Survey 2009: IT ‘fundamental’ to housing providers’ operations
01-Jan-2010
Housing organisations are increasingly becoming dependent on IT solutions to help them manage their operations, according to the recent Impact Applications survey.
The survey, conducted with a range of people across the industry from housing associations to local authorities, contractors to consultants, found that over 70% use repairs and maintenance software to manage their operations, and almost two-thirds of those interviewed considered IT solutions to be vital for the ongoing efficiency of their organisation.
Ease of use, the ability to interface with other systems and planning efficiency were the most important aspects of repairs and maintenance software, according to the respondents, with an overwhelming majority of those questioned citing ‘ease of use’ as the primary reason for using software to manage the process. Somewhat surprisingly, the cost of such systems was of relatively low importance to respondents, with only 3.8% of participants mentioning it.
Those surveyed generally relied more on conferences, exhibitions and presentations to find out information about new software solutions. Indeed a whopping 71% indicated that this was due to a dearth of features in trade magazines covering this issue and that they would be interested in reading more articles about how IT could improve their organisations.
Impact Applications, managing director, Martin Taylor was instrumental in commissioning this survey. He comments, “While this small scale survey can only take the temperature of the industry, rather than providing a comprehensive picture, what it clearly shows is that far from being the poor relation, IT is fundamental to the way in which the housing industry works.”
He continues, “It might not be sexy, but IT is certainly a high priority to those interviewed and the results confirmed what we have known for some time – that good quality software solutions can streamline business and improve operations for clients and customers alike.”
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