| At 16 September 2008 | ||||
Allerdale | Guildford | Ribble Valley |
| |
* Users of LalPac Lite
South Staffordshire District Council
Background - When David Pattison, Head of Legal and Licensing at South Staffordshire, took over responsibility for the Licensing function, he was met by an immediate request by his team members; "please can we have a new software solution"?
David quickly realised that his staff were not entirely satisfied with the tools they had to work with, so he immediately set about seeing how he could improve their lot, while at the same time, deliver major benefits to the Council, the trade and the public. An internal audit also concluded that there was "room for improvement" at the same time.
Requirements - David started by identifying the requirements that any new system needed to be able to satisfy the following objectives:
Selection Process - Council procedures required that David needed to evaluate three alternative solutions. It quickly became apparent that the LalPac proposal clearly delivered the best functionality in terms of meeting the objectives and therefore offered the best value for money.
References were taken from all three potential suppliers, and again, the LalPac proposition stood out because LalPac users without exception were extremely positive about both the product and the level of support.
The one concern over opting for a "best of breed" solution was that it would introduce an additional software product into the Authority at a time when "consolidation" of solutions was a high priority. However, the Council were persuaded that the significant benefits that a LalPac licensing solution would deliver were sufficient to justify a departure from the corporate goal. In addition, the Council's confidence in LalPac's ability to inter-operate with current systems was also a significant factor towards minimising risk.
A formal report recommending the Council take LalPac was placed before the Licensing Committee and was subsequently approved. However, the decision had to be ratified by the full Council because the cost exceeded the budget allocated for the financial year.
Results - Phase 1 - the back office solution has been implemented and is busy helping the Licensing Team. David Pattison said; "LalPac was extremely attractive to us because it just works the way the Licensing Team needs to operate. LalPac is already delivering benefits, dealing with enquiries from the trade and public, processing new applications and effortlessly responding to regulatory and FOI requests".
David and LalPac are busy preparing for Phase 2 which will deliver the public facing solution and the integration that the Council need.