Background
Cardiff Council has had its on-premises SAP ECC 6.0 ERP solution since 2005 and have been given notice by SAP that this version will be out of support in December 2027 (although there is an option to extend to 2030). Cardiff Council uses the on-prem system for finance, procurement, payroll, and some of its other services including housing repairs, planned maintenance, schools catering and equipment, and disabled adaptations.
Cardiff Council asked Civiteq to help them explore their options for replacing their current legacy ERP solution.
“The market has significantly changed over the last 20 years, and we were finding it difficult to get traction of where to start. It was important to get external assistance from a partner with knowledge of ERP solutions, a track record of ERP implementations and knowledge of the public sector.”
Ian Allwood, Head of Finance, Cardiff Council
Our project brief and goals
Our client sought our support to help them understand:
- Their existing core systems landscape
- The types of modern ERP solutions available in the market
- What wider public sector organisations typically want from their ERP solutions
- What the council needs and wants from its ERP solution(s)
- Help set out the best way forward for them
Our approach
We delivered a three-phase project for Cardiff Council:
1 – A discovery phase to find out:
- How their current systems operate
- What they like about it
- What their pain points are
- If there are any potential opportunity and risk areas
2 – An options appraisal to consider the following choices:
- Moving to a new ERP – which could be with the same or a different provider
- Taking a best-of-breed approach
- Staying with their existing solutions
- A mix of the above
3 – An outline business case to:
- Present the findings of the discovery phase and options appraisal
- Provide the foundation for the council’s formal business case for their next steps
The biggest challenges
The initial scope for our work was to focus on the replacement of our client’s finance, procurement and payroll SAP ECC 6.0 solution, which is also used for the management of other services including housing repairs, planned maintenance, schools catering and equipment, and disabled adaptations.
Additionally, Cardiff Council have separate systems for HR and recruitment, which also formed part of the review scope.
“The council was keen for us to come in and ask questions, and to challenge them in their thinking around scope and timing, and be that critical friend. For example, what do we think they could do moving forwards?”
David Sullivan, Lead Principal Consultant, Civiteq
Outcomes and benefits
Civiteq’s honest, informed and independent guidance has given Cardiff Council clarity on their best way forward as they prepare for their on-premises SAP ECC 6.0 ERP to reach end of support.
Our outline business case is now being reviewed by the council. Meanwhile, they’ve re-engaged our team to support them in their prepare and procure phase to get them ready to go out to market for their replacement ERP solution(s).
Ian comments: “Civiteq helped us to discover ourselves and work out what was right for us. We felt in control and that they understood our challenges in the local authority context.”
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