MADE TECH LIMITED

Made Tech Voids

Reduce rent loss and re-let times by running our voids prioritisation algorithm against your backlog of voids. Identify the most important voids to make fit for let, enabling you to meet resident demand, save money and increase efficiencies.

Features

• Use of our unique void works prioritisation algorithm
• Manage your voids with a comprehensive view of your backlog
• Order works on void properties to minimise re-let time
• Reorder void backlog to support your housing strategy
• Prioritise individual void properties to fulfil housing needs
• Track the progress of work on void properties
• See expected completion dates of void properties
• Re-prioritise your backlog on demand
• Estimate reduction in rent loss

Benefits

• Reduce rent loss by decreasing void re-let times
• Reduce the size of your housing waiting list
• Reduce the size of your void backlog
• Prioritise properties that meet resident and customer needs
• Help your voids team plan their work
• Prioritise properties and map dependencies automatically
• Break down the silos in your voids process
• Start your allocations process earlier with estimated completion dates
• Identify bottlenecks in your voids process
• Enable collaboration between teams involved in housing

£6,750 to £60,000 a licence a year

• Free trial available

Service documents

• Pricing document

  PDF

• Skills Framework for the Information Age rate card

  PDF

• Service definition document

  PDF

• Terms and conditions

  PDF

Request an accessible format

If you use assistive technology (such as a screen reader) and need versions of these documents in a more accessible format, email the supplier at presales@madetech.com. Tell them what format you need. It will help if you say what assistive technology you use.

Framework

G-Cloud 14

Service ID

278682754426814

Contact

George Elwell
02033977846
presales@madetech.com

Service scope

• Software add-on or extension: No
• Cloud deployment model: Public cloud
• Service constraints: None
• System requirements: None

User support

• Email or online ticketing support: Email or online ticketing
• Support response times: Our support working hours are 9am to 5:30pm, Monday to Friday, excluding UK Bank Holidays. We respond to requests by the end of the next working day.
• User can manage status and priority of support tickets: No
• Phone support: Yes
• Phone support availability: 9 to 5 (UK time), Monday to Friday
• Web chat support: No
• Onsite support: Yes, at extra cost
• Support levels: We offer robust customer support and incident management designed to address queries swiftly and catch emerging issues before they impact our customers.; ; You can contact your dedicated Customer Success Manager by phone during office hours and by email anytime.; ; Requests are addressed within the target response and resolution time associated to their priority level, based on their criticality, as per our standard SLAs; ; All our customers benefit from the same level of support at no extra cost. ; ; Details of our support offering and SLAs can be found in our Terms and Conditions.
• Support available to third parties: No

Onboarding and offboarding

• Getting started: Our onboarding experience, fully covered by the annual service fee, ensures that buyers can quickly start using Voids and enjoy its benefits:; ; Onboarding starts with a short discovery phase. This collaborative stage identifies the buyers specific needs, business processes and system integration points to ensure a seamless implementation of Voids in the existing service environment.; ; We then adopt an agile delivery approach to configure Voids and integrate the service with existing systems, in collaboration with the buyer's IT teams. During this phase, a sandbox version of the service is provided for testing and training in a controlled environment, allowing adjustments before going live.; ; Before Go Live we offer training to ensure that your teams are ready to use Made Tech Voids and understand how it fits into the voids process.; ; After Go Live, we continuously ensure that the service is in good operation and we remain available to the buyer for support.; ; In general these activities are held remotely, but can be onsite where required.
• Service documentation: Yes
• Documentation formats: HTML
• End-of-contract data extraction: All data can be exported and securely transferred. We provide the data in a variety of formats including CSV and Parquet.
• End-of-contract process: At the end of the contract, Made Tech will work closely with you to ensure a smooth offboarding process. This includes collaborating on the transfer and secure destruction of any customer data, as well as providing support to new suppliers to facilitate a seamless migration. We commit to delivering any required data backups within 30 days of receiving a written request, contingent on the settlement of all outstanding fees and charges at termination. This is included as standard in the price of the contract.

