FOI and Housing Associations

The Freedom of Information Act (FOI) came into force in 2005 and demands that individuals have the right to information, the right to confidentiality and the right to effective administration.

As such the act means that members of the public can demand information at any given time and it must be readily accessible. Considering today’s government is planning to consult on extending the FOI still further, this should give those Housing Associations with limited grip on their documents serious cause for concern.

A housing association typically holds vast amounts of information about each resident – past and present – and each property, making management of the sheer number of documents a trial in itself. It is therefore critical that a system and a set of robust processes are in place to manage such information, allowing administrators easy access to relevant material as requests are made.

Many housing associations are not however sufficiently equipped to easily produce information as requested, and are falling short when it is being demanded. Not being able to produce such information sends out the clear message that Housing Associations are not forward looking, not up to date and are simply inefficient when it comes to the management of documents. Above this, the simple time cost of manually trawling through documents in order to satisfy an FOI request can be enormous.

Housing Associations must realise that it isn’t difficult, costly or disruptive to manage information in such a way that enables ready compliance with the Act – even if the legislation is extended. Culturally it doesn’t have to be difficult either – in a society when information is readily available (the Google Corporation is after all now a verb), it will be nothing short of an anachronism that any organisation cannot access the right information immediately.

Housing Associations must therefore evaluate their processes ahead of more stringent requirements coming into force. The question is not just whether or not the FOI is appropriate to Housing Associations. In a way this doesn’t matter – from an operational and forward-looking perspective, the ability to comply should be a given. 

Further Reading:

http://www.insidehousing.co.uk/home/blogs/data-overload/6519921.article 

The Invu solution for Housing Associations - Adactus

The latest edition of Housing Technology has picked up on Adactus Housing and its use of Invu. (Check it out at http://tinyurl.com/Adactus-in-HT.)   This Housing Association has over 12,000 housing stock in the North West and recognised a compelling need to improve value for money, improved service and control amongst other issues.  Remedying these issues revolved around document processing and with Invu’s growing reputation and adoption in the HA sector Invu was selected. Adactus pinpointed the Finance department as the first port of call for a multi-staged project across the group. It’s much more than a simple secure repository – automated workflows, intelligent content extraction and integration with the finance system make this a pro-active solution. The Invu deployment has been a close engagement and a genuine collaboration to ensure deliver of a solution which fits the Adactus ambitions.

The finance process has been streamlined to the point where authorisation is quicker and matching against the finance system (QLf) is straightforward. There’s no measures yet on how much more speedy authorisation is but the level of control on exposure levels is much firmer now and this is a major step forward. There’s more details in the Adactus case study and we’re delighted that the Adactus solution is attracting the interest of other HAs in similar circumstances. It’s a project which has created a pattern which other HAs have now taken up and these are now being rolled out. Others have been keen to follow and we hope to see many more.  

If you’re interested in finding out how the Adactus solution might work for you then please get in touch: http://www.invu.net/about-us.aspx 

The Mortgage Market Review & You

As the governance, risk and compliance bandwagon rolls on, and the ongoing need to evidence suitable ‘Know Your Customer’-oriented processes, so the Mortgage Market Review (MMR) consultation paper arrived in late December.

But for the typical IFA, what does it mean to day-to-day processes and workflows? Following the MMR, the ability to build and assess a full and complete profile of a potential borrower in order to ascertain the risk to the lender becomes a necessity. And rightly so.

After all, squeezing interest rates and deposit thresholds in order to mitigate against the damage caused by unexpected losses will only get the lender so far in the current economic climate.

Know Your Customer is increasingly being about understanding the risk of potential customer’s appetites. However, lenders should be aware that when MMR legislation is blended with Anti-Money Laundering legislation will surely mean that it is only a matter of time before there is a high profile case where the lender is seen to be misleading borrowers. As a result, the manner in which documents are created, edited, stored and presented is absolutely crucial – in fact, business critical.

Brokers, wealth managers and other investment houses are increasingly putting systems in place to ensure that relevant checks are not only being made with regard to records, content and document management, but that also provide financial organisations with security against auditors and any potential customer complaints.

As with much of corporate best practice, it is considered a nice-to-have until legislation insists upon it. Well, in the case of IFAs and best practice document processing, that time has surely arrived.

Document & Content Management for Housing Associations: A White Paper

Most of the white papers we’ve produced to date have been generic in kind – that’s not to say that they’ve not had focus, but they’ve been as applicable to a manufacturer as to a constructor or a charity. We’re taking a slightly different tack with the latest off the production line. This is sector specific , notably Housing Associations and other Social Housing providers. That’s not to say that some of the points we make aren’t valid elsewhere of course, but the focus is on a group of organisations which is of increasing importance to Invu. The number of HAs that we deal with continues to rise and rise.

