City of Marion implements Civica’s managed services to manage Council’s Authority local government systems.
City of Marion, centred 10km south-west of Adelaide, has become the first major metropolitan council in Australia to implement Civica’s managed services to manage Council’s Authority local government systems.
Civica reports an accelerating trend towards managed services, which initially attracted local authorities in remote areas where IT expertise is in short supply, but has begun to attract metropolitan libraries and Councils such as Marion and Bayside in Melbourne.
City of Marion has used Civica’s Authority local government management solution since 1999, including Authority e-Services and the new Authority Asset and Infrastructure Management (AIM) application. Under the new arrangement, Civica staff will manage all aspects of running Authority, as well as providing a disaster recovery service that will mitigate risk in the event of a computer failure.
Manager, ICT and Knowledge Management, Karen White says that the process was consultative, resulting in a tailored solution that meets Council’s needs.
“Civica are always responsive during implementation and have been accommodating with our change management processes which gives our staff great confidence in dealing with Civica.”
Marion’s IT Projects Co-ordinator, Joanne Smith, says: “Council wanted to focus on the core business of making data available for business units within the organisation, and ultimately for residents and ratepayers.
“Now our ICT team can ensure that Council’s business units receive accurate and timely data, while Civica focus on the delivery of upgrades and the overheads of managing the systems. As a long term Civica customer, it made sense to tap into their expertise by having specialists in Authority support our system.”
Council switched over to the managed service arrangement in the first quarter of 2007, after investigating options in the previous quarter.
Phil Mattingly, Network Systems Support for Marion, says the move prompted management to examine and review processes, workflows and procedures, ensuring that an effective framework was in place before the handover to Civica. This proved beneficial by increasing levels of efficiency.
“The changeover also reduces risk for Council, as Civica takes responsibility for disaster recovery and business continuity. We clearly identified this benefit, and like the fact that Civica’s expertise is available immediately when it’s needed.”
The system has operated smoothly since the cutover and Phil says Civica implemented an operating system upgrade during this time, which reinforced confidence in Council’s IT partner.
“We believe the managed service model will also give Council a little more influence into the development of Authority, and better knowledge of trends, as there is now a constant channel of communications with our vendor partner,” says Phil. “And having a close link to a different pool of expertise can only be beneficial from our point of view.”
He says the arrangement also gives Council’s IT team better statistical information to identify trends and improve capacity planning. Civica employs tools that monitor Council’s server utilisation, allowing Marion to plan for the future of its systems with a little more assurance.
City of Marion, some 10km south-west of Adelaide’s CBD, covers 55 sq km and has a population of 76,000. Income totals $48.4 million, while the City had a capital budget of $11.8 million in 2006-07 to maintain the community’s $428 million assets.
Marion features a diversity of housing, topography and cultures and has a significant industrial sector. It is home to the Living Kaurna Cultural Centre, the Marion Cultural Centre, Mitsubishi Motors and Westfield Marion Shopping Centre.
Natural attractions include conservation and recreation parks, rivers and a rugged coastline.