Adopting a ‘cloud first’ strategy

In 2021, Vale of Glamorgan Council issued a tender for a new housing management system and chose NEC Housing. They also opted to host the new solution in the NEC Cloud to improve long-term resilience.

Andrew Treweek is the council’s Operational Manager for Building Services:

“We needed a new housing solution and new infrastructure too. Repairs was our biggest issue, as we had unsupported software running on an unstable server. It made sense to move everything into the cloud, with repairs-related services going first.”

Going live in phases

Working closely with the council’s team, we planned a phased approach. Phase 1, which covers housing repairs, went live in the cloud in August 2023. Planning is now underway for Phase 2, which will see the remaining services go live in stages, taking the number of users to around 140.

This process will reduce the number of systems the housing service uses, helping to reduce license and support costs. Having a single point of contact for both the new software and hosting means troubleshooting and upgrade planning will be managed as one, meaning the council won’t have to worry about technical issues or integrations.

Improving cybersecurity and resilience

The original tender required potential providers to hold Cyber Essentials Plus certification, and Andrew is clear that security and resilience was a big driver behind their choice:

Getting certainty on costs

In some clouds, the cost of hosting can vary depending on usage. With our managed cloud service, which was designed specifically for the public sector, the council benefits from fixed annual costs because we factor in known demand peaks.