Casestudy SSH

At SSH, a housing corporation that manages almost 20,000 student rooms, everything revolves around smart student housing. SSH has to achieve great results with a relatively small team. That is a challenge, especially in a time when the demand for rooms is greater than the supply, and the expectations of students are higher than ever. Younger generations want flexibility and ease of use. SSH responds to this with an innovative approach and works together with HB Software to streamline their back office and make it more efficient.

From inspiration to innovation

Ronald de Lange, Manager IT and Housing Innovation and member of the SSH management team, has years of experience in IT and innovation at large companies such as Canon and Océ. “To my surprise, I saw that many processes in the real estate sector are still manual and run in an old-fashioned way. That had to change. If you can order a washing machine online, why wouldn't you be able to find a student room in the same way?” Based on this idea, a self-service platform was developed. This platform enables students to independently search for their room, sign contracts and manage rent. SSH has greatly improved its customer focus and efficiency. “We learned a lot about our tenants,” says Ronald. “For example, we discovered that most service requests come in on Monday mornings. By responding to this with extra staff at the right time, we can handle maintenance requests immediately.”

The next step: collaboration with HB Software

After SSH had automated the entire customer journey, the need arose to also tackle the back office. SSH still managed administrative processes such as invoices from contractors, energy suppliers, architects and glaziers in Excel. “That worked fine, but it can always be better,” says Ronald. “We would rather have everything in one system.” “Housing associations are generally quite conservative,” Ronald continues. “They draw up a list of wishes and requirements, and then go to the market to see if something meets those requirements. That sounds logical, but in a time when so much has been standardised, that doesn't work. You also have to move along with the standards in the market. We turned it around. I invited Alfred van Duren and Jan van Vliet from HB Software to our place and showed them how differently we work compared to the average large housing corporation. They put us in touch with Woonstad Rotterdam, a satisfied user of HB Real Estate and then we decided: let's start a pilot project. Instead of endlessly ticking off lists, we wanted our colleagues to experience the solution. Only then can you really judge: does this work for you? Is this what we need?"

HB Software: thinking along

HB Software understood the specific challenges of SSH. Student housing is simply different from regular housing. The rooms are smaller, there are shared kitchens and the SSH wants to stimulate encounters between students. Students should not be lonely in their rooms. “HB Software thought along with us about what works for us and what might need to be adjusted,” Ronald explains. “They are flexible, without immediately going in the direction of customisation. I don't like customisation, because that often makes processes too complex. We prefer to adapt our process to the software.”

Administration in one system

SSH uses HB Real Estate not only for the administration of student housing, but also for the administration of obligations. Think of contracts with installation companies that maintain a few hundred central heating boilers, for example. Ronald wants to know exactly how much has to be paid annually, how much has already been paid and what is still outstanding. HB Software makes this possible by making adjustments, not in the software itself, but purely in the design of the system. “We looked together at how this fits best into our processes. We learned a lot from each other.”

Happy customers, proud employees

Ronald is also impressed by the attitude of HB Software. “The people at HB Software are incredibly nice to work with. They are progressive and open to dialogue. I noticed that when I spoke at one of their customer days. Not only were all the customers enthusiastic and positive about HB Software, the employees were also visibly proud of their product. That radiates through the entire company.”

The result: insight, overview and efficiency

The collaboration with HB Software will yield many benefits for SSH. The most important result? Insight. Ronald describes it as follows: “Imagine that I now have dozens of Excel sheets for just as many projects, without a total overview. That is the challenge. Soon I will have one overview and therefore more insight. That makes the difference. First you have to understand where you stand, only then can you make the right decisions. With an overview and insight I will be able to manage better: what has been spent, what is the space, and where are the bottlenecks?”

Centralisation of data

Where different departments currently work with separate Excel sheets, everything will soon come together in one system. “We will have a single source of truth. No different versions of the same data, but everything in one place. That ensures clarity,” says Ronald.

Clear language

At the moment, different teams still use different ways to record data. “One person talks about 600 kitchens, while another speaks of 600 dishwashers and 600 kitchen cabinets,” Ronald explains. “We will soon be using fixed guidelines. Everything will be recorded in the same way. No more discussions in meetings about what exactly is meant. Everyone works with the same data and speaks the same language.”

Straightforward processes

With the new software, the construction teams and the financial department can work in the same way. As soon as a new project starts, it is recorded in HB Real Estate. Everyone works according to the same procedures and with the same information. “No more different templates, but one clear working method,” Ronald emphasizes.

Streamlined reporting and reports

The reports are also being streamlined. The accountant and the supervisory board want to know exactly how the construction projects are progressing. Ronald: “We do that manually now, but soon everything will be generated automatically. That saves time and ensures greater accuracy.

Efficiency as an extra

Goal one is clarity. Efficiency follows from that. Less time spent on duplicate work, more simplicity and speed. “If you save time, but the information is incorrect, you don’t get anywhere. So first clarity, then efficiency.” SSH is well on its way to becoming the most digitalised housing corporation in the Netherlands. And with an innovative partner like HB Software at their side, they will certainly realise that ambition.