Is public sector digital transformation worth the risk?
Case Study: Guildford Council – Lessons learnt from a recent implementation
Facing a £12m budget gap due to austerity measures and increased demand for services, Guildford began a transformation program to improve customer focus and modernize services and systems that would identify savings and make the council more efficient. They quickly realized they needed to invest significantly in ICT. Bringing together their separate finance, HR, payroll, income management, and ordering systems into a single ERP.
Impressed by Unit4’s proven track record in local government, comprehensive dashboarding functionality, and off-the-shelf solution through Embridge Consulting, meant Guildford could deliver fast time to value and meet tight timescales.
Unit4 and Embridge Consulting’s public sector model is a turnkey implementation model encompassing industry-specific best practices, documented design, and a preconfigured build, making use of years' worth of expertise. With this being the first new system Guildford had implemented in 25 years, that was extremely valuable to the project and acted as a catalyst for change for the whole organization. Guildford realized early time to value with the recruitment solution delivered within 10 weeks of signing the contract in Spring 2019.
We have seen … £1.3m savings from our Future Guildford transformation program, and have consolidated our systems into one ERP, resulting in streamlined processes.
Claire Morris
Director of Resources, Guildford Borough Council
When asked to reflect on lessons learned, Claire said she wouldn’t recommend undertaking a major corporate restructure at the same time as an ERP implementation. Availability of subject matter experts and a lack of resources did present a problem at certain points in the project. However, having the recruitment module in place helped streamline and automate the process. The Unit4 Modeller tool allowed Guildford to review several structure options for the organization and decide which to adopt.
Emma O’Brien, Founder and CEO of Embridge Consulting, added that collaboration between Unit4, Guildford, and Embridge was key to a successful outcome.
