top of page



Cx Web Services – Updating a Repair Works Order Status
In previous posts we looked at how to retrieve repair works orders and then pull back full works order details from Civica Cx. If you have not already seen that post, I suggest you read that first. That’s great, but only a piece of the whole picture. Typically Cx is the client system, and a 3rd party contractor is using their own in house, or off the shelf software. I refer to this as the external system. Once the external system has received a works order and started d

Jim Walker
1 day ago4 min read


Awaab’s Law is Coming to Scotland — Are You Ready from a Data & Process Perspective?
With Scottish draft regulations mirroring the intent of Awaab’s Law, housing associations can’t afford to wait until reporting deadlines arrive to think about data. Early decisions on how damp and mould information is captured, structured and flowed through Civica Housing Cx will determine whether future reporting is meaningful or misleading. This piece explores why early thinking matters, how Scottish and English approaches differ, and five practical, data-first steps Cx tea

Jim Walker
Jan 295 min read


Cx Web Services – Retrieving Repair Work Order Details
We previously explored retrieving lists of work orders using Cx Repair Contractor web services. While that approach suits queues and dashboards, real integrations often need to interrogate a single work order in detail. Cx provides several closely related SOAP methods for this purpose, all accepting the same identifiers but returning different levels of detail depending on intent and audience. Understanding their differences, prerequisites, and security behaviour is key to ch

Jim Walker
Jan 124 min read


Cx Web Services – Getting Repair Work Orders
Picking up where the token post left off, this article moves on to something genuinely useful: retrieving repair work orders from Cx using the SOAP web services. Despite newer versions and endless documentation, WSRepairContractorService is still doing real-world heavy lifting. This post walks through a working GetRepairWorkOrders call, highlights common gotchas, and explains exactly what data you’ll get back.

Jim Walker
Jan 94 min read


Don’t Repair Components Under Warranty… Use Your Data to Alert People!
Missed warranties quietly drain budgets. With Cx Asset Management, you can surface real-time warranty checks at the exact moment a repair is logged. A simple stored procedure and conditional alert can stop unnecessary jobs, direct staff to the right contractor, and let your data do the shouting—automatically.

Jim Walker
Nov 21, 20255 min read


ARC Technical Guidance — July 2025 update: every change you need to know
Find out about the July 2025 ARC Changes coming in to force from April 2025. Read now and don’t be caught off guard!

Jim Walker
Aug 29, 20255 min read


Are Your Database Sizes Growing Out of Control?
Databases have a habit of growing quietly in the background until, one day, they’re suddenly everyone’s problem. Storage might feel cheap, but the ripple effects of an oversized database are anything but. Longer nightly ETL runs, sluggish reporting, bloated backups, and clogged networks all trace back to unchecked growth. The result? Your business loses precious time and flexibility, especially when jobs that should finish in an hour creep into the early morning.
This post i

Jim Walker
Aug 27, 20254 min read


📢It's official...SSRS is dead...long live Power BI!
With SQL Server 2025, Microsoft is officially retiring SSRS — a major shift that signals Power BI's reign as the go-to reporting tool. Here's what it means for your organisation.

Jim Walker
Jun 23, 20253 min read


Don't Stick a Plaster Over Poor User Data: Why Transparent Reporting Matters
In the world of Business Intelligence (BI), it can be tempting to tidy up, or hide bad data so that it "looks right". When you're building dashboards or reports that will be seen by leadership teams or operational managers, you might feel the pressure to make things neat, consistent, and complete - it massively reduces trust if they're not. But here's the truth: sticking a plaster over poor user data doesn't fix the wound underneath. If you're reporting on unreliable or incom

Jim Walker
May 30, 20255 min read


How to Make Your Automated Communications More Powerful – Through Conditional Data Tags
Automated communications are only as good as the data they carry. In Civica Cx, built-in tags go a long way - but only so far. What if you want to pull in precise, situation-specific data into your emails, letters, or texts? That’s where Conditional Data Tags come in. And once you understand them, you’ll wonder how you ever managed without them. Why Conditional Tags? Out of the box, Cx provides a limited set of built-in tags. But modern workflows demand flexibility. Its far

Jim Walker
May 22, 20255 min read

Got a topic you'd like to see featured?
Send in your suggestion with the form below
bottom of page
