What was said
What this says
As at Fri 9 Oct 2026Hartside's Growth kickoff on 16 Apr 2026, term 10 Apr 2026 to 9 Apr 2027. Agreed connector phasing and named owners. Sana Rahman is the only admin and Adrian Mellor wants tight limits on data scope.
What happened: Hollie Grieve and Hamza Akhtar opened implementation with Bethany Cole, Sana Rahman and Adrian Mellor. Phase one is agreements and tickets, then invoices, then bookings.
Customer view: Bethany wants her team and resident services to see agreements, tickets and invoices together. Adrian wants the architecture clear first and asked for permissions in writing.
Commercial: Five sources are named against eight connectors in Growth, so there is room to grow. Resident services and finance are planned as later user groups on a forty-user licence.
Watch: Sana is the single admin, and Hollie flagged the risk of one enthusiast asking most questions. Adrian wants HR files kept out and ticket free text kept out at first.
Themes
As at Fri 9 Oct 2026Who was there
BG-Demo
Them
Follow-up
Next steps
As at Fri 9 Oct 2026- Hamza Akhtar sends the plan, the written permissions list and the support contact route later that week.
- Sana Rahman sends the agreement folder list to Adrian Mellor for review before the connector is switched on.
- Hamza Akhtar and Sana Rahman hold a working session the following week to start the first connector.
Risks
As at Fri 9 Oct 2026- Sana Rahman is the only admin and also the person asked for every university number, so she is a single point of failure.
- Adrian Mellor's security review of permissions, folder scope and ticket personal data could slow the connectors going live.
- Adoption could rest on one enthusiast unless the first user group is planned.
Opportunities
As at Fri 9 Oct 2026- A second admin was discussed and Sana Rahman asked for it.
- Resident services and finance are planned as later user groups, which would deepen use across teams.
- Five sources are named against eight connectors in the tier, so bookings and further sources can follow once the first lot is trusted.
Transcript
- Hollie GrieveHello, hello. Afternoon, everyone. I think we're nearly all here. Bethany, Sana, I can see you. Adrian, are you with us?
- Adrian MellorAfternoon. Yes, I'm here, sorry, I was on mute. Just finishing something.
- Bethany ColeAfternoon all. Lovely to finally be at this stage. It's been a busy week on our side, so I'm glad to get something on the diary that's about moving forward.
- Hollie GrieveWell, welcome, and congratulations on getting the contract done. For the record, you started on Friday 10 April 2026, and the term runs to 9 April 2027. So we've got a full year to make this useful, and I'd like us to spend the first part of it getting you live.
- Hollie GrieveI'm Hollie, I'm your customer success manager, so I'll be around after the build as well. Hamza, you've got the implementation. Do you want to say hello?
- Hamza AkhtarHi everyone. Hamza, I'm an implementation consultant, and I'll be the one doing most of the hands-on work with you over the next eight weeks. Today is really about agreeing what we connect, in what order, and who on your side owns each piece. Then I'll send a plan so it's all written down.
- Hamza AkhtarQuick check first, so we're all on the same page. You're on Growth, forty licensed users, and the tier allows eight connectors. Bethany, is that how you understand it?
- Bethany ColeYes. Forty users, and the forty-five thousand a year we agreed. What I care about is that my team and the resident services team can see each university's nomination agreement, the tickets and the invoices together. That's the whole reason we did this.
- Hamza AkhtarPerfect, and that's exactly the shape I'd design around. Sana, you're down as the admin. Is that right?
- Sana RahmanThat's me. I look after reporting and data for the business, so I think I'll be the person who lives in this day to day. I'll be honest, I'm also the person who gets asked every time a university wants a number.
- Hollie GrieveWhich is the best argument for having you as admin. We should say, one admin is fine to start with, but we might talk later about a second so you're not a single point.
- Sana RahmanYes, please. I'd like that. Holidays, and so on.
- Adrian MellorAnd I'm the one who'll be asking awkward questions about where the data lives, so apologies in advance.
- Hamza AkhtarPlease do, Adrian, that's what I need. It's much better to have them now than in week six. Do you want me to explain the architecture first, or shall I start with the connectors?
- Adrian MellorArchitecture first. If I'm comfortable with that, everything else is easier.
- Hamza AkhtarSure. The brain is built and run inside your own Snowflake account, so your data doesn't move to us. We create a dedicated space in your Snowflake, the connectors load into it, and the questions are answered from there. Your access controls stay yours.
- Adrian MellorRight. So what do you need from me? Is it an account, a role, a warehouse?
- Hamza AkhtarA role with the right permissions to create that space, and a named person on your side who can approve access. I'll send you a short list of exactly what permissions, so you can check each one. You can say no to any of them and we'll talk it through.
- Adrian MellorGood. I'd want it reviewed by whoever looks after our security policy, which in practice is me and one colleague in IT. We'd want to see the list in writing.
- Hollie GrieveWe'll make sure you get it in writing. Hamza, put that in the plan with an owner.
- Hamza AkhtarNoted. Adrian owns Snowflake access and the permissions review. Let's move on to what we connect. Sana, Bethany, can you talk me through where the information actually sits today?
