In the post-COVID working world, it’s clear that remote working is here to stay. After investing in and adopting Modern Work technology, Housing Associations are now looking to see how they can adapt to the next phase of working – the hybrid era.
Inside Housing reports that 99% of Housing associations are planning to move to hybrid working which allows staff to combine remote and office-based working. The National Housing Federation have also noted a significant shift towards remote working saying “Over the past few years lots of housing associations have been moving towards more flexible working, enabling teams to work remotely and from home, and a lot of those had a lot of these practices and technologies in place”.
In the height of COVID lockdowns, the priority was adapting to the unexpected upheaval of shifting operations to work remotely. However, in this next era, the focus is moving to making the most of these technologies and ensuring that organisations’ data remains secure. Housing Associations looking to benefit from the flexibility of hybrid working need to ensure their technology and digital infrastructure is optimised to support secure and productive remote working.
Hybrid and remote working offer housing associations the opportunity to create a more flexible and inclusive working environment while reducing costs and gaining access to a wider pool of talent.
By embracing remote working options, housing associations can remove barriers and better support their staff and tenants. Not only does it widen the geographical pool of talent, but it also enables more flexible working conditions which are essential to many working parents and disabled people for example.
It’s not just greater inclusivity, housing associations can reduce overheads too. By moving to remote or hybrid working housing associations can reduce the costs associated with maintaining a large office space while making the most of the investment in technology they made early in the pandemic. Microsoft Cloud technologies like Microsoft 365 and Teams subscriptions are based on the number of licenses you need, so you only ever pay for what you’re using without the need for large up-front investment.
A key aspect of remote working that may have gone overlooked is optimising your setup so that teams are not just adapting to working from home but thriving. There are two important elements to this – keeping your data secure and keeping teams connected.
Microsoft 365 and Teams not only keep your team connected and collaborative, but make securing access to your documents easy. Housing association staff can interact effortlessly with instant messaging, video calling and virtual meetings in Microsoft Teams while collaborating in real-time on files in M365. Plus, features like Endpoint Manager allow you to centrally patch and update devices from anywhere while Multifactor Authentication makes sure only authorised personnel can access documents.
With these tools, your team can operate a remote call centre, escalate maintenance requests and collaborate with other departments from anywhere. Keep up with best practice recommendations like the Hackitt Report’s digital ‘golden thread’ by keeping a digital record of maintenance and upgrades to properties.
We offer six Microsoft funded modern work workshops providing in-depth guidance from our modern work experts. Explore Microsoft’s modern work stack, explore the potential and get personalised advice tailored to your organisation’s needs. From useful features to keeping your infrastructure secure, our workshops will give you the knowledge and actionable next steps you need to optimise your remote working setup.
Our Microsoft funded workshops include:
We’re a Microsoft Gold Partner and hold multiple Advanced Specialisations, including:
We partnered with housing association Abri to consolidate and optimise their Microsoft 365 tenant to boost productivity and improve their security posture. We deployed a ‘big bang’ migration approach over a weekend to keep the disruption to a minimum and allow their team to get back to supporting their tenants.
Since the project was completed Abri’s in-house IT team has seen a significant drop in support requests and the organisation has reported a vast increase in productivity and an elevated user experience.
“The internal Abri IT team praised the quality of support and advice given by the Transparity consultants and the task was completed on time, within budget and with very little user disruption; essential as this took place during the first Covid lockdown in April 2020.”
James Haywood, Head of IT at Abri
Remote and hybrid working in housing associations is here to stay and is set to elevate both the working experience for staff and the support offered to tenants. While the benefits of hybrid working transform the industry, it’s key to ensure the technology is optimised to facilitate staff productivity and the security of your data.
To get the most out of remote working and get tailored advice from one of our modern work experts, register for a 3-day workshop below.
With the rapid adoption of remote working following the pandemic, cybercrime is rising across many industries and the Housing sector is no exception. A recent survey by RSM also reveals that in the last 12 months, a quarter of social housing associations have suffered a cyberattack.
Effective IT governance is essential to mitigate increasingly sophisticated cyber threats across systems, software and applications and promote long-term remote working. But with roadblocks along the way, how can housing organisations realistically achieve this?
If staff use personal devices for work, it’s likely they don’t have the latest security patches and antivirus software in place, increasing the risk of a data breach. A 2020 Ponemon Institute study shows that 68% of organisations experienced one or more endpoint attacks that successfully compromised data and/or IT infrastructure.
Microsoft Endpoint Manager is recommended because it allows IT teams to deploy updates and patches and manage remote devices in a central dashboard, so you know your data is safe no matter where your team is working.
Plus, Endpoint Manager can use Azure Active Directory (AD) to set up Multifactor Authentication which requires proof of identify before users can access apps and files. Azure AD can also be used to implement controlled identity management which helps to prevent malicious outsiders from accessing systems through unsecure devices, promoting safer remote working.
Forrester Consulting reports that organisations who deploy Endpoint Manager achieve up to 278% ROI, with improved security and reduced support needs.
Transitioning to the Cloud is particularly crucial in the case of acquisitions, where duplicate data may exist across multiple systems. We worked with Abri Homes, a longstanding Housing Association with over 1650 employees from previous mergers, to configure a consistent, unified approach to IT governance.
We helped Abri consolidate their Microsoft 365 tenants and licensing to unify their communications. To make staff access easy we implemented Azure AD to set up Single Sign-On functionality to give staff access to all their Microsoft 365 apps with one set of credentials.
To modernise Abri’s customer communications we deployed Teams Cloud Voice and Anywhere365, bringing a host of benefits to customers and Abri management. Teams Cloud Voice allows Abri’s customer service team to respond to calls from anywhere via the cloud. This was essential to enable staff to support customers throughout the COVID-19 restrictions. With Anywhere365 integrated into Teams, management can stay informed about call volumes, workloads and customer interactions.
This cost-effective, Cloud-native solution eliminates Abri’s reliance on legacy infrastructure, cutting costs without compromising on productivity and security. All staff have access to the latest patched software and are protected against malicious links, attachments and malware. The housing association is now set up to protect confidential data and remain GDPR-compliant, while providing users with remote access to the files and applications they need to work and collaborate from anywhere, all in one place.
Creating apps and automated processes in-house is a cost-effective alternative to outsourcing that helps organisations to save time, reduce spend and improve IT governance. Microsoft Power Apps let you quickly build customised apps to support specific operational needs, whilst Power Automate streamlines and modernises tasks across devices for simplified project delivery in a secure Cloud environment.
A Forrester Consulting study states that Power Apps reduces app development costs by 74% and delivers 188% ROI over 3 years – proof that it’s a worthwhile investment for organisations looking to manage more internally. In terms of acquisitions, these tools also help to unify IT operations and solidify new ways of working.
We offer six Microsoft funded security workshops providing in-depth guidance from our security experts. Explore Microsoft’s extensive security toolset, analyse current threats and create a strategic security plan to protect and govern your organisation data. Get actionable next steps to improve your security posture and put your questions to our experts so you walk away with the insights you need.
Our security workshops are:
We’re a Microsoft Gold Partner and hold multiple Advanced Specialisations, including:
To learn more about how Microsoft solutions can improve cybersecurity and IT governance in your organisation, register for a 3-day workshop with Transparity’s expert consultants.
