Shaw’s Chris Shaw talks about the benefits of Office 365 for the social housing sector

Making the decision to switch to any new piece of tech usually involves a straightforward cost-benefit analysis. How much will it cost to switch to a new system and what will the benefits be? Do the financial and operational improvements delivered by the new system outweigh the costs of replacing the old one?

It’s not always easy and there can often be multiple factors to consider. Overcoming workforce opposition and “this is the way we’ve always done things” is often the biggest hurdle. But in one area, the push towards a new way of working appears almost unstoppable.

When it comes to the way housing associations manage IT workflows, file storage, collaboration and communications we are currently seeing a tectonic shift away from traditional “on premises” solutions. Providers are recognising that storing documents and emails on their own servers, with software manually and physically installed on all workstations, is an outdated and an inefficient way of working.

And for offices where the use of Microsoft Office software is ingrained and embedded - there is a new solution - which won’t require retraining or a radical new way of working. In some ways it’s about putting existing tools to (much) better use.

Season’s Greeting form Shaw Consulting

The technology sector doesn’t necessarily have the best track record when it comes to communicating its ideas and innovations. Opaque terms are often coined to describe the latest breakthrough, with little explanation of what it actually means. Terms like the World Wide Web, AI and the Internet Things (IoT) are dreamed up quickly - but it can take years before understanding filters through to the wider public.

I’m often surprised by how far back some tech terms go. Take the Internet of Things. Surprisingly, this term was coined 20 years ago by tech entrepreneur Kevin Ashton. But how many of us who hear the term fully understand it? And how many of us are using it without even realising it? Crucially, even if you don’t quite understand the concept, how might it benefit individuals, businesses and society?