Using the service

• Web browser interface: Yes
• Supported browsers:
  • Microsoft Edge
  • Firefox
  • Chrome
  • Safari
  • Opera
• Application to install: No
• Designed for use on mobile devices: Yes
• Differences between the mobile and desktop service: The same service is available on mobile and desktop via the web client.
• Service interface: Yes
• User support accessibility: WCAG 2.1 AA or EN 301 549
• Description of service interface: The Voids service is accessible via a web application on desktop, tablet and mobile. From the web application your housing officers and voids team can view and manage all aspects of the service including uploading and prioritising properties.
• Accessibility standards: WCAG 2.1 AA or EN 301 549
• Accessibility testing: We have conducted thorough testing with assistive technologies such as screen readers, which are vital for people with visual impairments. We are committed to continually improving accessibility and actively welcome feedback from all users to address their specific needs.
• API: Yes
• What users can and can't do using the API: We are committed to providing useful APIs. The technical architecture of our service allows us to add API endpoints where necessary. We are actively developing our API with our customers. All APIs are provided as standard at no additional cost or usage limits, allowing full access to data and supporting interoperability between different software packages.
• API documentation: Yes
• API documentation formats: Open API (also known as Swagger)
• API sandbox or test environment: Yes
• Customisation available: Yes
• Description of customisation: You can customise the following aspects of the service through configuration:; ; - The prioritisation method: Set this to suit your organisation's policies. Current prioritisation methods include; by fastest turnaround time (to reduce rent loss and average relet times) or by property feature (see below). ; ; - Searchable property features: by default you can filter properties by no. of bedrooms, no. of bathrooms, wheelchair accessibility, wetroom availability, off road parking, properties for over-55s-only and temporary accommodation. ; ; - Scheduled work lock-in: You can set the time frame for scheduled work to be locked in, so it won’t change, even if the prioritisation order changes. This means you can make changes to the order without affecting your team’s work order or routes. ; ; Normally this is configured during onboarding after discussing your needs. We can make changes to these configurations at any time, at no additional cost.

Scaling

• Independence of resources: Each component of our service is configured to scale to be based on the total demand on the system guaranteeing no impact for users even during high periods of usage.

Analytics

• Service usage metrics: Yes
• Metrics types: The metrics provided by the Made Tech Voids service are designed to help you improve your voids provision. These include:; ; - Performance data about your voids process and voids repairs (e.g. average time to make property fit for relet, number of completed repairs); ; - Information about the current voids backlog (e.g. number of currently open voids, estimated time to complete properties); ; - Estimated savings achieved by using Made Tech Voids; ; - Service usage statistics; ; Service metrics collection and access are segregated for each customer.
• Reporting types:
  • Real-time dashboards
  • Reports on request

Resellers

• Supplier type: Not a reseller

Staff security

• Staff security clearance: Conforms to BS7858:2019
• Government security clearance: Up to Developed Vetting (DV)

Asset protection

• Knowledge of data storage and processing locations: Yes
• Data storage and processing locations: United Kingdom
• User control over data storage and processing locations: No
• Datacentre security standards: Managed by a third party
• Penetration testing frequency: At least once a year
• Penetration testing approach: ‘IT Health Check’ performed by a CHECK service provider
• Protecting data at rest: Physical access control, complying with CSA CCM v3.0
• Data sanitisation process: Yes
• Data sanitisation type: Deleted data can’t be directly accessed
• Equipment disposal approach: Complying with a recognised standard, for example CSA CCM v.30, CAS (Sanitisation) or ISO/IEC 27001

Data importing and exporting

• Data export approach: Users are able to request their data stored in the database at any time. We provide the data in a variety of formats including CSV and Parquet.
• Data export formats:
  • CSV
  • Other
• Other data export formats: A variety of formats including parquet.
• Data import formats:
  • CSV
  • Other
• Other data import formats: We can work with you to determine the best format

Data-in-transit protection

• Data protection between buyer and supplier networks: TLS (version 1.2 or above)
• Data protection within supplier network: TLS (version 1.2 or above)

Availability and resilience

• Guaranteed availability: We ensure our service is highly available and reliable through our technical architecture, development practice and monitoring. Our infrastructure is redundant over multiple availability zones. By default, we do not specify specific availability guarantees, but can do so at contract stage.
• Approach to resilience: We build resilience into our service in every component. Each component is redundant with automatic recovery across multiple availability zones. Customer data and configuration is backed up in addition to being stored in components with redundancy.
• Outage reporting: Outages are reported via regular email updates to a designated email address.

