It was interesting to note during the panel discussion at the Housing Technology 2014 conference in February that the panel was divided on the question of using ‘standard’ ERP systems, such as from SAP or Oracle, instead of standalone applications for repairs, housing, finance, CRM and so on.
One perspective was that the difficulties of getting most housing providers’ myriad applications to properly integrate together for genuine straight-through processing therefore favoured the implementation of ERP systems. The other perspective centred on the specific nature and ethos of social housing and its technology implications, and how it is ‘different’ from other types of business and therefore needs to do things differently.
Both views have their merits, but we suspect that we may see more partnerships and/or collaborative projects between existing housing technology providers, with their deep industry knowledge and experience, and some of the larger ERP vendors.
