Toowoomba Regional Council to save millions per year with new enterprise software

27 January 2015, Brisbane -- Toowoomba Regional Council is making some big changes as it transitions into a digital local government, implementing new enterprise software to realise ambitious cost reduction targets over the next five years.
The council has gone live with TechnologyOne’s solution designed specifically for local governments, as part of a whole-of-council project to introduce transformational change.

“We recognised that our previous business software would no longer support the size and complexity of our organisation,” said Toowoomba’s General Manager - Finance and Business Strategy Group and Chief Financial Officer, Arun Pratap.

“We needed to have the latest technology in place to support contemporary business processes and deliver efficient and effective services to the community - which is the whole reason Council exists.

“Since going live with TechnologyOne’s software, we’ve already secured efficiency gains in payroll processes and management.

“We’re expecting that, with better strategic and operational asset management, we’ll also have a two percent gain in our depreciation figure - which equates to a savings of about $2.5 million per annum. Council will make an ongoing investment in continuous improvement to drive further efficiency gains moving forward, and will make a full return on our investment within five years.”

Mr Pratap said the council has required comprehensive change management in order to take such a significant step forward.

“We’ve taken a manual, very paper-based organisation and brought it into the digital world,” he said.

“Thankfully, we’ve had the leadership and courage needed to make such a significant step-change, and delivered the project on time and just under budget. That isn’t the kind of praise you would normally hear from a major enterprise implementation of this kind.

“We’re feeling very empowered now, and this project has just brought our organisation to the starting line for further innovations and efficiency gains.”

The implementation brings Toowoomba Council into a growing group of TechnologyOne customers among Australian and New Zealand councils.

“We were operating without peers. Most of the other councils around us were operating on TechnologyOne software, and we felt as though we were very much missing out,” Mr Pratap said.

“I’ve been around in the local and state government sector for quite some time, and you get to know the local vendors that really know the industry, can understand your business, and have a roadmap for how the software will remain relevant moving forward. TechnologyOne stood out leaps and bounds over competitors - and they have done so for some time.”

TechnologyOne’s Executive Chairman Adrian Di Marco said the company’s preconfigured OneCouncil solution significantly reduces the time, cost and risks associated with large scale enterprise-wide software implementations.

“We have a deep understanding and engagement with the local government sector, and have built OneCouncil in collaboration with more than 200 Australian councils,” Mr Di Marco said.

“The preconfigured approach has proven hugely successful, with customers like Toowoomba Council reaping the benefits of our preconfigured solutions.”  
About TechnologyOne
 
TechnologyOne (ASX:TNE) is Australia's largest enterprise software company and one of Australia's top 200 ASX-listed companies, with offices across six countries. We create solutions that transform business and make life simple for our customers. We do this by providing powerful, deeply integrated enterprise software that is incredibly easy to use. Over 1,000 leading corporations, government departments and statutory authorities are powered by our software.
 
We participate in only eight key markets: government, local government, financial services, education, health and community services, asset intensive industries, project intensive industries and corporates. For these markets we develop, market, sell, implement, support and run our preconfigured solutions, which reduce time, cost and risk for our customers.
 
For 28 years, we have been providing our customers enterprise software that evolves and adapts to new and emerging technologies, allowing them to focus on their business and not technology. Today, our software is available on the TechnologyOne Cloud and across smart mobile devices.

For further information please visit: TechnologyOneCorp.com