Identity and authentication

• User authentication needed: Yes
• User authentication:
  • 2-factor authentication
  • Identity federation with existing provider (for example Google Apps)
  • Dedicated link (for example VPN)
  • Username or password
• Access restrictions in management interfaces and support channels: Login to systems are protected using best practices, including identity federation and MFA. To further refine access management, we implement Role-Based Access Control (RBAC), which allows us to define and restrict user activities within our admin interface based on their roles and responsibilities. Our staff are trained against social engineering tactics, and we have processes and systems in place to prevent unauthorised requests.
• Access restriction testing frequency: At least once a year
• Management access authentication:
  • 2-factor authentication
  • Identity federation with existing provider (for example Google Apps)
  • Dedicated link (for example VPN)
  • Username or password

Audit information for users

• Access to user activity audit information: Users contact the support team to get audit information
• How long user audit data is stored for: At least 12 months
• Access to supplier activity audit information: Users contact the support team to get audit information
• How long supplier audit data is stored for: At least 12 months
• How long system logs are stored for: At least 12 months

Standards and certifications

• ISO/IEC 27001 certification: Yes
• Who accredited the ISO/IEC 27001: SOCOTEC
• ISO/IEC 27001 accreditation date: 13/05/22
• What the ISO/IEC 27001 doesn’t cover: Made Tech's ISO 27001 certification covers our approach to information security on both the full range of services that we provide to our customers and all our internal information assets and processes
• ISO 28000:2007 certification: No
• CSA STAR certification: No
• PCI certification: No
• Cyber essentials: Yes
• Cyber essentials plus: Yes
• Other security certifications: No

Security governance

• Named board-level person responsible for service security: Yes
• Security governance certified: Yes
• Security governance standards: ISO/IEC 27001
• Information security policies and processes: Made Tech are committed to maintaining the highest standards of Information Security. Alongside our ISMS, we have policies in place to protect our systems and data and hold certifications such as ISO 27001 and Cyber Essentials Plus, reflecting this commitment. All staff receive regular training in Information Security.

Operational security

• Configuration and change management standard: Supplier-defined controls
• Configuration and change management approach: We follow a zero downtime approach to change by default, ensuring the continuity of service during releases. If a change release requires downtime for any reason this will be clearly communicated with you in advance, and happen inside agreed maintenance windows. Any change that has an impact on your use of the product will be appropriately coordinated with you, and have the ability to be rolled back. The security attributes of any changes to the product are considered on a continuous basis as part of our normal SDLC.
• Vulnerability management type: Supplier-defined controls
• Vulnerability management approach: Made Tech uses a number of different approaches at different steps in our SDLC. Our approach includes: ; - Threat modelling; - Zero trust architecture; - Following OWASP best practice; - Automated dependency scanning; - Automated dynamic application security testing (DAST); - Commissioned penetration tests by a CHECK accredited supplier; - Same day security patch application; ; More information available on request.
• Protective monitoring type: Supplier-defined controls
• Protective monitoring approach: We use a combination of third party automated monitoring and manual analysis of logs to detect potential security issues.; ; Our aim is to be as transparent as possible about any emerging or previous security incidents which have resulted in customer/service impact of any kind. If a customer's data has been compromised our customer success and technical response teams will keep you informed from the moment of discovery.
• Incident management type: Supplier-defined controls
• Incident management approach: We have a documented response plan for incidents as well as runbooks containing processes for predefined events. ; ; If a customer has concerns about a potential incident, they can report it to our customer success team by phone or email and we will respond within agreed timeframes.; ; Our aim is to be as transparent as possible about any emerging or previous security incidents which have resulted in customer/service impact of any kind. If a customer's data has been compromised our customer success and technical response teams will keep you informed from the moment of discovery.

