Manukau City Council Serves Citizens in Real Time

Manukau City Council Serves Citizens in Real Time with PeopleSoft

Manukau City Council has announced the go live of the first two stages in its PeopleSoft implementation, on time and on budget.

The PeopleSoft applications rolled out in the first stage on 1 July include Enterprise Portal, HR and general ledger modules including purchasing, accounts payable and contract management. This first stage involves PeopleSoft applications at around 50 sites, from swimming pools to community services and libraries to art centres.

Stage Two went live on 11 August and includes billing and accounts receivable, CRM for the call centre and local government-specific applications from specialist supplier Hansen. These applications include land rating, water billing, land information, and cashiering and are being integrated with the PeopleSoft core systems. Further rollouts are scheduled for later this year and early 2004 and more than 1000 users (including some external service providers) will eventually have access to the systems.

One of the challenges facing Manukau City Council is the breadth of services provided by the local government organisation. Glenn Teal, Manager of Citizen and Customer Services, believes that no single business would have such diverse users with such varying needs.

“We have an incredible range of people, skills and audiences within Manukau City, for example there are 154 languages spoken in Manukau,” says Teal.

“As a local government body funded by ratepayers we also have a great responsibility to be transparent in our actions such as putting all major contracts out to tender and meeting the legislative requirements as the council for New Zealand’s third largest city. And although we are not profit driven, we still have to make sure all our systems and processes are cost effective.”

Moving the council’s disparate legacy systems to PeopleSoft’s Pure Internet Architecture™ has had a number of positive outcomes for Manukau. One of which is reducing business risk in systems support and obsolescence of technology.

“The PeopleSoft applications have improved the quality of data we have access to, as well as reducing the number of systems the council uses,” says Teal. “PeopleSoft has also facilitated a significant leap in the customer service we can provide to our citizens. When we fully implement the CRM applications we will be able to maximise service to our citizens via the single complete view of each person who has interactions with any of the diverse services which Manukau City Council provides. Considering the significant annual growth in customer contact volumes, cost effectiveness and quality of advice are also important drivers.”

The PeopleSoft rollout has driven organisational and process changes within Manukau City Council as mandated policies are incorporated into the system, ensuring all employees are able to follow correct procedures at all times. For example the purchasing system has gone from being a manual process to being completely computerised. This organisational change has required a huge commitment to educating users. By the end of August Manukau City Council had undertaken 2000 person sessions of training relating to the first phase.

Teal says, “We want a workforce that is competent in using world-class systems. Manukau City Council aims to be a place where people want to work. For many of our users, accessing the portal via the internet is a very new experience. To be able to view their payslips or apply for leave online is a practical example of how the new systems have a direct personal benefit for staff. Our employees are embracing the new technology with a great deal of enthusiasm.”

PeopleSoft’s enterprise portal provides each user with the selected role-based information that is critical to their role, enhancing productivity and maximising employee self-service.

The general ledger applications include analytical tools for decision support and accelerated work flow. PeopleSoft purchasing manages purchasing activities on line for the most efficient, cost-effective procurement for the council’s unique requirements. This will result in increased productivity and financial control as well as superior data integrity.

After PeopleSoft won the tender to supply the technology, Manukau City Council also awarded the company the implementation contract through its PeopleSoft Global Services arm.

David Webster, Managing Director PeopleSoft Australia and New Zealand, says that as prime contractor, PeopleSoft Global Services managed the entire implementation process including sub-contractors Sales Technologies and the project team for the Hansen applications.

“Our partnering approach to the project ensured that both PeopleSoft and Manukau City Council were working together to achieve the common goal.

“The relationship has developed over the life span of the project and is now a truly productive partnership.”

Teal agrees and says the two organisations hold regular formal partnering meetings to evaluate their performance and ensure the project continues to proceed on time and on budget.

“Both parties worked really hard to ensure the arrangement met the expectations of the two teams and we now have a great understanding of each other.”

Webster commented, “Manukau City Council now has seamless and immediate interaction between back office systems and users particularly in HR and Finance. This streamlining is expected to deliver significant savings to the organisation and vastly improved service for all stakeholder interactions.”

About PeopleSoft

PeopleSoft (NASDAQ: PSFT) is the world’s second largest provider of enterprise application software with 11,000 customers in more than 25 industries and 150 countries. For more information, visit us at www.peoplesoft.com.

About Manukau City Council
Located within the Auckland region Manukau is New Zealand’s third largest and fastest growing city. With a population of around 300,000, it is projected to become the second largest by 2016. Manukau is centrally located within a hub of transportation and communication networks that link it with the country’s domestic and international markets. It is a vibrant, unique and diverse city with a peerless natural environment, strong economic growth and supports an attractive lifestyle. The Council is focused on maintaining and developing the city as a desirable place to live and work. For more information, visit us at www.manukau.govt.nz.

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