Launceston IT manager to resellers, roll up your sleeves

Tell us about a recent project that required an external IT provider.

The re-engineering of our planning and building application processes so as to achieve a fully electronic process, including online lodgement and tracking by customers and the use of mobile devices for field staff. The project had assistance from TechnologyOne.

How did the external provider help?

Primarily consulting and assistance to configure our existing TechnologyOne application software to achieve our business objectives. This also involved changes to the software itself.

Who are your regular partners?

TechnologyOne provides our primary business software applications. These include financials, works and asset management, payroll and HR, information management, and property and regulatory systems. A lot of our infrastructure hardware is HP. 

How does a partner impress you and win your business?

A proven track record in the market and their commercial sustainability, and a willingness to engage and understand our requirements, objectives and strategies, with their own products and strategies complementing ours. They must demonstrate a willingness to be a partner, not just a provider.

Is it all about price?

Definitely not: the solution must be cost-justifiable and provide evident value. We don’t always buy the cheapest but aim instead to get value across a range of factors.

When did an IT provider impress you?

TechnologyOne’s acceptance of our ideas and requirements and incorporating them into their product to improve it for ourselves and ultimately other clients was fundamental to the project’s success.

What are common mistakes that IT providers make?

The sales process not being backed up by deliverables. Not engaging sufficiently to gain and illustrate that they understanding our objectives and drivers. Providing services to implement products that they do not have a long-term or vested interest in. There is a benefit in the product owner also providing the implementation and ongoing support services.

How is cloud affecting your approach to IT investment?

Cloud services are a fundamental part of our ICT strategy for the next three to five years. They will be closely examined and adopted if the business case is in their favour. I see it as being decided on a service-by-service basis. There will be some ICT components and services that will lend themselves to transition based on clear and readily identifiable benefits. For others, it may not be so clear. The lifecycle of existing infrastructure and systems will impact on transition timeframes.

Is your use of external providers increasing or decreasing?

Increasing, albeit slowly until now, however, I expect that our uptake will increase as a result of our strategic direction.