Secure development

• Approach to secure software development best practice: Independent review of processes (for example CESG CPA Build Standard, ISO/IEC 27034, ISO/IEC 27001 or CSA CCM v3.0)

Public sector networks

• Connection to public sector networks: No

Social Value

• Social Value:

  Social Value

  • Fighting climate change
  • Covid-19 recovery
  • Tackling economic inequality
  • Equal opportunity
  • Wellbeing

  Fighting climate change

  We’re a Carbon Neutral company, having measured and reduced our carbon footprint, and offsetting residual carbon by investment in VCS and Gold Standard offset schemes. We have committed to becoming Carbon Net Zero by 2030, using protocols including, remote working, regionalisation to reduce commute distance, cycle-to-work schemes, recycling, reusing computer equipment, and renewable energy providers. ; Our approach is supported by our wider Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Committee, who regularly monitor our progress towards targets. ; Annual updates are published within our PPN 06/21 Statement and Annual Report. Our Carbon Reduction Plan includes Science-Based Targets, and we train our team on green computing techniques:; -Use serverless technologies to reduce consumption when demand is low; -Using the AWS and Azure Well-Architected Frameworks. We are a Well-Architected Framework Partner; -Lifecycle policies to manage, delete and archive data, in line with data protection legislation and best practices; -Code profiling to identify areas that need optimising to reduce unnecessary resource consumption; ; We continually implement and improve practices that minimise our environmental impact and contribute to sustainable operations:; -Our hybrid working policy with remote first preference, and our regionalisation strategy enables us to schedule specialists local to client sites, reducing travel; -We travel only for essential face-to-face meetings, using public transport (if possible) and our Ops team manages car-sharing rotas if road is the only viable option; -Our cycle-to-work scheme and season ticket loans encourage the use of public transport; -Staff turn off computers and machinery when not in use (also in line with our InfoSec Policy) and we have daily reminders for them; -We have reuse and recycling policies for full spectrum office recycling; -We use renewable providers in our offices, and energy efficient lighting. Our serviced offices and associated suppliers are selected on the basis they operate matching green policies

  Covid-19 recovery

  Many voids teams across the UK are still recovering from Covid-19 with the average Void re-let time in England rising from 39.8 days in 2019-20 to 66.2 days in 2022-23. As part of this, Voids teams are faced with long backlogs that are hard for them to handle. Made Tech Voids helps these teams get control of their Covid backlogs and get more homes in the hands of residents who need them.; ; Made Tech's work across the public sector has aided COVID-19 recovery efforts, including developing the NHS Virtual Visits tool and a grant application service that enables local businesses to apply for funding if their profits were impacted by COVID-19.; ; We have made numerous improvements to workplace conditions that support Covid-19 recovery including remote working, effective social distancing, and sustainable travel solutions. ; ; Made Tech committed to a remote first/hybrid model several years ago, which proved invaluable during Covid-19. We have honed our processes and tools to support collaboration and teamwork across teams - Slack, Google Drive, Hangouts/Teams/Zoom, Trello, Jira, Confluence, Tuple are just some of the tools we use.; ; As soon as restrictions were eased, we opened our offices for those not able to work from home for any reason, including mental wellbeing. Cleaning was enhanced and carried out more regularly, and we increased the space between workstations, restricting the number of desks available. ; ; To support the physical and mental wellbeing of those suffering from Covid and returning to work post-infection we implemented a number of processes, including phased return to work, access to free counselling services (remote and face-to-face), health plans and private health cover. We tracked Covid infection and recovery separately to ‘normal’ sick days, so it didn’t impact sick days taken in the same way, reducing the potential stress of moving to SSP.

  Tackling economic inequality

  We are committed to Social Value across our work and hold the externally accredited Social Value Quality Mark Silver award for our existing social value achievements. ; ; We’re tackling inequality and increasing the overall diversity and inclusion of our workforce through:; ; -Data-driven approach to monitoring: we use a twice-yearly census to measure, monitor and report demographics; ; -Academy Apprenticeship: we have been delivering accessible and inclusive entry into DDaT careers through our salaried Academy programme since 2018. We have trained 100+ people and provided them full-time employment. The programme is 50/50 gender balanced and actively targets those from lower socio-economic backgrounds with no formal education requirements. We have recently become accredited as an apprenticeship provider and will be delivering the programme as a fully paid apprenticeship, and our first apprentices joined us in February 2024; ; -Gender pay parity and equality of pay: we publish our salary bands in our open-source Company Handbook. ; ; -Recruitment: we use structured, skills-based interviews to assess a range of qualities, such as communication, collaboration, empathy and open-mindedness, based on a defined scoring methodology. Our interviews are tailored to candidates’ prior experience, to level the playing field for groups that are underrepresented in education.; ; -Reasonable adjustments: we provide practical support to those who need it. Anyone who needs adjustments as part of selection or employment is invited to disclose this voluntarily. Flexible, part-time and/or remote-friendly roles accommodate those with care responsibilities / accessibility needs, and external specialists support people returning after extended absence. We are a Level 2 Disability Confident Employer and member of Neurodiversity in Business; ; -Regions: our regionalisation strategy mirrors the Government's Levelling Up initiative, creating jobs and developing skills to reduce regional inequality. We recruit locally across regions (Bristol, London, Manchester, South Wales)

