A replacement of bespoke legacy systems at Copyright Agency Limited (CAL) is expected to allow it to double its membership while keeping costs under control at the not for profit organisation.
CAL monitors copyright use, and then collects and distributes fees and royalties to its members who are the rights holders. In the past it developed its own systems to handle the process, but has over the last 18 months moved to a Microsoft Dynamics CRM and SharePoint 2010 system, which allows much more streamlined information handling, and also underpins a service that provides CAL members direct self-service access to much more granular information about copyright related issues.
According to CAL chief information officer Jacob Dudzinski, the upgrade will pay for itself by the end of next year, but the organisation is already starting to see benefits accrue in terms of faster recruitment and speedier performance.
The update will also allow easier integration with learning management systems used in schools and universities, which are often populated with copyright material. Mr Dudzinski said that CAL was doing work with the open source LMS Moodle, and had also looked at the Blackboard LMS.
At present CAL runs its own data centre, but is also keen to explore how it might be possible to run more of its operations on a cloud.
