Case Studies: Government

Maroochy Shire Council wanted to improve communication to enable more insightful decision making. As part of the Microsoft Queensland Spotlight 2007 program, it worked with Microsoft Gold Certified Partner Dimension Data to create a collaboration portal based on Microsoft® Office SharePoint® Server 2007. The solution provides a more effective way to measure and monitor the key performance indicators set out in the council’s Corporate Plan.

The Department of Fisheries, part of the Ministry of Agriculture in France, manages all maritime activities in the country, including the regulation of the fishing industry. In 2006, the European Union (EU) cited the department for its inability to collect inspection data and generate reports appropriately. In two months, the Department of Fisheries implemented Microsoft® Office SharePoint® Server 2007, Microsoft Office InfoPath® 2007, and InfoPath Forms Services. With this integrated solution, the department can gather information digitally during inspections and then easily supply reports to the EU. In addition, the Department of Fisheries can predict potential infractions, focusing its inspections and ensuring that one of France’s most important natural resources is well protected.

Over 120 different administrative procedures, innumerable auxiliary calculations, and various public enterprises and interests had turned the City of Salzgitter’s reporting system into an exercise in patience. To streamline its reporting system, the City of Salzgitter opted to set up a data warehouse, which gathers information from all departmental applications. An Intranet reporting portal based upon Microsoft® Office SharePoint® Portal Server 2003 keeps policy decision-makers, executives, and employees up to date and gives them access to all data through the familiar environment of Microsoft Office Professional Edition 2003. The project’s success is readily visible, with throughput times required to generate reports having dropped substantially. In addition, administration employees are spared the distraction of dealing with ad-hoc queries.

The Queensland Department of Child Safety needed to replace the outdated, inefficient and cumbersome legacy systems it used to manage client information. The department worked with Microsoft Consulting Services and Microsoft Gold Certified Partners Avanade, Devtest and Readify within the Microsoft Solutions Development Centre to build the Integrated Client Management System (ICMS). This controlled environment mitigated the risk of such a complex and high-profile project and gave the department access to Microsoft’s global skills base. The ICMS was developed using the Microsoft® .NET development framework and based on a variety of Microsoft server products and technologies. The department is now taking advantage of access to timely, accurate and consistent information, which has enhanced decision making. Other benefits include enhanced security, improved reporting and increased staff satisfaction.