Torus appoints Cadcorp as cloud GIS supplier

Housing group selects Cadcorp cloud hosted desktop GIS and web mapping as its corporate GIS

Housing, transformation and regeneration group, Torus, has awarded Cadcorp a contract to provide the cloud hosted Geographic Information System (GIS), Cadcorp SIS®. The contract includes a variety of services such as 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 on old 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 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. Cadcorp SIS Desktop was selected for the creation and preparation of geographic information and Cadcorp SIS WebMap for sharing maps and business data on the intranet, internet, and mobile devices.

The procurement of SIS WebMap included Cadcorp 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 for internal users of SIS WebMap to create and maintain spatial data. Cadcorp 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 Cadcorp 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.

David Gerwitz, Asset Planning and Data Manager at Torus commented: “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.”

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. Cadcorp offers a wide range of cloud hosted software and services. To find out more, visit https://cdcp.io/cloud-host.

About Torus

www.torus.co.uk

Torus is an ambitious and established housing group and is one of the North West’s largest landlords, it has roots in Liverpool, St Helens and Warrington, Torus employs some 1,500 staff, owns, and manages around 40,000 homes and serves approx. 75,000 customers.

Torus’ development programme targets 5,300 new affordable homes by 2024, for rent, homeownership and to meet the needs of an ageing population and is a one of the biggest developers of affordable homes in the North West, Torus will invest £1 billion into the Liverpool City Region over the next 5 years, transforming and regenerating the region through increasing access to affordable housing solutions.

Torus’ commercial arm, HMS, is an award-winning construction and maintenance contractor. 100% of HMS’ profits are used to fund initiatives that make a positive difference to communities and the lives of people living in them.

Torus’ charity Torus Foundation invests at least £5m a year in meaningful community projects that improve wellbeing, skills, and quality of life, to break down barriers and unlock potential.

A strategic partner of Homes England, Torus is committed to tackling the housing crisis through sustainably building affordable homes, that meet the needs of the people who live in our communities’.

About Cadcorp

www.cadcorp.com

Cadcorp is a British software development company focused on geographic information system (GIS) and web mapping software. It offers a complete suite of products - the Cadcorp Spatial Information System® (Cadcorp SIS®) - addressing all phases of spatial information management. Cadcorp SIS® is available worldwide through a network of Cadcorp partners and via a direct sales team in the UK, Cadcorp is an approved GIS supplier on G-Cloud.