“We supply our entire workforce with CareManagerMobile because the quality of field data helps us plan effectively. We increase or decrease resources where we need to, while administrative overheads have been cut by more than 50 per cent.”

Paul Sanders, Director, Kelly Park Caring Agency

h.e.t. software developed a mobile solution that supports its clients—organisations that deliver social care services—to receive and record care service visit data in real time. On its original hosting platform, h.e.t. software couldn’t easily or cost-effectively scale its solution to accommodate an increasing customer base and large volumes of data. h.e.t. software redeveloped the application to run on the Windows Azure platform. Now, the solution reduces client IT overheads, speeds time to market of new releases, and scales to accommodate large volumes of data.

Business Needsh.e.t. software has excellent knowledge of its social care services clients and continually evolves its solutions to meet their needs. The company recognised that recording the care and contractual details of thousands of care service support visits was a large overhead for these organisations. For example, processing timesheets and mileage claim forms, and creating schedules can take many hours of administrative time. Paul Patarou, Sales Director at h.e.t. software says: “Being able to gather information in the field is essential for delivering quality services efficiently.”

In 2008, with mobile devices playing an increasing role in the delivery of care, h.e.t. software saw an opportunity to expand its services. Patarou says: “There are 7,000 home care providers in the U.K. alone, but until recently there were no applications that supported carers to capture site information in real time. Our clients relied on staff to fill in sheets about visits, and then processed them at an office. Administration and labour costs are big concerns for our clients.”

h.e.t. software moved quickly to develop a system that responded to these challenges. The solution was a success, but h.e.t. software required a hosting platform that could cope with the large spikes in data transmission throughout its 24 hours a day, seven days a week service. Patarou says: “We realised that the platform we had was not going to be as scalable as we needed it to be. Our clients have to record all visit data because they’re required to show it to the Government agencies that fund the care. Millions of transactions take place every day, and volumes tend to peak at certain times. For example, carers will make more visits at breakfast, lunch, and dinner times, so they capture more data during these periods.”

SolutionIn 2011, h.e.t. software developed CareManagerMobile, an application delivered as a service on a mobile device through the Windows Azure cloud computing platform. The secure web application can be accessed on multiple smartphone platforms through an HTML 5 browser. It uses GPS location-based

Partner: h.e.t. software Web Site: www.hetsoftware.co.uk Customer Size: 44Country or Region: United KingdomIndustry: Professional services

Customer: Kelly Park Caring Agency Limited

Partner Profileh.e.t. software develops specialist solutions for social care providers in the United Kingdom (U.K.) and Australia. Based in Haverhill, near Cambridge, it is considered a leader in the sector, with 550 clients that deliver care across home care, residential and nursing homes, and supported living services.

Software and Services Windows Azure platform− Windows Azure

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Windows AzureCustomer Solution Case Study

Social Care Agency Cuts Costs by 50 Per Cent with Cloud-Based Field Worker Solution

tracking to record real time visit information, including arrival and departure times. When a carer arrives at a service user’s location, confirmation of both the visit and tasks are updated automatically. New schedules and requests can be sent to the mobile device, while details around proof of care are recorded for both the care provider and the funding agency.

With Windows Azure, CareManagerMobile can quickly scale up and down to meet customers’ data requirements and application resources are cost-effectively allocated through specialised web and worker roles. Network load balancing is automatically managed to provide continuous availability and customers are protected by a 99.95 per cent uptime availability service level agreement.

Patarou says: “We charge for CareManagerMobile as an annual subscription, per-user and can scale the application up and down according to data volumes. This way, our clients can significantly reduce the operations and maintenance cost of their IT while allowing them to scale without performance issues.”

The development team can test new releases quickly and cost-effectively with Windows Azure because physical resources don’t need to be provisioned or configured. Gareth Blackwell, Senior Developer, h.e.t. software, says: “Windows Azure provides us with powerful staging, deployment, and management features. In addition, we get scalable on-demand storage, plus security and continuity of service.”

BenefitsThe competitive, cloud-based solution ensures that h.e.t. software stands out in the home care market and has the right environment for rapid expansion. Kelly Park Caring Agency, a h.e.t. software customer, is a good example of how the CareManagerMobile solution answers specific sector requirements concerning cost, care, and data.

•Solution delivers excellent return on investment. Kelly Park Caring Agency supplies its 350 employees with the mobile solution. Paul Sanders, Director, Kelly Park Caring Agency, says: “We supply our entire workforce with CareManagerMobile

because the quality of field data helps us plan effectively. We increase or decrease resources where we need to, while administrative overheads have been cut by more than 50 per cent.” •Scalable platform supports business expansion. h.e.t. software solutions are used by around nine per cent of its potential market in the U.K. Following a strategic marketing push in 2012, h.e.t. software predicts that the number of customers using CareManagerMobile will grow rapidly. Patarou says: “We’ve got the scalability to manage expansion without having to factor in new staff or resources.” •Fast time to market for new products. Blackwell says: “Windows Azure features allow us to develop software services we couldn’t have provided ourselves. For example, we can configure test solutions in minutes. This helps us deliver competitive products and new releases to market quickly.”•Care is enhanced. The competitive solution responds to industry needs. Sanders says: “In the past we didn’t have the data to plan resources as effectively as we wanted to. Now, if a client asks a carer to complete additional tasks that cause the appointment to take longer than allocated, we can let the next person know. And, if this happens frequently with a particular client, we know we need to allocate more time to that client in future.” •Cloud-delivery model enhances entire portfolio. h.e.t. software plans to begin moving its entire care solution portfolio onto the cloud platform in 2012. “It makes sense for us to extend the cost and performance benefits of Windows Azure to all our clients,” says Blackwell.

This case study is for informational purposes only. MICROSOFT MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, IN THIS SUMMARY.

Document published February 2012