TechnologyOne is celebrating yet another win in the public sector. The Devon & Somerset Fire & Rescue Service has used Integra2, from Capita since 2004 for its finance system. The software will no longer be supported by 2025. As a result, the organisation issued a tender for a new finance system in September 2023.
Despite Capita offering a newer version of Integra, the authority has selected a solution from TechnologyOne. It believes that it will offer faster, more informed financial decision-making.
Andrew Furbear, Head of Finance at Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service, said, “We conducted a thorough review of the market in our search for the right product. TechnologyOne SaaS was the only system that met our criteria – and even surpassed it with some functionality.
“We have partnered with TechnologyOne to combine the functionality currently provided by many systems into one, providing our managers with better financial management information. By moving to a single solution, we aim to make faster, more informed decisions and have further ability to stretch our budget to provide the best service to our communities.”
Devon & Somerset Fire and Rescue Services
Devon & Somerset Fire and Rescue Services is the largest non-metropolitan fire and rescue service in England. It covers almost 4,000 square miles. It protects 820,000 households, 74,000 businesses and a further 1.1 million visitors a year.
The authority area has a network of over 13,000 miles of roads. 90% of which are smaller, rural roads and country lanes and 659 miles of coastline. They have 332 emergency response vehicles and 1,900 dedicated staff.
To maintain its services, it spent £93.7 million in 2022/23 in the region. Most of the budget (£72.4 million) was used on the workforce. With another £7.5 million on-premises and its fleet of vehicles.
Over the last few years, the authority has also initiated a digital transformation program that has seen it adopt more cloud software, including Microsoft 365. The replacement of the finance system with a modern SaaS solution was paramount. This was especially with a looming sunsetting of support for its existing solution.
Delivering the right solution
The TechnologyOne OneCouncil solution encompasses Financials, Supply Chain Management, Corporate Performance Management, Contracts and EzeScan. The project is still in the planning phase, with the authority relying on the TechnologyOne expert consulting team.
The approach is not likely to be phased according to TechnologyOne, but it should replace the existing system quickly. Enterprise Times asked the company for more accurate timescales, but these have not yet been determined. With the end of the year looming at the end of March, though, it is likely the authority will want it live for the 2025/26 year. If not the end of the calendar year. It is not clear when support for Integra2 expires.
The TechnologyOne SaaS solution will provide a range of benefits in a secure Cloud environment. These can securely and quickly include updates to the core system without the need for extensive maintenance periods.
The authority will also take advantage of SaaS Plus, the TechnologyOne service where the vendor takes on responsibility for the implementation, cloud environments, operation and support, with an annual subscription.
SaaS Plus removes the need for organisations to maintain hardware, eliminating the need for unscheduled capital expenditure. It means that TechnologyOne takes on the onus for the implementation and frees up resources from the customer.
TechnologyOne UK Executive Vice President Leo Hanna said, “With the rapid pace of digital innovation, it’s easy to fall behind with upgrades and get caught up in siloed data, disparate systems and tedious manual processes. Our SaaS solutions are tailored to meet the unique needs of essential services, providing an integrated structure to manage all financial information in real-time, allowing for enhanced efficiency, transparency and overall service delivery, all the while lowering costs.
“We are thrilled to partner with Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service on their digital transformation journey.”
Enterprise Times: What does this mean
TechnologyOne is continuing to win new business across the UK in fire and rescue authorities. It has already deployed solutions at Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue Service, North Wales Fire and Rescue Service and Scottish Fire and Rescue Service, as well as unitary and district councils.
This win is significant because of the size of the organisation. If TechnologyOne can persuade the authority, once installed, to create a case study that identifies the benefits from the deployment, this will make other authorities take even more notice.
