Councils rush to implement CRM

Councils are struggling to implement technology to improve business processes as deadlines set by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (ODPM) loom next year.

According to a report from the Enterprise Workflow National Project (EWNP), 19 per cent of councils are expecting to fail in implementing better workflow plans by March 2006. Seventy-two per cent of local authorities are aiming to meet targets in the next six months, while just nine per cent of councils said they have already finished.

The report said that although work is underway, much more needs to be done to meet the requirements set out by the ODPM to avoid a last minute rush.

In a press statement, Neil Hind, an EWNP project manager, said: "The results are not unexpected as this was always seen as one of the most challenging outcomes. For councils to meet the requirements they need to be re-engineering services that can be resource and time intensive."

The ODPM said workflow "encompasses a business approach and a range of technologies that enable the transformation and automation of processes through the management of work".

A large part of workflow is attributed to Priority Service Outcome (PSO), which relies on the integration of customer relationship management systems with back office servers. The report found that most councils (91 per cent) had yet to plan this work.

But most councils (80 per cent) said they will still meet PSO deadlines. The majority (78 per cent) plan to be at the implementation stage in September.