ICL, the local subsidiary of the world`s third largest IT company Fijitsu Services, is making significant inroads in the e-business market within municipalities.
"Traditionally, municipalities are not at the leading edge of technology and generally squeeze every bit of use out of their existing technology," explains ICL business consulting manager Louisa Brand.
ICL has captured 125 of the 284 municipalities in South Africa and is implementing e-business applications at key municipalities, including Tzaneen and Msunduzi.
ICL`s Abakus/Promis software provides all the accounting features required in the municipal environment. It is fully GAMAP compliant and is able to interface with external packages.
ProMIS covers financial applications to streamline processes such as billing, credit control and financial management. The software provides comprehensive reporting for councillors and treasurers, giving an analysis by specific geographical area if required.
Brand says e-business is more an evolutionary process than a revolutionary one.
"We are finding that the best way to implement e-business is through small steps," she explains.
"There is not necessarily a one-fits-all solution. Requirements and priorities vary. At Tzaneen Municipality for example, advising customers of potential disconnection of their electricity was an important requirement as were the ability to process payments over the Internet," she explains.
"ICL therefore implemented an SMS service to advise customers of pending disconnection," she says.
At Msunduzi, the old Pietermaritzburg Municipality, 20 percent of its customers bring in 80 percent of the revenue. Accounts can now be emailed to customers, bulk SMS messages sent, and a `banking` hall is now being implemented that will enable service desk staff to answer queries related to any questions. Customers will no longer be required to go from one department to another to address different queries.
Another application implemented by ICL is the electronic workflow of documents to and from lawyers. Msunduzi is now able to determine the exact status of legal documentation, something that was previously difficult to ascertain.
"We have also drawn on the experience of our parent company in the UK, Fujitsu Services, who have implemented extensive local government systems throughout Europe," adds Brand.
Call centre integration is another important area. Msunduzi has launched a call desk from which information is gathered and used to produce management reports covering trends in call enquiries and problems areas. This is linked to a business intelligence system which provides management with extensive management reporting capabilities.
"Within the next few years, the majority of municipalities will move towards a more paperless environment, providing convenience to the customer and enhancing internal efficiencies," she says.
"Workflow will grow in use and bottlenecks identified, further speeding up processes," she adds.
ICL is also developing a GUI interface that will be available to municipalities within three months, giving a Windows look and feel on all its applications.
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ICL South Africa has been operating in South Africa since 1911 and has undergone constant change in line with industry and market developments.
ICL South Africa is part of the global IT Services and Solutions company Fujitsu Services Plc which is wholly owned subsidiary of Fujitsu Japan the third largest IT company in the world, with annual revenues of $38 billion and over 35 000 employees.
ICL South Africa has moved from being predominantly hardware focused to becoming an IT services and integration specialist, combining its in-house expertise with selected partners from the whole spectrum of the IT industry.
Headquartered in Johannesburg ICL SA has offices in Pretoria, Durban, Cape Town and Port Elizabeth.
Eject is the Internet Service Provider for ICL
Website: www.iclafrica.com
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