Four Councils Expect to Save GBP3.4m using UNIT4 Local Government Platform for Shared Services

UNIT4 Business Software Ltd, the UK division of UNIT4, the world’s leading provider of business software for fast changing organisations, earlier this year announced that Cotswold District Council, Forest of Dean District Council, West Oxfordshire District Council, and Cheltenham Borough Council (including Cheltenham Borough Homes) have jointly selected the UNIT4 Local Government Platform to underpin the council’s planned shared services programme known as "GO". The UNIT4 Local Government Platform is a single integrated solution with Agresso Business World, the UK’s leading local government ERP solution at its core supporting Finance, Procurement, HR and Payroll shared services. The GO shared services programme was instigated to align the councils with initiatives such as the Total Place agenda and the Government’s suggestion that local government should "achieve shared back office functions and integrated service delivery mechanisms". In addition GO was viewed as the perfect vehicle to reduce costs and improve services in the face of considerable budget cuts. "GO underwent a competitive procurement process using the OGC SPRINTii Framework, which is available to all public sector bodies via the framework operator, Specialist Computer Centres (SCC), to make sure that they had the right technology solution to support the authorities’ long-term objectives. Using the OGC SPRINT ii Framework and SCC enabled GO to reduce both the cost and time associated with the procurement process. "We expect to benefit from economies of scale that one council could not achieve alone and in doing so provide better value for money to our taxpayers." said Pat Pratley, Senior Responsible Owner for the GO Programme. "The procurement process concluded that the reasonable cost, track record and flexibility of the Local Government Platform from UNIT4, was the right solution for us." Access to up-to-date accurate data online will allow councillors and officers to make faster and better informed decisions. The Platform will also lower administration costs by offering self-service functions for day-to-day tasks such as ordering goods, claiming expenses and requesting annual leave. Manager self-service capabilities will allow departmental heads to take ownership of their service costs, removing reliance on centralised corporate control. The Platform will also allow co-ordinated procurement to ensure the right goods and services are provided at the best possible cost. "The scalability and flexibility of the Platform was very important for our long-term plans as once the project has been successfully implemented, the GO partners would like other public sector bodies to benefit from sharing services with us in the future," concluded Pat Pratley. UNIT4 is the number one supplier of financial systems in local government with more than 96 councils in the UK and has signed a growing number of shared services contracts as authorities look to save money and improve frontline services. "This is an innovative project by the four councils involved and we are delighted to be involved," said Darren Hunt, Director at UNIT4 Business Software Ltd. "UNIT4’s Local Government Platform is designed to let its users rapidly adapt to change without reliance on expensive external consultants and programmers. This makes it the ideal solution for local authorities as the cuts begin to bite." About UNIT4 UNIT4 is a global business software and services company aimed at helping dynamic organisations to embrace change simply, quickly and cost effectively in a market sector it calls 'Businesses Living IN Change' (BLINC)™. The Group incorporates a number of the world’s leading change embracing software brands including Agresso Business World and CODA financial management software. Agresso Business World is our flagship ERP suite for mid-sized services intensive organisations. It is widely acknowledged for delivering ongoing, post-implementation changes without the typical external IT costs and services that cost firms huge sums of money each year. This is achieved thanks to its powerful VITA™ architecture, which is unmatched in the ERP world. CODA Financials is an award-winning suite of best-of-class financial management software designed to integrate with your industry- and company-specific applications. CODA’s LINK™ architecture sets it apart from ordinary accounting systems by providing a financial information backbone for companies with fast changing and mixed application environments. It is a global accounting solution for mid-to large sized organisations, offering a "no compromise" approach to financial modeling, process control and application choice. In the UK Unit4 focuses strongly on the public sector where it is the leading provider of finance systems to local government and post 16 education organisations. The company also has considerable presence in the emergency services and health sectors. In the commercial sectors Financial Services, Retail and Media and Publishing are key markets. UNIT4 is a top six mid-market ERP software player globally and the 2nd largest European ERP supplier.

Four Councils Expect to Save GBP3.4m using UNIT4 Local Government Platform for Shared Services

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