The Social Housing sector faces all manner of pressures, from keeping costs down to service levels to financial control. Document and content management can play their part in alleviating these pressures by acting as so much more than simple passive repositories. This is mature technology which can be optimised to deliver even more value and this paper sets out to explore the options. It’s borne out of our experience to date and, in particular, where we’ve been back to existing customers to explore how they can benefit from work we’ve done for other HAs with the latest versions and technologies at our disposal. For example, the Adactus invoice processing, workflow and QLF integration project has delivered a solution which is of genuine interest to many other HAs. Great news and those customers taking the solution on board will see real benefits, from ROI, service level improvements and that critical financial control.  

Why not download the whitepaper http://www.invu.net/info/whitepapers.aspx and see if your organisation can reap the benefits too?

PracticeWEB and more...

We’ve just announced some work we’re doing with PracticeWEB (PW). Based in Bristol and part of the SIFT Group, PW is the UK’s largest provider of web and content solutions to the UK’s accountancy and independent financial adviser (IFA) professions. Invu has been strong in both communities for some time so it’s a natural fit. Customers’ document management systems will link with PW’s Secure Document Exchange and Landscape client portal to enable the secure and seamless passing of client data to and from practice and client.

We’ve taken a resolutely “works with” approach and this means that Invu Document Management will be able to integrate with other portals, intranets etc .

Invu is mainly sold as an on-premise solution and with its integrations and business process tie-ins with ERP and finance systems which are more grounded than not, this doesn’t go away. However, our sights are increasingly on mobile and cloud technologies. The next product release includes a replacement to our view application (i600w) and this enables mobile, web and tablet access. In fact we’ve even had interest and early product demonstrations on the iPad with customers and prospects even though this new work has yet to be released. (Early Adopter customers should be able to gain a preview at the end of January.)  All being well, this strong technology base will lead to a strong foundation for new products and directions.

To find out how Invu can help your organisation please go to www.invu.net or send us an e-mail, info@invu.net. 

On behalf of us all here at Invu we wish you a very merry Christmas and all the best for the New Year.

Compliance Driving Change

We continue to build up a head of steam with the numbers of customer cases studies. Increasingly we’re finding that it’s not just a simple, but always encouraging, tale of ROI behind each story and this is a case in point. Sheffield based Cogne UK is a global leader in the supply of stainless steel and tool steel. At least 500 transactions are processed each day. As a structural raw material the steel is subject to rigorous quality control and regular audit. This extends to Cogne’s processes and its ISO9001 certification. Access to test certifi¬cates is critical – they must be produced on request and failure to produce them could have dire reputational consequences. The detrimental impact of this necessary process could be felt throughout the business and the requirement to work smarter, more cost effectively and yet remain compliant drove the move to digitise its documentation. It’s been a positive move: “In a heavily audited environment Invu diminishes our potentially damaging exposure to risk and also gives us solid effi¬ciency savings”, says IT network administrator Andrew Scrimshaw. Find out more at http://www.invu.net/PDF/Cogne%20Case%20Study.pdf

With so many organisations facing tough times, gaining quick ROI is a critical factor in any new IT decisions. But this is a business case factor, not necessarily the initiation point for a new project – in this case the operational impact of compliance was the driver. As so many other business types and professions come under increasing compliance and regulatory pressure, this can itself be the catalyst for document and content management adoption.

On the road with Housing Associations and some new, but experienced faces

It’s been over 12 months since Seren Group took on its Invu solution. This Housing Group has gradually spread its use of the software and it was good to catch up with some of the team at the recent Hitex event in Cardiff. With pleasing synchronicity the latest Housing Technology magazine is just hitting the streets and the Invu Seren case study features prominently.

Also included in this edition of HT is an announcement about 2 of our HA dedicated team which have joined in recent months. Building on the success we’ve enjoyed with HAs to date we’re delighted that Steven Rhodes and Kevin Hardy have joined the team. Both have many years of experience of working with the social housing sector and they fortify Invu’s experience in a market where we’re enjoying increasing success. Both Steven and Kevin are attending exhibitions at the moment - the Scottish Federation of HAs Finance Conference, the current round of Hitex exhibitions and the IT in Housing conference are filling up their diaries and they’re busy renewing many contacts in the sector.  For HA specialists attending, please swing by and say hello.

For further info on the events we're attending over the coming weeks please go to http://www.invu.net/news/events.aspx - Thanks.