Transform Housing & Support has spent the past 18 months on an ambitious cloud transformation project with Lima.
In partnering with Lima, Transform Housing has upgraded its technology infrastructure from a fixed, capex-based model to a more agile, cloud-hosted, opex-based model.
Lima helped Transform Housing migrate to a new platform built on Microsoft Azure, enhanced with Microsoft 365, backup and disaster recovery, and SD-WAN connectivity. This platform is fully managed by Lima, freeing Transform Housing’s in-house team to deliver service enhancements internally. Lima also acts as an extension to the in-house team when needed, providing expertise on everything from cyber-security to modern workplace technologies.
Jamie Allen, head of digital and information services, Transform Housing & Support, said, “Transform Housing is now in a great place. We’re ahead of the curve, which allows us to now slow down and properly embed the technologies and tools that were rolled out very quickly during the pandemic.
“We now have the time to communicate the possibilities of our new apps at the same time as increasing people’s comfort levels through demos and training.”
As the confidence of Transform Housing’s staff increases with Microsoft Teams, SharePoint, Forms, Exchange Online, OneDrive and other key tools, the housing provider is making more widespread use of those tools to digitise countless processes to improve internal productivity and external tenant services.
Microsoft apps such as Power Automate and Forms will be central to the streamlining of processes, which in time will encompass everything from employee onboarding to holiday booking and multiple aspects of finance, alongside using Teams as a central part in the day-to-day workflows of Transform Housing’s staff.
Following the pandemic, Transform is now operating a hybrid model, with most staff working from home for two or three days a week. This is enabled by Transform’s Azure-based infrastructure, the M365 app suite (particularly SharePoint) and a fleet of new employee laptops and smartphones.
Allen said, “Our staff appreciate the flexibility of hybrid working. It has also expanded our recruitment options, with new joiners able to work from as far away as Devon.”
