Torus appoints cloud GIS supplier
Housing, transformation and regeneration group Torus has awarded a contract for the cloud-hosted Geographic Information System (GIS), SIS. The contract includes a variety of services, including application management, support and training.
Previously, as a result of the Torus and Liverpool Mutual Homes merger, two sets of GIS were in use across the Torus Group. Both were running outdated versions, and neither provided the flexibility to fully meet the requirements of the Asset Management and Corporate Services teams. The organisation required a consolidated approach to benefit from economies of scale and to make GIS both more efficient and cost-effective.
Torus required a cloud-hosted solution that included desktop GIS and web mapping, and the ability to interface with core housing applications. SIS Desktop was selected for the creation and preparation of geographic information, and SIS WebMap for sharing maps and business data on the intranet, internet, and mobile devices.
The procurement of SIS WebMap included Local Knowledge™ to automatically return answers to questions about a locality, and ReportIT to allow users to report activities and incidents, for example fly-tipping on Torus land. An Edit facility is available to internal SIS WebMap users to create and maintain spatial data. SIS WebMap for Power BI will allow users to embed an interactive Ordnance Survey® map into Microsoft Power BI to gain greater insight into business data.
Business intelligence is a key driver of the Torus Group Corporate Plan. It underpins its investments and secures social value for the company’s customers. It uses intelligence garnered from GIS to reveal a host of societal indicators and serves as an important tool in Torus’s everyday activities. The use of SIS will range from property boundary queries by housing officers to mapping grounds maintenance responsibilities, aiding asset management, and helping improve its communities’ outdoor environments.
“GIS is fundamental to the operations of the Torus Group. Delivering clear and accurate location intelligence is essential to our everyday decision-making process. Cadcorp demonstrated an understanding of our values and the capacity to work with us to provide a quality, consistent service, and deliver GIS software and web mapping that meets the needs of our organisation.”
-David Gerwitz,
Asset Planning and Data Manager, Torus
GIS technology in the cloud can bring a significant number of benefits to housing associations. It has the potential to reduce both the overall cost of ownership and the administration overhead of keeping data and software up to date.
