Newport City Council is transitioning its finance systems to SaaS provider TechnologyOne as part of efforts to deliver "a more connected experience" for its user base of over 500 employees and wider supplier community.
A real-time dashboard will replace much of the current manual processes between siloed systems, allowing the unitary authority to bring greater integration between its many finance functions. This, alongside a more modern and intuitive digital interface, will drive efficiencies between the council and its local suppliers, helping to support the provision of services that better meet the needs of local residents and community members.
Robert Green, Assistant Head of Finance at Newport City Council, says the technology will also help embrace more remote and hybrid ways of working with its anywhere, anytime, any device functionality.
“A cloud-based system is a massive leap forward for us in terms of functionality. Having smarter systems that communicate between themselves in real-time and an interface that all users can navigate with confidence, will significantly improve decision-making,” said Green.
“Quicker processes and better decision-making by the council internally and with local suppliers through tools like procure-to-pay, will help free up the time of hundreds of council employees and managers allowing them to focus on front-line support work.”
Newport is migrating from a number of on-site legacy systems to TechnologyOne’s new OneCouncil cloud-based solution. This is the latest step in the council’s Digital Strategy, and follows the migration of four major systems in 2021/2022, with further planned activity next year and beyond.
“Migrating over to the cloud also has added benefits in today's hybrid world by allowing employees access on any device, at any time of the day. The ability to offer greater workday flexibility, where possible, will enhance employee well-being by making us better equipped to support varying lifestyles,” he continues.
Newport City Council also expects to reduce IT support costs by switching from on–premise systems and services. Instead of IT outsourcing partners having to constantly and physically update its systems and software, all maintenance, data storage and upgrades will be carried out remotely in the cloud.