The local arm of German software maker Software AG aims to offer its business process management (BPM) solution to more municipalities across SA, as it capitalises on insights gained from its partnership with the Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality (EMM).
This is according to Mohamed Cassoojee, VP for Software AG SA, speaking to ITWeb on the fringes of the GovTech conference hosted by the State IT Agency, in Durban.
Although specific municipalities were not named, he said the company is in discussions with 10, which are spread across the Eastern Cape, Free State, Limpopo, Mpumalanga and the North West. "The interest has been great so far and they want to do what Ekurhuleni has done," he said.
The deal with EMM - which began three years ago - focused on integrating and standardising processes in 20 customer care areas across the municipality. It aimed to eliminate duplication of work and cumbersome services delivery procedures. Its solutions sought to improve efficiency in the departments of energy, water and sanitation, corporate and legal, city development, infrastructure services, and health and social services.
Localised workforce
Cassoojee said deploying the BPM solution would take between six to nine months, and the company aims to partner with local firms in different municipalities to deliver the solution over the long-term. "We sell the underlying technology, but the partners help us carry out some of the functional and technical aspects."
He said businesses need to adapt to the changing technological landscape. "The demand that consumers place on IT systems is different from a few years ago. The question is how you enhance the technological capability you have to enable consumers to use it on their platforms.
"The example of SARS eFiling shows how people can start paying taxes easily because the system that was introduced made it easy for them to do so," he said.
"Once you understand the business of municipalities, then you use underlying technology to drive relevant solutions. Most software vendors have pre-packaged applications which basically want you to do things the way [the vendors] prefer. Moving forward, it's about having the ability to quickly change and adapt to different requirements," he said.
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