  Equal opportunity

  Made Tech’s mission is to transform public services through technology to create a fairer society and to do so we need diverse integrated teams across the country to reduce economic inequality. Working exclusively with the public sector, our practices follow government initiatives to reduce inequalities and promote strong integrated communities.; ; Our goal is to make Made Tech an equitable, diverse and inclusive place. We use a quarterly census to actively measure and monitor our diversity, including disability, and transparently report it. The census supports decision-making by identifying areas for improvement and allows us to understand what impact our actions are having. ; ; We reduce inequality through: ; ; -Treating all employees equally: we have a strong culture of equality. Our published People Strategy sets our direction and aim to be a fully equitable employer. We have set up a People Voice Forum (15 diverse representatives) to ensure the voices of all team members are heard; -Fairness and representation: our ESG committee has rotating representation from team members from across the business; -Recruitment: We set targets for diverse interview pools and maintain diverse interview panels and we monitor our hiring pipeline to ensure we are not seeing a disproportionate number of dropouts at specific stages. ; -Gender pay parity and equality of pay: we publish our salary bands in our open-source Company Handbook. We have published our gender pay gap reporting by role internally for many years; -Support Communities: we promote inclusive working conditions. We have both open and closed communities available providing an informal support network for diverse members of the team (disability, neurodiversity, ADHD, LGBTQIA+ allies etc.). We provide opportunities for everyone to work on a range of client engagements to gain the experiences and skills required to progress into higher paid work

  Wellbeing

  We believe that improving the voids process can have a huge impact on residents and communities. Every void that is successfully re-let, represents a family or individual that can enter a more stable living situation, potentially leaving temporary accommodation for a permanent home or leaving an abusive partner. Made Tech Voids optimises your voids process to get the most people in homes and tackle particularly important welfare issues.; ; We understand wellbeing can be physical, mental, financial, intellectual and social, and we continuously invest to ensure a safe, inclusive workplace. ; ; We have a hybrid working policy and support flexible working hours. This allows our employees to have more flexibility in managing their work, personal commitments (e.g. child care), reduces the risk of burn out and increases autonomy and productivity.; ; We have signed the Mental Health at Work Commitment and are making progress at implementing the standards. We promote an open culture around mental health (standard 3) including a number of recognised neurodiversity communities within Made Tech. ; ; To support wellbeing we provide many benefits and policies:; ; -30 days holiday (plus Bank Holidays) ; -Flexible working to assist parents, carers and those with complex lives ; -Equal support for Maternity, Paternity, Adoption and Shared Parental Leave; -Paid Friday lunches; -Personal work from home budget ensuring an ergonomic work environment; -Flu vouchers; -Advice and counselling (Help at Hand) ; -12 learning days and £300 learning budget; -12 Trained mental health first aiders (MHFA) ; -Cycle to work scheme; Strava running and cycling clubs; -Wellbeing Slack channel and regular talks, e.g. “Sleep and Restore” and “Imposter -Syndrome”; -Health and gym memberships; -Healthcare/Cash plan; -Facilitation of a range of exercise themed groups (cycling, running, yoga, healthy eating etc.); -Occupational health through Fusion

Pricing

• Price: £6,750 to £60,000 a licence a year
• Discount for educational organisations: No
• Free trial available: Yes
• Description of free trial: We offer a pilot version of the Voids service for a fixed period. For the pilot we do not integrate with any of your existing systems (e.g. Housing Management Systems or Schedulers). The trial includes all the functionality of the product that does not rely on these integrations.
• Link to free trial: https://www.madetech.com/saas-products/voids/

Service documents

• Pricing document

  PDF

• Skills Framework for the Information Age rate card

  PDF

• Service definition document

  PDF

• Terms and conditions

  PDF

Request an accessible format

If you use assistive technology (such as a screen reader) and need versions of these documents in a more accessible format, email the supplier at presales@madetech.com. Tell them what format you need. It will help if you say what assistive technology you use.