Selima Software
Selima Software, based in Sheffield, UK, is a specialist in IT solutions for public sector human resources departments. Starting out as a payroll software vendor, the company has adapted to the shifting needs of its customers, and now offers a suite of applications designed to model complex HR processes and align IT with an organisation’s specific operational needs.
This suite of applications, known as VISION, has proved especially popular among local authorities, which often have large numbers of staff and highly complex organisational structures.
“Moving to a new integrated human resources solution or centralised ERP system can be a risky move for local authorities, because the implementation tends to be complex and the software is often difficult to use,” explains Mark Kinnell, Managing Director at Selima Software. “Such projects can meet resistance from users, who are reluctant to make drastic changes to their ways of working. By contrast, VISION provides a powerful business process modelling environment which helps local authorities implement simple workflows that users can get to grips with easily – and Selima allocates dedicated consultants to each implementation to ensure that the transition is managed smoothly.”
VISION provides simple setup wizards to help organisations build new processes without the need for expensive development work or technical expertise. A wide range of best-practice processes is also available out-of-the-box, which can help to accelerate deployment.
Mark Kinnell adds: “The flexibility of the solution means that the possibilities are almost limitless. For example, VISION can be easily integrated with solutions such as PremierEnvoy, which manages employee expenses. One local authority was able to save more than seven per cent on an annual mileage expenses budget of £4 million by using postcode analysis to measure the distance between employees’ start points and destinations.”
Reducing administrative workload
Another advantage of VISION is its technical simplicity – reducing administrative workload for busy internal IT teams.
“Most HR and ERP systems rely on a relational database platform such as Oracle or Microsoft SQL Server – platforms that need optimisation and management in order to deliver good performance,” explains Mark Kinnell. “This usually means that they need to hire a database administrator – an additional expense.
“VISION is built on the Rocket UniVerse – a multidimensional database platform. Compared to a traditional relational database, UniVerse needs fewer tables, which makes it less complex to manage. In fact, UniVerse can provide excellent performance on relatively inexpensive hardware, without the need for extensive optimisation. Our customers can more or less leave the database to run itself, enabling them to focus on higher-value tasks.”
Selima Software works closely with APT Solutions (www.aptsolutions.net), the UK’s master distributor of Rocket UniVerse and UniData technologies, to ensure that its VISION applications derive maximal performance from the UniVerse database.
“The APT Solutions team cannot be praised highly enough,” comments Mark Kinnell. “Their knowledge of the UniVerse technologies is second to none, and they frequently help us come up with new ways to enhance the performance of our platform.”
Flexible business process modelling
The VISION application suite is designed to offer a potent combination of highly efficient, easy-to-manage technological infrastructure with highly flexible, fully functional business process modelling capabilities.
“Local authorities across the UK are already benefitting from VISION and Rocket UniVerse,” concludes Mark Kinnell. “The solution is easy to implement, can be deployed on relatively low-end hardware, and does not require too much attention on a day-to-day basis – so it helps to keep IT operational costs low.
“At the same time, VISION drives efficiencies in HR processes, eliminating old-fashioned paper-based processes and enshrining best practice policies within the overall organisational framework. In the current financial climate, public sector organisations need more than ever to deliver the best possible value for public money. VISION can make a significant contribution to meeting that need.”
Products and services used
Rocket products and services that were used in this case study.
Software: UniVerse
Society of Authors
The Society of Authors is a not-for-profit organisation that was founded in 1884 to protect the interests of professional authors, illustrators and translators. With more than 8,500 members, nine full-time staff and three part-time staff, the Society campaigns for authors’ rights, negotiates with publishers and lobbies for changes to copyright and libel laws.
To manage its growing membership, the Society relies on its IT systems, especially its membership database. The database is at the heart of many of the organisation’s core processes, providing services such as events and merchandising management – so its stability and flexibility are vital for the Society’s effective operation.
