Background
The Highland Council had recently migrated to a new system for their core finance processes and were looking to see if a new solution was needed for their outdated HR and payroll functions.
They approached Civiteq to carry out an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) options appraisal. But it soon became clear the local authority wasn’t ready to carry out a technology change. First, they needed our help to identify their strategy before embarking on implementation.
Our project brief and goals
Our team’s project brief evolved into:
- Exploring the current user experience of the processes, the systems, and therefore ability to support the services they underpin
- Understanding the current systems landscape
- Reviewing the current application support operating model in place
- Reviewing the ERP options and recommending a way forward
The overarching goal was to focus on ‘getting the basics right’ in order to achieve the council’s ambitions.
The council wanted to improve both user and staff experience, to modernise their processes, avoid duplication, and be able to use their data more effectively to drive strategy and decision-making.
Our approach
Our consultants carried out desktop analysis that included a review of the council’s strategies and policies to understand their key strategic drivers and ambitions. We reviewed their current contractual obligations and costs associated with systems. And we sought to understand their current application support model and also the key roles and responsibilities, both internally and externally.
We conducted SWOT engagement workshops with staff and end users to get an all-round view of the service and its performance. And we had exploratory meetings with key personnel throughout the organisation.
Our team then compiled our findings and recommendations in a discovery report.
“The way the Civiteq consultants worked with our staff was excellent. They really dug into the challenges we were facing.”
Jon Shepherd, Chief Officer (Business Solutions), The Highland Council
The biggest challenges
The greatest challenge was the changing scope. But our flexibility and ability to approach what we do creatively and adapt to the needs of the client is deeply rooted in our values. We’re not wedded to any particular supplier or outcome, so we’re always led by what’s best for our customer.
“We listened to the council and pivoted to focus on what they actually wanted and needed. Our specialists redesigned their activities, while the client was also happy to adapt and support us with the new direction.”
Josh Hadley, Senior Consultant, Civiteq
Outcomes and benefits
A key reason for the success of the project was the delivery of a piece of work that met the council’s actual needs. We helped them get to a place where they could move forward with their ERP options appraisal, address their operational service issues, and drive forward the identified improvement opportunities as part of a wider digital strategy.
Civiteq has provided the Council with a robust options appraisal, considering the wider digital strategy, and supported the development of the outline business case. Now the Council can make an informed decision on its ERP pathway for future implementation.
Jon comments: “The real success is we’ve been working in partnership with people who really understand what they’re talking about. There’s that whole depth of experience, and we felt we were dealing with people we could trust. Success depends on having the right people you can work with, and that’s certainly what we experienced with Civiteq.”
Book a meeting with one of our team to discuss the challenges you may want to overcome.