TechnologyOne has announced that East Lothian Council has selected OneCouncil to replace its Microsoft Dynamics GP solution. The contract was awarded as a Direct Award via the Crown Commercial Service G-Cloud 13 framework. The contract has an initial value of £464 281.08
The OneCouncil SaaS solution will replace the existing internal financial system, which currently operates Microsoft Dynamic GP.
The new solution will provide the council with a modern, cloud-based, mobile-enabled, secure solution that will help the organisation with its digital transformation program.
OneCouncil will provide East Lothian Council with benefits such as real-time information, automated reporting and data analytics. It will also help increase efficiency in council operations through process automation and integration with other solutions within its technology stack. Once deployed, the system will enable the finance team to more efficiently support local communities.
The project is the next phase of its digital transformation project, which has already seen the deployment of a customer service solution.
Sarah Fortune, Executive Director for Council Resources, East Lothian Council, said, “Increasing our automated reporting processes enables us to make faster, more informed decisions. Using the new financial system will mean that our teams have more capacity to focus on delivering our long-term financial strategy. It also supports the vision and ambition that we have set out in our Digital Strategy, with a view to continuing to provide excellent services to customers in a changing and challenging environment.”
Public Sector transforming through SaaS
The Public Sector, and especially councils, are turning to SaaS solutions to digitally transform from their old legacy solutions that are increasingly costly to run. According to research by FT Longitude, titled “The New Digital Reality” and published by TechnologyOne, 59% of councils are taking a proactive approach to transforming technology.
One of the vendors at the forefront of this digitisation initiative is TechnologyOne. It has already seen councils such as Highland Council, North Tyneside Council, Blackpool Council, Conwy County Borough Council, and Derby City Council adopt its solution. The TechnologyOne focus is on unitary authorities and district councils, and this is just its latest win.
Leo Hanna, TechnologyOne UK Executive Vice President, said, “Investing in innovative solutions is key to sustainably overcoming financial constraints, enhancing service delivery and meeting the ever-changing needs and expectations of the local community. We look forward to supporting East Lothian Council on their journey toward digital excellence.”
Enterprise Times: What does this mean
This is just the latest win for TechnologyOne as it seeks to increase its market share within the Public Sector. It is a competitive market and one where firms such as Unit4 also compete effectively. What is lacking in the press release are details of whether TechnologyOne is implementing the solution itself or whether a partner supports it in this project.
There are also no details about how quickly it expects the project to progress. The contract was won in June, and it is already three months later. With the financial year ending in March, it seems likely that this will be the planned go-live date for the project. It will be interesting to see how quickly the council announces a successful deployment.
Also, can TechnologyOne persuade the council to help create a case study to help convince other councils to select its solution.