“The first database we installed was problematic in several ways,” explains Emma Boniwell, Membership Secretary at the Society of Authors. “The initial data migration was faulty, which led to instability further down the line. We didn’t receive the levels of support we required from our IT supplier, and we knew that it would be difficult to extend the platform and introduce new functionality. Moreover, the user interface was inconvenient – we had to type in queries manually in order to filter the data. It was time to find a new solution.”
Finding a new partner
The Society chose to work with APT Solutions, an U2 Business Partner specialising in software and applications for the not-for-profit sector. APT’s considerable experience of building solutions for trades unions, institutions, clubs, societies, charities and public bodies has led to the development of Stratum – a membership and contact management system that offers broad functionality out of the box, while retaining the flexibility to be customised to the unique needs of each client.
“APT Stratum seemed like an ideal solution, offering not only improved reliability and usability, but also the versatility to adapt to our changing needs in the future,” says Emma Boniwell. “The APT Solutions team’s combination of technical expertise and knowledge of the challenges facing not-for-profit organisations has been invaluable, helping us build a solution that is aligned with current best practices.”
Nick Osborn, Account Manager at APT Solutions comments: “Stratum is built on the UniData database platform, using the U2 Web Development Environment and U2 SystemBuilder. UniData is designed to offer very high levels of performance, even on comparatively low-end hardware – which makes it ideal for not-for-profit organisations operating with a tight IT budget”.
“In addition, UniData is designed to be embedded into applications such as Stratum, reducing the need for database administration and making life easier for non-technical users. The platform is so stable and reliable that the Society of Authors does not need to employ its own IT staff.”
Simple, flexible access
The new solution provides access via a simple client front-end that can be installed on any standard PC, enabling employees to access the system from a laptop or home office as and when necessary. APT Solutions has also enabled Web access to a read-only version of the database, and the Society plans to extend this to full access in the near future.
“Our aim is to give limited access to members via the Web, so that they can update their own addresses and contact details,” explains Emma Boniwell. “This will reduce our workload considerably and give us more time to develop the services we offer to members.”
The Stratum front-end makes it much easier for staff to search and filter the database, eliminating the need to design and type out lengthy queries.
“APT Stratum is a very user-friendly system,” says Emma Boniwell. “You can find the information you need with a couple of mouse-clicks, and it is much easier to segment members and manage information.”
In the future, the Society hopes to work with APT Solutions to integrate the new database with its SAGE accounting package and to introduce a new e-commerce solution for merchandising.
“This solution from APT and Rocket gives us a stable, reliable and intuitive database platform that is more than capable of handling our day to day needs,” concludes Emma Boniwell. “We are confident that our partnership with APT Solutions will help us to extend the solution onto the Web, and deliver even better value to our members.”
Products and services used
Rocket products and services that were used in this case study.
Software: U2 SB+ for UniData and UniVerse, U2 Web Development Environment for UniData and UniVerse, U2 SBClient for UniData and UniVerse, UniData
Scout Association UK
Leveraging Technology to Transform the UK Scout Movement
Scouting is currently active in 216 countries and territories with a global membership of over 28 million youth participants. The Scout Association of the UK provides adventurous activities and personal development opportunities for 350,000 young people aged 6-25.
The UK Scout Association has effectively leveraged U2 technology to communicate and manage information to enhance the services provided to the UK Scouts.
The Challenge:
The UK Scout association had a need to incorporate disparate data, housed in multiple databases and locations and collected over several decades, such as contacts, awards, volunteering history and training records. The goal was to have one central system that housed records of everyone involved in Scouting that limited the access of member records to those with line management responsibility and also allowed individuals to maintain their own records, whenever possible.
The Solution:
The Scout Association of the UK, working closely with U2 Business Partner, APT Solutions, implemented one centralized membership database and contact management system, Stratum. Based on Uni
Data, the Stratum system incorporates the majority of the previous databases and organization processes. In addition, the implementation team used IBM WebSphere to gain Web access to the database. The go live for the new system was achieved on time and within budget.
