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Housing Corporation De Key in Amsterdam manages a vast amount of information. “From documents and audiovisual materials to construction drawings and neighborhood plans,” says Rob de Haas, Team Leader of Information Management. “And our 350 employees want to find and work with all that information easily, from one location.”
The information needs vary depending on the user. “The area managers oversee the complexes and need insights into tenants, maintenance, and planned renovations,” explains De Haas. “Meanwhile, the management team wants to see which complexes have vacancies to determine their strategy on selling or renovating them. We had a real estate portal, but users found it difficult to work with. For example, you could only search complexes by number, not by address. Certain files were stored separately on another drive. And users had to extract analyses themselves from the data warehouse. Employees had to click through many applications to find what they needed.”
Accessible and Always Accurate
This year, De Key started a project with QS solutions to make all information available in one place through SharePoint 2016. De Haas says, “First, we ensured that SharePoint’s search engine can directly search the primary business process. Our data warehouse pulls information from there, which we now make accessible with SharePoint. This information is indexed immediately, ensuring SharePoint is always accurate. That trust is crucial. With functionalities like Google Maps and route navigation, we enrich the information for users.”
Users Shape the System
Creating user buy-in was a top priority. “Previously, it was mainly a project for the Information Management and IT departments,” says De Haas. “That’s how it had traditionally developed. But this meant we had a system that wasn’t very intuitive for users. For this project, we created a working group with members from various disciplines within the organization. This way, you get more involvement and a better result. For example, it quickly became clear that files shouldn’t be re-uploaded but referenced. A zoning plan, for instance, may apply to multiple complexes in the same neighborhood. It’s more convenient to refer to one zoning plan rather than uploading it for each complex.”
Efficient Searching
“Now, users can search for various documents based on keywords, such as cross-sections, images, monument data, or asbestos inspection reports. We will add CAD drawings in the next phase. Relevant information is displayed per complex. Users can refine search results by date or file type. Adding documents is also much faster. All this results in fewer actions, making users more efficient. Previously, all this information was in different systems. Now, you can search very easily and quickly find the right result.”
Future-Oriented with the User in Mind
The next step is to expand with planned maintenance projects and homeowners associations (VvEs). “Like complexes, these are entities with various changing connections. A VvE can manage one or more complexes. Soon, we will also pull these details from the data warehouse, allowing users to see the interrelationships directly. That provides additional insights.” Another step is moving to the cloud, which De Haas says is not yet on the agenda. “But we are preparing for it. For now, we want to make documents available externally, such as to a VvE. But overall, we still have plenty of wishes. And for everything, user-friendliness is central.”
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