CAFM/Estates Systems
About
The current Estates management system (WREN) is approaching the end of its useful life and there is an opportunity to introduce a new, more robust, system.
There are a number of business critical University services that run through the system, including managing our buildings, scheduling and logging essential building maintenance as well as supporting critical health and safety processes, data and security operations.
This project aims to reduce the risk of system failure by replacing WREN with a modern CAFM (Computer Aided Facilities Management) system.
Benefits
- Sustainable support model for a key University solution
- Compliance
- Reduced system complexity
- Reduced risk of disruption to Campus operations on campus
- Opportunity for significant process efficiency through a fit for purpose solution
Strategic Alignment
- Mitigation of Known Risk – technology risk
- Risk and Compliance – health and safety, security, legal (particularly GDPR compliance)
- Operational efficiency
Timeframe
| Start | Finish |
| Summer 2023 | Phase 1 2025 |
Introducing Concerto
This is a brief introduction to Concerto, the University’s new Estates management system.
Please watch the or read the description below.
Concerto is a CAFM or computer aided facilities management system. It will help the Estates Directorate to manage all aspects of the estate at the University.
At the centre of the Estates Concerto hub is the Finance Interface, which allows for seamless billing of our estates transactions.
Concerto schematic - Finance Interface at the centre
Built around the interface are 5 key modules that make up the central hub.
Concerto central hub
- Core Data, where the bedrock of data on the University's estate is stored.
- Projects & Programmes, where we plan and execute our minor, intermediate and major projects.
- Reactive Maintenance, which allows us to manage our short notice daily maintenance tasks.
- Planned Maintenance, for planning and scheduling necessary changes in advance.
- Property Services, where we manage information related to our commercial and residential property assets.
Concerto supporting modules
Those that govern aspects of health and safety throughout the Estates daily lifecycle include:
- Conditions Surveys
- Fire Risk Assessment
- Asbestos Surveys
- Hazardous Materials Surveys
- Permits to Work
Lastly there is the Stock Control module on which our maintenance tasks rely.
UoR Change Plan
Concerto is being delivered over a number of phases. The core functionality, as outlined in the section above, is planned to be delivered in Phase 1 during 2025.
Phase 1 delivery is broken down into three stages, outlined in the diagram below.
- Stage 1 - Build. An intense and significant stage of the project that encompasses: analysing and understanding key business processes, cleaning and uploading of the Estates data and designing and configuring Concerto to meet the needs of the University.
- Stage 2 – Training and Testing. In order for our users to be ready to test the new system and use it for daily Business As Usual (BAU) they will need the necessary training. Training classes, materials and resources, dependent on individual and team requirements will be made available during this stage of the project. Front runners on the project will utilise their acquired systems knowledge to test the freshly configured Concerto system and confirm that it is fit for purpose during User Acceptance Testing (UAT).
- Stage 3 – Cut-over. Once proved in testing and with users upskilled with Concerto knowledge, the system will go-live and take over from WREN.
Stage delivery model for Concerto
Concerto cut-over milestone plan
We are taking a staggered approach to go-live with modules going live in stages from 28th July. The Concerto cut-over staggered milestone plan indicates which modules are going live on which dates.
Concerto Environments
This section aims to clarify the system environments that have been created to deliver and manage Concerto during the project and into live.
There are currently 4 system environments, Sandbox, Preview, Dev and Live/Production.
Sandbox
Currently, this environment is being used for User Acceptance Testing (UAT) of Phase 1 delivery where users are working with the project team manager to confirm the system is working as expected and ready for go-live.
After Phase 1 delivery in July, this environment will remain and provide a safe and isolated space for end users to experiment with new features and configurations without affecting the other environments.
Preview
Currently, this environment is being used for the Finance Interface Integration between Concerto and Agresso (Unit 4).
After Phase 1 delivery in July, this will serve as a near-production environment for validating new features, fixes, and configurations prior to release into the live environment.
Dev
This additional environment has been provisioned in order for Concerto to deliver the necessary changes ready for go-live without disrupting the work in Sandbox (UAT) and Preview (Finance Interface Integration).
Live/Production
This serves as the final, fully operational environment for the end users to interact with the system to complete BAU (business as usual).
Concerto environments key
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Q: When are we expected to go-live with the new system?
A: We are taking a staggered approach to go-live with modules going live in stages from 28th July. The Concerto cut-over staggered milestone plan indicates which modules are going live on which dates.
Wren and Agresso (Unit 4) will stop speaking to each other at the end of the day on 28th July 2025. The period from 28th July until Concerto is live is known as cut-over. During this time an interim set of processes will be in place to maintain BAU whilst Concerto is unavailable. A guide will be produced for all staff so that we all know which activities to undertake in which system during this period.
Q: What has determined the date when we can go-live with Concerto?
A: As part of the UoR digital strategy, there are a number of University wide system changes being planned for 2025. A number of these changes have complex interdependencies.
Concerto is being targeted to go-live in line with the finance system changes as many Concerto modules and Estates Directorate activities rely on the link with Agresso and the ability to purchase items.
Q: Will Concerto require further development after we go-live in the summer?
A: Concerto Phase 1 will go-live on 28th July with the expectation of further development continuing after that date. Phase 1 covers the implementation of the core Concerto modules which are essential for teams in the Estates Directorate to deliver business as usual activities.
Q: What is the scope for Phase 2?
A: Phase 2 covers the replacement of the remaining items which currently run on Wren or other Access databases i.e. car parking, postal services, and security operations. Work has commenced to determine what products might be purchased to replace these elements of Wren.
Phase 2 will also include further development of Concerto to respond to user feedback, improve processes, and increase efficiency.
Q: When will training take place?
A: We have secured face to face fundamentals training with Concerto for 80 members of the Estates Directorate. This is scheduled to take place on the 17th July. We will also be producing User Guides covering all of the modules and a number of targeted ‘How to’ instruction videos. All Estates staff who need to use Concerto will be given face to face training during July and August. Sessions will be repeated so that nobody misses out.
Q: Wren’s last day of support by Microsoft will be 14th October. What will happen if we’ve not been able to move off Wren by that date?
A: DTS will be applying an appropriate solution to enable continued use of Wren for the remaining system functionality while protecting the whole environment securely.
Q: Will all communication about Concerto for Estates staff be via the website?
A: This website will contain all updates on Concerto and will serve as the main repository for information for Estates staff. Further information will be provided via Estates newsletters and all staff talks. As we get closer to implementation, teams will be invited to in-person training sessions to get hands-on with Concerto. The implementation team are always happy to be invited to team meetings to give updates. Please invite us along! You can contact us by emailing concerto@reading.ac.uk
Q: How will we communicate with stakeholders outside Estates?
A: As we get closer to implementation, we will start to engage with key stakeholders outside Estates. There will be poster campaigns, information on this website and explainer videos for those who need to use Concerto.
If you have any questions please email concerto@reading.ac.uk