$54m CMS Project on Track Says Ministry of Social Development

m-net.net.nz
By Ken Lewis
 

The Ministry of Social Development will complete deployment of its $54 million client management system to Work and Income staff by the end of the month.

Ministry CIO Tim Occleshaw said that the first client management system (CMS) implementation went live on time and within budget on Thursday August 30, 2007.

"We actually built additional functionality into this implementation, hence moving the date from July 30 to August 30," he told m-net.

"We have now rolled out the system to around 3000 front-line Work and Income staff and will complete the deployment by the end of the month."

The Ministry announced the purchase of Dublin-based Cúram Software package back in February. Specifically designed for social security and employment services, the Cúram software was selected via a tender process that included a Proof of Concept exercise and creation of a prototype system.

However, the announcement was not entirely universally applauded with notable industry insiders questioning the size, price tag and the fact that the project went to an overseas rather than local software company.

Occleshaw is upbeat about the project, however: "This is a great example of a major IT project ($54 million) being well managed. Our Client Management System (CMS) is already making a significant difference to the way our staff can work with clients, allowing us to work with much better information and reduce the administration overhead.

"Usage and staff feedback on the system has been great."

Occleshaw said that phase 1 of the CMS project was tracking under budget with $29.9 million spent up to October 30. "We split CMS Phase 1 into two parts - phase 1A and 1B - to pilot the system before widespread deployment."

Phase 1A of the project will help Work and Income staff assess clients for services, and assist them to automatically create and manage client service plans, he explained.

"We will roll out additional CMS functionality (employment and training programmes) to all Work and Income staff as part of our 1B implementation by July 2008," said Occleshaw.

"We are also developing a Cúram-based transformation plan for the Ministry and expect to complete this plan by the New Year. Work can then be conducted to maximise our investment in Cúram, forming MSD's CMS phase 2 and subsequent phase projects.

"Over time, the system will draw together all information about clients' overall situation, needs and skills, streamlining administration time and supporting best practice case management."