The latest insights report examines the impact that Cloud computing could bring to housing organisations by exploring the aspirations of IT professionals in the sector.At its core, cloud allows organisations to keep data, software and services on a secure remote server, where they can be accessed anytime, anywhere, on any device.

Some of the key advantages of cloud for the housing sector, as identified by the report, are:

• Employees can work and share information effectively from the office, home, in transit or on a site visit, with instant access to all the documents, software and schedules that they need to do their job.
• Tenants can do all their admin wherever they are, from one account– including paying rent, logging and monitoring maintenance issues, reporting antisocial behaviour, completing surveys and communicating with neighbours.
• Data can be easily shared, combined and used to improve business processes. For example, maintenance logs can be linked to calendars and field workers’ GPS to allocate jobs to the right people as they are logged, with surveys automatically issued on completion. Housing associations would simply subscribe to a service with no need for additional technology or a disruptive integration processes.
  • All data would be stored remotely so if one office goes down, users can carry on their work from another location with minimal disruption.
• Technology such as video communication and fall sensors can be networked into homes and managed through the cloud, helping reduce isolation and improve safety and comfort for older and vulnerable people.
• Housing organisations can fulfil commitments to help tenants into work by providing access to learning content and live training seminars through the cloud and allowing software to be rented or provided to boost skills.

To download: http://www.cloudxl.co.uk/insights-report

Tags: Cloud computing, housing