly 

improved the number of appointments kept 

and reduced operative unproductive time. 

It is through the capabilities of OPTI-TIME that 

we have become the most used dynamic 

appointment and resource scheduling solution 

for UK housing organisations. 

It is through the unique understanding and 

expertise that Xmbrace has developed over the last 

decade that has enabled us to deliver true value 

and significant benefits to our clients. 

If you would like to find out more about Xmbrace 

and OPTI-TIME, please visit our www.xmbrace.com, 

or call the Xmbrace team on 020 7953 5043 or visit 

our stand at Housing Technology 2012.

We need to talk 

If you are serious about the housing market, 

you should be talking to us. 

Whether you are a technology provider wanting to increase your sales or a housing 

provider looking for industry intelligence and business support, we have the skills, 

experience and tools you need. 

As the publisher of the housing sector’s leading magazine and market intelligence 

report and organisers of the Housing Technology conference and other events, we 

are in a unique position. 

Not only do we have an in-depth understanding of the technology and business 

trends in housing, we also have a highly-skilled team of writers, designers and sales 

and marketing specialists ready to help you. 

Call us today on 07739 432 190 or email george.grant@housing-technology.com. 

Hoppingwood Farm, Robin Hood Way, London, SW20 0AB 

Office: 0208 336 2293 

© Copyright 2012 | The Intelligent Business Company 

Financial control and 

regulatory reporting 

Digital images and media are vital for all industries 

– whether in housing, civil engineering, retail, 

insurance, local government, or transport, having 

the right tools to capture, organise and share 

these vital sources of information is becoming 

increasingly important. 

Today’s smartphones and PDAs are capable of 

capturing more information than ever before, 

using a combination of powerful processors and 

sophisticated radio receivers for exchanging high 

volumes of data wirelessly. Technology such as GPS 

and imaging functionality to match the best digital 

possibilities when sharing information from mobile 

workers with the corporate organisation in real time. 

hand-e-pix from Handheld PCs takes advantage 

of all these technologies to enable your mobile 

workers to capture time and data-stamped images 

along with contextual data and GPS location. 

Using a BlackBerry or Windows Mobile device, you 

can transfer high-quality imagery and contextual 

data and have no doubt about the accuracy of the 

information being gathered. 

Housing providers can now replace their digital 

cameras with mobile devices and provide housing 

inspectors with a much richer application for taking 

photos to support inspections. 

Once the image has been automatically uploaded 

and stored in the hand-e-pix media manager, the 

image and contextual information can then be 

viewed on an electronic map, viewed in context 

with the associated information and shared 

clients, partners or across agencies. This removes 

leaving them to get on with their primary job of 

responding to the requirements of tenants. 

Industry report 

April 2008 

Call us today to organise 

a free trial! 

0870 734 8844 

Handheld PCs Ltd

publisher 

George Grant 

Email: george.grant@housing-technology.com 

Office: 0208 336 2293 

Mobile: 07739 432 190 

editor & event organiser 

Alastair Tweedie 

Email: alastair@housing-technology.com 

Telephone: 0774 860 7462 

registered office 

Housing Technology 

Hoppingwood Farm 

Robin Hood Way 

London, SW20 0AB 

Registered company no. 4958057 | VAT no. 833006955 

© Copyright 2012 

The Housing Technology 2012 conference is owned and organised by 

The Intelligent Business Company.

sponsor profiles - Housing Technology

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