Technology One Limited (ASX:TNE), a leading Australian provider of enterprise business software solutions, has announced that Belyando Shire Council is the first local government authority to implement LGONE, Technology One’s first shared services offering. The solution has been deployed at Belyando through partner Resolute Information Technology, the technology arm of the Local Government Association of Queensland (LGAQ).

Located in central Queensland , Belyando Shire Council has approximately 140 full time employees and services a population of 12,500.  In early 2006, Belyando Shire Council went looking for a more functional and flexible solution than their aging incumbent system. One of Belyando’s major industries is coal mining and the mines make special contributions to the Shire.  As a result, Belyando has complex accounting requirements and runs five sets of accounts. The new financial component of the new integrated solution needed to be able to manage this complexity. Belyando was also constrained by budget so when the LGAQ was able to offer a comprehensive service called LG ONE, at a competitive price, it was an attractive option for Belyando.

LG ONE is a fully integrated and web-centric council administration solution that was an initiative of the LGAQ to make enterprise level technology available to smaller councils at an affordable price. It provides small to medium sized councils with the full suite of TechnologyOne solutions via a managed environment, thereby eliminating the need for a council to purchase the software suite as a stand-alone client. 

According to Belyando Shire Council CEO, John Torpy, “Our decision was based on the quality of the TechnologyOne software and the proven capabilities of both TechnologyOne and the LGAQ.  After thoroughly reference checking current users of the TechnologyOne software we found they had nothing but praise for the product and the service provided.  This high level of user satisfaction was a tremendous influence on our decision.”

The LG ONE solution includes a single version of the software, access to a centralised Help Desk, controlled upgrades and the option of 24 x 7 application support by Resolute Information Technology Pty Ltd (a wholly owned subsidiary of LGAQ).   The solution provides advanced reporting management functions, including Australian Accounting Standards and legislative reporting requirements. Reports can be generated at the touch of a button providing councils with faster processes, reducing the possibility of human error and allowing councils to easily fulfil their legislative reporting requirements.

According to Mr Torpy, “We commenced implementation of the Financials component in January 2007 and this went live in March 2007 and we have been extremely happy with how the first phase of the implementation has gone. We are now working on the Integrated Development Assessment System, which is expected to go live this month.  The 2007/08 financial year will be the first full financial year that the LG ONE software will be in operation and we will fully realise the benefits during this time. We expect that it will streamline council’s business processes and greatly increase efficiencies across the organisation. We will have far better reporting mechanisms as managers and councillors will be able to extract real-time information from the system with ease and this can be fully customised to their specific requirements.

“We are also improving the breadth and level of services to our constituents because LG ONE is enabling us to move some services online, such as the online development assessment system.  Additionally, the system is already enhancing productivity by simplifying the day to day activities for some employees.  For example, the employees who do outdoor maintenance no longer need to remember ten digit works order numbers for each job and this makes the task of filling in their daily timesheets much quicker and easier,” concluded Mr Torpy.

According to Adrian Di Marco, Executive Chairman of TechnologyOne, LG ONE is part of an ongoing commitment by TechnologyOne to provide local government with solutions which meet their unique challenges.

“Our relationship with the local government sector spans more than a decade and in that time we have invested heavily into research and development to ensure that we provide local governments with solutions that fulfil their specific requirements,” he said, “LG ONE was developed in direct recognition that councils are striving to find better ways to do business and meet the needs of their community whilst dealing with cost shifting and skills shortages.”

Belyando is the first of several councils who have chosen the LG ONE solution and who expect to implement LG ONE during 2007.  Three other councils are also in the process of implementing this solution.