ºÚ¹Ï³ÔÁÏÍø

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

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. 

Around the central hub, are 6 further modules. These modules support and inform the activities that take place in the central hub.

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. 

 

Go-live 6th August 2025

The following Concerto modules will go live on 6th August. These are:

• The Finance Interface
• Core Data
• Helpdesks for the following teams: Reactive; Planned; Security; Portering; Cleaning; Grounds; Project, Space & Asset Management; Stores
• Stock Control
• Fire Risk Assessment
• Hazardous Materials 

3 Modules will follow shortly thereafter:      

• Property Services on 18th August
• Planned Preventative Maintenance (PPMs) on 18th August
• Projects and Programmes on the 1st of September

3 Modules are postponed and are awaiting a release plan with dates:

• Asbestos
• Permits to Work
• Condition Surveys

For these final 3 modules the interim arrangements should be followed pending further instruction.

 

Estates business continuity

To ensure that Estates can continue to run its services during the cut-over period, the Collated timeline Concerto-P2P-Year-end document has been produced which indicates in which systems critical activities should take place.  The document covers all dates from 14^th July to 5^th September.

 

Concerto environments

There are 3 system environments for Concerto: Sandbox, Preview, and Live/Production.

Sandbox

This environment provides a safe and isolated space for end users to experiment with new features and configurations without affecting the other environments.

Preview

This serves as a near-production environment for validating new features, fixes, and configurations prior to release into the live environment.

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: I've forgotten how to do something that was covered in training.  

A: Please refer to the User Guides provided for training in the first instance (see below).

Q: Where can I find the User Guide for each module of Concerto?

A: The User Guides for each of the Concerto modules are available to download from the Concerto library which can be located via the Information icon at the top right of the page in Concerto. Please click on the video link below if you need assistance to locate the user guides.

Q: How can I logon to the Concerto Mobile App?

A: Go to on your mobile device. Enter your reading.ac.uk email address in the Login name field and the password provided to you for Concerto in the Password field and click the Login button. If you have logged on during UAT you will have already updated your password; if this is your first logon you will be prompted to change your password at this point.

Q: I was expecting to see different menu items.  

A: Please contact the super user for the relevant module and ask whether your security profile should enable you to access that menu item. See the Super User list.

Q: I've got stuck processing an action in a module.  

A: Please contact the super user for the relevant module to seek assistance as to why the module is not performing as expected. See the Super User list. 

Q: How do I alert the project team to a Concerto problem during the hypercare period? 

(Note: Hypercare is the immediate period after go-live where the Project Team will be available to fix any significant release issues).

A: Log any problems that you find using this .  Your query will be triaged and responded to as quickly as we can.

Q: Will Concerto require further development after we go-live in the summer?

A: Concerto Phase 1 will go-live on 28^th 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.