Case Study: East End Homes - sovereign-plc.co.uk...Sovereign Business Integration Group PLC T: 020 8216 3333 E: [email protected] W: East End Homes Case Study ©2015

Bridging the gap between Technology & Business Success

Focusing resource where it mattersEast End Homes looks to drive efficiencies

For Registered Social Landlord East End Homes Ltd, the primary focus since its inceptionin 2005 has been the mission to regenerate some 3,533 properties located on estatesacross the London borough of Tower Hamlets; a strategy supported by focusing the vastproportion of finances and resources on the delivery of front line services.

Case Study: East End Homes

Sector: Social Housing & Public SectorSolution: Managed IT Services + Consultancy

With funding cuts set to significantly affectevery aspect of front line service delivery,public sector organisations are facing up tothe need to impose ever stronger controlsover back office processes to drive up efficiency and minimise the impact on the delivery of core objectives.

One key component of this strategy has been theadoption of technology partner Sovereign BusinessIntegration Group (Sovereign) to provide managed ITservices, giving East End Homes a known financialcommitment year on year.

Critically, in addition to providing day to day supportfor 85 users of the Orchard housing systems, Sovereign enables East End Homes to leverage its broad expertiseand experience to attain strategic planning and drive forward relevant, cost effective and timely IT investment.

Social Housing

Set up as part of the Tower Hamlets Housing Choiceprogramme in 2005, East End Homes Ltd is acommunity-led Registered Social Landlord with amission to regenerate its properties and to provide alocal housing service which is efficient, gives value formoney and meets the needs, priorities and aspirations ofall residents.

The organisation currently has 2,105 tenanted homes inmanagement, with a further 1,428 leasehold propertieson estates across the borough which stretches from theIsle of Dogs through to Spitalfields on the fringe of the Cityof London.

Whilst many organisations in the social housing sectorare focused on expansion through organic growth andconsolidation, East End Homes has a very clear remit.Peter Gibbs, Finance & Resource Director at East EndHomes explains,

‘Our primary objective is to achieve the comprehensive regeneration of our estates and to

bring about a sustained improvement in thehomes and quality of life for residents.’

The organisation has undertaken a rolling programmeof regenerating and refurbishing its property estatesand is on target to meet the Government’s Decent HomesStandard by 31st December 2010. The major part of its estate improvement programmes should then be completed by 2014.

Front Line Focus

As part of the philosophy of the organisation, East EndHomes limits the cost and overhead associated withback office processes, preferring to focus on front lineservice delivery to the residents. As a result, less than20 of the organisation’s 120 staff are based in the headoffice near Canary Wharf; the rest are based locally on estates where they are best placed to understand and deliver tenant needs.

As part of this strategy, the organisation decided fromday one to outsource the provision of IT services ratherthan employ an in-house IT Manager. Peter Gibbs confirms,

‘We make every effort to manage our costs verycarefully, and outsourcing our IT allows us to takecontrol of our budgeting and to ensure that every

investment is delivering value for money andmaximum benefit to the organisation.’

The role of IT service management has been fulfilledby Sovereign since the inception of East End Homes in2005; and in April 2010, Sovereign’s contract to deliver afully outsourced IT service was extended again.

www.sovereign-plc.co.uk | [email protected] | East End Homes Case Study ©2015 Sovereign Business Integration Group PLC

www.sovereign-plc.co.uk | [email protected] | East End Homes Case Study ©2015 Sovereign Business Integration Group PLC

In essence, the choice to outsource IT is aboutreducing risk and ensuring that nothing detracts fromthe core provision of front line services.

‘Outsourcing the IT services to Sovereign providesa real comfort factor. East End Homes know the

financial commitment up front; and we know thesystems will be maintained by people who have

the technical expertise, resources and backgroundto keep them running. This contrasts to the risks

that could be associated if going to the marketplace for an individual member of staff. In a

small organisation like ours good IT people are usually hard to find and hard to keep.’

Says Peter Gibbs.

Complete Solution

Sovereign delivers both a day to day IT support serviceand strategic IT consultancy advice. With Orchard thecompany supports East End Homes’ 85 users of theOrchard ArcHouse and Open Accounts Financialsystems, used for rent and service charge accounting,including the processing of all charges, to receipts andpayments from tenants, leaseholders and freeholders,in addition to housing benefits, tenant and leaseholderrecharges including maintenance costs – such as caretaking and gardening. Orchard’s software also provides a record of property maintenance. Peter Gibbsexplains.

‘Sovereign enables East End Homes to operate onthe basis that its IT systems are available whenever

we need them, basically 24x7. Feedback fromusers on the quality of Sovereign’s service is

extremely positive. Customer satisfaction surveyresults from within East End Homes are

consistently high, around 95-96%, and the staffview Sovereign’s technicians as very much part ofthe East End Homes team. Sovereign is one of thefew IT consultancies with extensive experience of

delivering and supporting all aspects of our IT systems which allows the company to offer a

one-stop-shop that is very cost-effective.’

Strategic Plans

East End Homes is also leveraging Sovereign’s marketexperience and expertise to ensure IT plans evolve in line

with business requirements. In recent years, theorganisation has followed Sovereign’s advice andpurchased SAP Business Objects business intelligencesoftware to supplement the reporting offered by theOrchard software products. This has streamlined the reporting process, enabling East End Homes to respondrapidly to the ever escalating information demands ofTSA, whilst also providing an excellent platform for in-depth analysis to deliver performance information.

Now the company is considering two key developments:firstly the possible value of adopting virtualisation to consolidate its 11 servers; and secondly whether or notto upgrade Orchard ArcHouse to Orchard Housing overthe next 12-18 months. East End Homes has regularmeetings with Sovereign both to discuss their current andfuture plans and to gain an insight into new technologiesand their potential relevance to the organisation.

Conclusion

Whilst East End Homes has a very clear focus and remit,there is no doubt that it is likely to be affected by themassive cuts in public spending now facing local government. Even if housing benefit payments remainunchanged, East End Homes may well experience a serious reduction in other income and grants available forimproving properties. It is, therefore, even more pressingto keep strong control over internal costs in order to minimise any impact on the regeneration project and thedelivery of front line services that include day-to-daymaintenance.

‘Sovereign charges a set fee for a set service,providing East End Homes with excellent

financial control and confidence over IT costs.Furthermore, the combination of day to day

service and strategic advice ensures the limited financial resource available to East End Homes is

targeted at those areas that will deliver the greatest benefit to our business operations andmaximise our service delivery to the tenants of

East End Homes.’

Bridging the gap between Technology & Business Success

About Sovereign

It is at the heart of every business – equally, our clients are at the heart of ourbusiness. This is why our goal is to align technology with the organisationsstrategy and objectives so IT best supports your business.

As technology continues to advance and transform the way businesses work,companies need IT to be reliable and responsive to change. We are committed to delivering world class IT solutions that are scalable,appropriate and timely for our clients.

Sovereign is an IT service provider that solves business challenges with tailored IT solutions. Demonstrating a strong service offering of industry specific business and IT skills, Sovereign provides 24/7/365 support from it’s head office and data centre in north London.

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or challenge, please contact us:

Sovereign Business Integration Group PLC

T: 020 8216 3333E: [email protected]

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East End Homes Case Study ©2015 Sovereign Business Integration Group | Publicly available 03-151115