- Bethany ColeSana, you'll know this better than I do, but let me start. The nomination agreements are the heart of it. Those live as documents in our shared drive, and the key terms are tracked by my team in the CRM.
- Sana RahmanYes. And then the resident tickets are in the helpdesk, and the invoices to the universities come from the accounting system. Those are the three that matter most to Bethany's team. Then there's occupancy and bookings, which sit somewhere else again.
- Hamza AkhtarOkay. So that's four sources already: the CRM, the shared drive, the helpdesk and the accounting system. Then the bookings system would make five. We've eight connectors in the tier, so we've got room, but my advice is don't try to use them all at once.
- Sana RahmanI'd agree. If we try to do everything I'll never get any of it checked properly.
- Hamza AkhtarExactly. Phase one: the agreements and the tickets, so Bethany can see a university's position in one view. Phase two: invoices. Then bookings after that, when the first lot is trusted.
- Bethany ColeThat works for me. What will the university ask? They'll ask whether the tickets we've fixed are tied to the agreement, and whether anything's overdue. So tickets and invoices both matter, but agreements first, I think.
- Hollie GrieveThat's a good test, actually. Let's use it. By the end of the build, can you answer what a university would ask for any one of your cities without opening three systems?
- Bethany ColeYes. If I can do that, I'll be very happy. Let's bring the numbers.
- Adrian MellorCan I ask about the shared drive? What does the connector actually read? Everything in it, or only the folders we point it at?
- Hamza AkhtarOnly what you point it at. You choose the folders, and we index those. Anything outside them isn't touched. Sana, you'd choose the folders with Bethany's team, and Adrian, you'd have the final say.
- Adrian MellorGood. Because there are some HR files in a neighbouring folder that I'd rather nobody even came near.
- Sana RahmanYes, I know the ones. I'll make a list of the agreement folders and send it to you, Adrian, before we give anything to Hamza.
- Hollie GrieveLovely. That's an action for Sana, then. A list of the folders, reviewed by Adrian, before the connector is switched on.
- Hamza AkhtarAnd I'll note it as such. Now, the helpdesk. Who owns that one?
- Sana RahmanI administer it, so me. But it's also used by the resident services team, and I'd want to warn them we'll be reading tickets. Some of them have personal details in them.
- Adrian MellorThat's one for me as well. I'd want to be sure that we're comfortable on what's in scope before it goes live.
- Hamza AkhtarSensible. Let me suggest we start with ticket categories and the fields you're happy with, and not the free text of every message at first. We can widen it once you've seen how it looks.
- Adrian MellorI'm happy with that approach. Start narrow.
- Bethany ColeThat won't hurt me. I'd rather get the structure right than have everything and nobody trusting it.
- Hollie GrieveCan I add something about people? You've got forty users, which is plenty, but the way adoption usually goes is that one enthusiast asks most of the questions. I'd like us to plan who the first group is, not just who has a login.
- Bethany ColeMy team first, obviously. Then resident services, once they've seen what we can do. Probably finance after that, because they'll want to check the invoice side.
- Hollie GrieveThat sounds right. I'll set a check-in after the first connectors are live, and then we move to quarterly reviews, where we look at what's being asked and by whom.
- Sana RahmanOne practical thing. When the data first comes in, I'm going to find things that don't match. Duplicates, old agreements, that kind of thing. Who do I tell?
- Hamza AkhtarMe, during the build. Just message me or raise it as a ticket and I'll pick it up. Don't clean anything up in the source first unless it's clearly wrong. I'd rather see the mess and decide together.
- Sana RahmanGood. That's a relief, honestly. I was about to spend a weekend tidying.
- Hollie GrievePlease don't. Right, I think we've got most of it. Hamza, can you read back the owners so we all agree?
- Hamza AkhtarYes. Adrian: Snowflake access, the permissions review, and the final say on what's in scope. Sana: admin, the folder list for the agreements, and the helpdesk connector. Bethany: sponsor, and she decides which university views matter first. Hollie: the check-ins and the review cadence. Me: the build, the plan and the written list of permissions.
- Bethany ColeThat's right. I would just add that I'd like to see the first working view with real data as early as we can. Even if it's rough.
- Hamza AkhtarUnderstood. The agreements and tickets come first for exactly that reason. I'll aim to show you something rough but real once those two are in, and we'll improve it from there.
- Adrian MellorOne more from me. Who do I contact if something looks wrong in Snowflake during the build? Is it you or support?
- Hollie GrieveHamza first, during the build. After that, the support desk, and I'm in the loop on anything that matters. Hamza will send the contact route with the plan.
- Adrian MellorFine. That's all I need for now.
- Hollie GrieveGreat. So next steps. Hamza sends the plan and the permissions list later this week. Sana sends the folder list to Adrian. Adrian reviews and replies. Then Hamza and Sana have a working session next week to start the first connector.
- Sana RahmanThat's fine by me.
- Bethany ColeBrilliant. Thank you both. I'm glad we're moving.
- Hamza AkhtarThanks, everyone. Speak soon.
- Adrian MellorThanks. Bye.