Abbeyfield Scotland quickly realised the pitfalls of relying on paper copies, filing cabinets, and trying to source information hidden in their shared drives. At the same time, members of staff had to move swiftly to home working at the beginning of the lockdown in March.

Before anyone had heard the terms COVID- 19, lockdown, or social distancing, Abbeyfield Scotland had already embarked on a journey to replace its outdated home management system. Abbeyfield Scotland appointed a company Designer Software to provide an alternative called HomeMaster. This new system would allow them to store their data securely and efficiently, enabling them to access it from wherever they were working, and improve knowledge of their customer needs.

Nicola Thom, commissioned by Abbeyfield Scotland to implement the new system, said: “It was a daunting challenge to take on a project like this during lockdown when I had only recently started working with the organisation. However, the collective input, knowledge, and professionalism from the team at Abbeyfield Scotland, coupled with the guidance and support from Designer Software, made the whole experience hugely rewarding.

“It’s great to see that Abbeyfield Scotland now has an integrated management tool that will serve to drive business improvements and operational efficiency as it becomes more embedded within the organisation.”

As well as the usual challenges organisations face when making significant system changes, Abbeyfield Scotland had the extra pressure of doing so during a lockdown with office staff working remotely from home.

As a result, face to face meetings with Designer Software when configuring or switching over to the new system were not allowed. Instead, workshops and training sessions were all conducted via Microsoft Teams, which allowed them to explore the new system online under the detailed guidance of their project manager. The organisation started to successfully use HomeMaster at the beginning of August 2020 and now aim to complete a second phase by early October.

In phase two of their implementation, Abbeyfield Scotland aims to go beyond using just the essential home management functions and hopes to fully utilise the management tools and efficiency that that such a system can provide an organisation.