Lincolnshire Council to boost performance and deliver cost savings with TechnologyOne

24 Nov 2020 – West Lindsey District Council will embrace new enterprise resource planning software from leading provider TechnologyOne, as part of a drive to deliver cost savings and improve operational performance at the local authority.

The English council estimates it will make significant savings by switching to TechnologyOne’s OneCouncil Software as a Service (SaaS) solution. Business improvements and cost efficiencies will be achieved by automating workflows, standardising reporting and business processes, and improving data accuracy.

West Lindsey, based in picturesque Lincolnshire in the East of England, is introducing the cloud-based service for 268 council employees, as part of its wider Together24 initiative, a plan which through its staff and technology will excel in meeting the needs of its customers through service delivery over the next few years.

By providing better access to corporate data and clearer management information, the council believes it will improve decision making through better exploitation of analytics. Having greater business insight will help it adopt early intervention strategies to support both employees and customers, therefore reducing costs, time, and resource allocation while improving customer experience.

West Lindsey will initially roll-out TechnologyOne’s Financials, Procurement and Performance Management systems, which will help with council accounts, general ledger, bank reconciliation, purchasing and invoicing. The OneCouncil software will also aid budget planning, budget management and financial reporting capabilities.

The council also hopes to use the software to potentially support other functions and provide business intelligence for HR, payroll, asset and income management, in the future.

Tracey Bircumshaw, Assistant Director of Finance, Business Support and Property Services at West Lindsey District Council, says the improvements and cost efficiencies of TechnologyOne’s new business intelligence tools will benefit taxpayers and council employees, alike.

“Our current reporting systems aren’t very user friendly at the moment and provide very little intelligence. We’ve had to carry out a lot of manual input and data manipulation, to put information in to reports that provide the context needed by the business, decision-makers and councillors,” says Mrs Bircumshaw.

“As an organisation we’re about improving customer experience and delivering efficiencies through better business intelligence capabilities, automation and integration. The new systems from TechnologyOne will be a million miles away from where we are now, in terms of the extra functionality and intelligence that it brings. It will help us deliver business improvements as well as cost efficiencies,” she added.

By switching to TechnologyOne’s intuitive SaaS ERP, which employees will be able to access at any time, using any device, wherever they are, West Lindsey Council also expects to improve end to end business process workflows.

“While employees can currently access business applications on their laptops, having our finance systems accessible via mobile phones will help remove process bottlenecks, says Bircumshaw.

“People won’t need to wait until they’re in the office or at their laptop to action some of the decision making, they will be able to quickly view and approve requests and actions on their phones.”

Performance measurement, management and reporting tools will also help the council manage operational KPIs and other performance related data.

OneCouncil’s easy-to-use user interface, will also make it easier for employees to operate in a more joined-up commercial, efficient and effective way, as different teams will have access to straightforward information dashboards and simple to use applications.

TechnologyOne’s SaaS platform is powered by Amazon Web Services and will replace software from Civica and SAP Crystal Reports.

TechnologyOne CEO Ed Chung said he is delighted that West Lindsey District Council is joining a growing number of UK councils who are turning to TechnologyOne’s OneCouncil solution to digitally transform their business operations.

“Councils are coming under increasing financial pressures due to the knock-on economic effects of COVID-19. But, easy-to-use enterprise software, which can be accessed anywhere, is helping councils automate processes and deliver cost efficiencies, while freeing up decision makers to make more insightful decisions for the benefit of their community,” Chung said.