Behind the Parks and Garbage Trucks

Behind the = longhaus Parks and Garbage Trucks ASSET MANAGEMENT IN LOCAL GOVERNMENT So you thought the Council just collected your garbage? In Australia and New Zealand, there are more than 600 local governments. Each one of these "Councils" employs an average of around 500 people whose responsibility it is to manage a broad portfolio of assets including roads, pipelines, aquifers, dams, plants, vehicle fleets, properties, parks – and people. AUSTRALIAN AND NZ LOCAL GOVERNMENTS MANAGE A BROAD RANGE OF ASSETS 14% 99 84 76% 60% PROPERTY PHONE ROADS PARKS VEHICLES 64% WATER PIPES On average, THREE systems are used to manage these assets. Low levels of system training adds further challenges to the successful management of these asset portfolios HOWEVER, 65% Dedicated Help Desk Training in Classroom 62% 50% of Local Governments the levels of technical and information integration between these systems is low. WHO RUNS THESE SYSTEMS? Without formalised ongoing training structures, many Councils rely upon experiential learning. This can inhibit the adoption of full system capabilities and limits their ability to take advantage of new functionality, business processes and ongoing improvements. The result is systemic-level impairment in the ability to achieve true organisational change. 58%46% 50% Internal IT Staff Software Vendors Other Internal Staff Councils typically take a DIY approach to maintenance and ongoing support of their core systems. Specific business process outsourcing for both finance and human resource management is also very low. Maintaining a software system via internal staff - in small IT environments has both advantages and disadvantages. A key trade-off¬ is the focus of internal resources being directed towards operational and not strategic activities. THE REGIONAL NATURE OF COUNCILS DIRECTLY AFFECTS CURRENT VENDOR SATISFACTION LEVELS 26% 34% Councils indicated they would neither invest further funds nor recommend their current Councils were also not likely to recommend their current vendor based on local delivery capacity. system vendor based upon the level of on-site support received. Dissatisfaction with service levels inevitably affects a Council's entire view of a vendor over the life of a service contract which can exceed 10-years. While this often results in a "blame the system" event or change decision, the root cause is often the poor availability of business critical data or processes and not the software system itself. Understanding the correct driver for software replacement is a key innovation challenge for Local Government CIO's. Low levels of integration between asset management systems, user knowledge management and training, deployment of internal IT resources, and perceptions involving vendor support are road blocks for the Local Government CIO and Councils to maximising their asset portfolio's and enabling long-term strategic visions. E longhaus SOURCE: Asset Focussed ERP Study June 2012 | Longhaus.com