How local governments are modernising with Enterprise Service Management

We’ve recently explored some of the challenges that local authorities are facing all over the UK, and how the scale of them is ramping up all the time. Increased populations, greater service expectation, budget cuts, increased costs, outdated systems and a lack of efficiency are all playing their part. With a total funding gap for local authorities of around £4 billion at present, the situation is unlikely to improve any time soon.

This blog explores Enterprise Service Management (ESM) as a potential solution, highlighting some of the early adopters of ESM and the difference that it’s made to their workflows and service delivery.

An ESM success story: Sheffield City Council

Sheffield City Council’s existing digital service management platform was proving too complex to use across the organisation, and too expensive when the licence for it came up for renewal.

Instead, the council partnered with SCC to adopt 4me, our cloud-based ESM platform. It took just six weeks to replace their existing platform with 4me, and just a few further weeks after go-live, more than 100 templates had been deployed and over 30 workflows automated. Processes including Freedom of Information requests, subject access requests and asset management workflows have been transformed by automation, and are helping streamline operations for a full-time employee base of over 7000.

On the back of this success, the council is now exploring the expansion of ESM into HR processes such as onboarding and disciplinary procedures. Additionally, ESM is being evaluated for the streamlining of 437 shared mailboxes, so that emails are converted into trackable service requests.

Maximising ESM’s potential: Oxfordshire County Council

Oxfordshire County Council already had an existing relationship with SCC for data services, but needed help when its legacy system was becoming obsolete.

One particular issue was that they were having difficulty finding a suitable replacement for a business application used to vet taxi drivers for children’s transport services. 

Introducing the council to 4me gave them the opportunity to design and build external and internal services. Digitising the taxi driver vetting process with end-to-end automation, for example, increased their application processing capacity by 40% despite a reduction in staff headcount.  This proved to be the catalyst for exploring 4me as a service workflow automation platform across the council, and in the long-term, the council is exploring the rolling out of a self-service portal to 400,000 people, comprising over 250 council services.

Making the transition to ESM

ESM represents a fundamental shift in how many long-standing workflows and processes work within local authorities. That’s why it’s so important to plan the change with care, and work with a trusted expert who can guide the implementation forward.