South African Revenue Services (SARS) started earning a return on its investment in search-and-match software from Bateleur Software Solutions with the second press of the `enter` button.
That`s according to Ken Jarvis, Technology Innovation Manager of SARS, who says the solution`s ability to match data has played a pivotal role in the organisation`s ability to achieve a single view of the customer.
"In the past, if SARS owed someone a rebate, but that person owed VAT, the information was not correlated. But a single view can do this and has the potential of saving SARS a lot of money," he explains.
SARS recently implemented Search Software America`s (SSA) Identity Systems (IDS) solution, which provides online and batch searching, matching and duplicate discovery for all types of identity data stored in relational databases. The deal also included SSA`s Data Clustering Engine (DCE), a standalone, batch data grouping and investigation engine.
Bateleur Software Solutions is the South African distributor for Search Software America, which develops and markets international software products that significantly enhance organisations` ability to search, find, match and group identity data within their computer systems and network databases.
In addition to delivering a rare ROI, the SSA solution was implemented in less than eight weeks and has the potential to save SARS hundreds of millions of rands. As the organisation processes millions of rands in transactions a day, the cost saving in interest alone is huge.
The rollout of IDS and DCE to 200 users in December is being expanded to 750 people, and ultimately the system will be used by 5 000 SARS employees.
SARS administers many separate systems, including the Income Tax System (ITS), PAYE, VAT, Customs-Import and Export, and UIF. The Bateleur implementation team used IDS and DCE to prepare and load the data. This entailed finding matches between the various systems and grouping data into clusters. The high speed at which the system runs facilitates a daily update of the database.
Andre van der Post, Strategy Manager of SARS, says the ability to accurately match data was the most important element of the "Single View of the Customer" initiative. "We couldn`t have done this without Bateleur and the SSA products," he says.
The SSA solution is used by tax agencies worldwide, including the Australian Tax Office, UK Inland Revenue, Revenue Canada, US Internal Revenue Service, French Tax Office and the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore.
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