Dynamically moving Wales forward

Adopting best practice from the Welsh Government 

Transport for Wales was formed as a limited company in March 2018 to manage the re-procurement of the rail franchise when responsibility transferred from the UK Department of Transport to the Welsh Government. Ynyr Roberts joined in June 2018 as head of corporate strategy. 

“There was a lot of early learning at that time. We defined a standard build for laptops with everything you need to get going: Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel, Microsoft SharePoint, Microsoft OneDrive,” explains Ynyr Roberts. “We liked the Microsoft approach and it aligned with Welsh Government’s approach. We followed their best practice on cybersecurity, single sign-on and governance.”

This approach helped to inform the procurement of a new finance system. Ynyr Roberts says, “We started canvassing Welsh Government bodies about their Finance systems and we visited some that had implemented Microsoft Dynamics in the cloud: Dynamics 365 for Finance and Supply Chain Management.”

Sourcing a scalable finance system for a new business 

Having looked at major ERP systems through to open-source solutions, the team piggybacked on the research conducted by other public sector organisations. They realised Microsoft Dynamics 365 for Finance and Supply Chain Management was always on the list. 

Ynyr Roberts remembers: “We looked at the whole gambit of Finance systems. We need something that is robust enough to manage the millions of pounds we are shifting per month to our rail partner in grants and subsidies and into infrastructure projects. We wanted a solid, cloud-based solution that could scale with us. And the ‘pay as you go’ licence model is quite neat from that point of view.”

As well as hitting these major criteria, the Transport for Wales team saw Microsoft Dynamics offers a good balance in terms of cost and, critically, would offer the necessary scalability. Although the team was, at that point, only ten people, it would number into the hundreds in a few years’ time.

Ynyr Roberts adds, “The integration with other Microsoft products and the recommendations we’d had from elsewhere in Welsh Government probably clinched it for us.”

Why choose Microsoft Dynamics for Finance and Supply Chain?

Transport for Wales began by implementing Microsoft Dynamics 365 for Finance and Supply Chain Management. Discussing the reasons for the adoption, Ynyr Roberts pointed out that whilst the business challenge of getting some users accustomed to a new system can be complex, over time, “for central finance and project finance – all the stuff you take for granted – it’s robust, it does what it says on the tin, it serves us well. At its core, you can’t knock Dynamics 365 – it’s been absolutely bombproof.”

Ynyr Roberts says that although the system is simpler to use than the other major ERP players, it is important to plan how to set it up. “You need to think about the configuration of processes, security, users and workflows. Set up at the beginning is absolutely key, so work with a good partner and invest in user training.”

Malcolm Payne says that reaching out directly to Microsoft has also been beneficial: “Access to Microsoft training, specialist resources and the early adopters’ scheme has been great for us. I think it is always a good idea to check partner advice with the solution owner, so you know you are following best practice.” 

Leveraging Power Apps to simplify the user experience

As the volume of users has increased, Transport for Wales has developed its use of the application platform that Microsoft Dynamics 365 provides.

“As economies of scale change, you do things in a different way,” says Malcolm Payne. “Everybody in the company uses Microsoft Dynamics, but many people are only using it for project timesheets.”

Drawing on the tight integration between Microsoft Dynamics and other Microsoft solutions, Transport for Wales saw an opportunity to simplify the user experience when it came to project timesheet updates. The team created a dedicated project timesheet app using Microsoft Power Apps. Users run the app on their mobile phones, which offers a familiar and very visual experience. The data is automatically updated into Microsoft Dynamics 365 for Finance and Supply Chain. For the 200 staff who work out on trains and only have access to mobile devices, such an approach is ideal. Now, all new starters are directed to use the app. 

New possibilities for innovation

In the summer of 2020, Transport for Wales took the decision to expand on its existing investment in Microsoft Dynamics and implement Microsoft Dynamics for Customer Service as the company CRM solution. This time, it decided to work without a partner.

“We took the decision to stand it up for ourselves,” says Malcolm Payne, “so this time the support from Microsoft has been essential. It’s gone really well. We now have visibility of stakeholder contact and how many times an issue is being raised. It’s enabled us to reach out to our stakeholders in a much more positive and proactive way.”

Here too, Microsoft Power Apps is being leveraged to enhance the user experience and explore new possibilities for innovation. Malcolm Payne explains, “We were tasked by the Welsh Government to manage the Shared Travel Fund this year. We used Microsoft Power Apps to build an app through which local authorities can make their application. That goes into the CRM, but it is the payment piece that is interesting. We want the authorities to request payment through the portal too, so we are using Microsoft Power Automate to push that data into Dynamics 365 for Finance and Supply Chain to create a purchase order and then follow that normal finance workflow.”

An integrated application platform

Malcolm Payne says there is no doubt using Microsoft Dynamics for both CRM and Finance has benefitted the organisation. “Some of the work we’ve done with CRM has helped us to understand what we can do with Finance and Supply Chain. It has given us the insight to think: what else can we put in front of the system for the simplest users?”

This approach benefits users because those who don’t need to access the full system can use an app that is more focused to their immediate needs. Malcolm Payne says, “We’ll be using the same Power Apps approach for other grants as well. It’s been very easy to pick up and we’ve been able to develop it very easily. At the end of the month, we have a competition going into schools to name our new fleet of trains. It’s a Microsoft Form built into the CRM that we’ve spun up in a week.”

In this way, Transport for Wales can capture information from its stakeholders easily. Data can be shared bidirectionally in a streamlined and efficient way. It can be presented in an app. And it can be captured using the app and immediately updated in Microsoft Dynamics 365. Malcolm Payne says, “It’s our first foray into this sort of thing and, if it lands well, we’ll be doing more of this into CRM and Finance and Supply Chain.”

Fulfilling transport for Wales’ essential public function

Ynyr Roberts says the cloud-based Microsoft 365 and Dynamics platforms have served the organisation well. “People didn’t realise how good our systems are until they talk to friends elsewhere. They’ve all had to go home for COVID-19 and suddenly found that nothing works. We’d been trying to introduce Microsoft Teams in 2019 to reduce spend on external meeting rooms. It was a hard slog initially, but in 2020 everyone said it was the best thing we had. We all went home with our laptops and we haven’t missed any work at all. Microsoft has served us well; we just carried on as we were.” 

Ynyr Roberts continues: “We’ve been fortunate. Microsoft has become our lifeblood: heart, veins, everything. Without it, we would be unable to do what we do. We are performing an important public function. Getting systems that work has been key.”