Enhanced state-of-the art data security enables over 1,000 staff to work remotely
London Borough of Hackney has gone live with a Cloud-based financials software solution from Advanced to digitise the council’s procurement, budgeting and forecasting, with the entire system securely hosted on a private Cloud, also provided by Advanced. The solution will also support the council’s move to hybrid working practices.
Cloud-based management solutions have become increasingly important as many employees continue with some form of remote working induced by the Covid-19 pandemic. Serving over 246,000 residents in North East London, the local authority previously ran its financial system via its own corporate network, which had limitations when being accessed remotely via VPN. Hackney needed a system that could support this flexibility for employees, and also enabled the most efficient and cost-effective financial processes.
Sabhia Malik, Principal Financial Systems Officer at London Borough of Hackney , says: “Remote working has brought many benefits for colleagues this year and we want all of our people to be able to work from home when they need to, without compromising productivity or security. Advanced’s Cloud financials solution has increased efficiency within our organisation. It allows multiple users to access a single ‘true’ version of data, in real time, along with accurate reporting on-demand.
“What’s more, they can proactively work with budget holders across the entire local authority to maximise available funding and serve the public purse most effectively. We continue to work with Advanced to ensure all applications are available directly over the internet with the council’s preferred secure 2-Factor Google authentication ”
Mark Dewell, Managing Director – Private, Public and Third Sector at Advanced says: “Local authorities are under increasing pressure to reduce costs and increase efficiencies, while the demand for key services is on the increase. Finance departments, in particular, are required to maximise available budgets and manage spending across multiple departments and budget holders. Our Cloud financials system provides a seamless experience for around 1,000 council employees, wherever they are based, with automated workflows that make processes quicker and easier to implement.”
Security is also a primary concern for the council as it holds sensitive personal data on tens
of thousands of council tax payers, the tenants of around 32,000 council houses and more than 4,000 council employees, alongside numerous suppliers and stakeholders. A private Cloud offers enhanced security for the system as it allows all activity to take place behind a firewall. Deploying one can require significant infrastructure investment for organisations, but using a private Cloud hosted by Advanced means the council will benefit from IT specialists with the appropriate levels of security.