Case Study: Derbyshire Dales District Council: Digital Transformation Project
Derbyshire Dales District Council had a wide range of systems, however there was very little in terms of process automation, workflow and systems integration. Meritec’s team worked tirelessly with the dedicated officers at the Council to deliver a truly transformational Digital Platform solution.
The Challenge
The Council had a wide range of legacy systems, in-house developments, spreadsheets etc. in use across all service areas and it is fair to say that there was very little joined-up thinking in terms of process automation, workflow and systems integration. Whilst looking to standardise and align many of these disparate systems, a major part of the brief for the project was to achieve end-to-end Digital Transactions that integrate with the relevant back-office systems wherever possible. The initial phase of the project was to focus on the 2 main high-volume service areas of Waste Management and Customer Services whilst also delivering a “My Account” facility to allow residents to interact Digitally with the Council.
One of several challenges that was overcome during the first phase of the project was the integration of the Meritec CXM (Customer Experience Management) & Self-Service modules to two different Waste Management systems. When the project started the Council were in the process of procuring a new Waste Service which would come with a new software solution for managing the rounds and in-cab technology, however the project timescales dictated we could not wait until that new Service was in place to launch the new Digital platform, so Meritec integrated firstly with the existing solution and then re-visited (and re-iterated) the integrations for the new solution once it became available later in the project.
Furthermore, throw a global pandemic into the mix and the challenge associated with delivering a major transformation project fully remotely, on-time and to budget was one of the greatest challenges the Meritec team has faced in recent years.
The Solution
Meritec’s team worked tirelessly with the dedicated officers at the Council to deliver a truly transformational Digital Platform solution that encompassed CXM, Waste Services & a Citizen My Account portal facility.
Furthermore, a number of key Council Officers were trained on the configuration element of the low-code platform to enable the Council to develop their own workflows and processes without any input from Meritec. The Council used the flexibility, agility and rapid low/no-code self-configuration features of the Meritec Digital Platform to manage a range of COVID19 support measures to aid businesses and residents in the Dales, including fully managing the end-to-end process of issuing all the Governments grant schemes through the systems. The platform was ultimately used to handle thousands of applications and supporting the payment of millions of pounds to businesses in the District.
Client’s View
A service review of the benefits achieved was undertaken 7 months after the launch of the new Digital Services and the Council were delighted to find that over 46,500 transactions had been processed through the Digital Platform in that time. Of the nearly 47k transactions, 91% of these were via the self-service channel. A fantastic testament to the benefits that can be achieved when using the Meritec Low Code Digital Platform to enable organisation and service transformation.
“Meritec have provided excellent support to my organisation during the last 12 months since we entered our partnership to develop a new CRM system. Without the support we have received, the last nine months would have been so much harder. Thanks Adam to you and your team for all of your efforts and support”
Paul Wilson, Chief Executive at Derbyshire Dales District Council
Meritec’s View:
Delivering a complex and far-reaching Digital Transformation project during a global pandemic certainly put the team out of their comfort zone! However, even given all the challenges that were faced, we were delighted to be able to play such a big part in the success of the Derbyshire Dales Digital Transformation project and were obviously thrilled with the usage figures that have been highlighted since the launch of the services.