Collaborative Approach Delivers Business Benefits For Councils In The North East
09 April 2008
Collaboration between Newcastle and North Tyneside Councils is delivering significant business efficiencies for both local authorities and helping them meet their commitment to enhance services to their citizens.
In a joint procurement exercise, the Councils appointed NorthgateManaged Services to optimise their internal business processes by implementing and supporting a new email, calendar and archiving system.
The five-year, £1.8million infrastructure and services contract is part of a programme of activity designed to enhance and strengthen working partnerships between Newcastle and North Tyneside Councils. With the implementation stage now complete, the new system is proving its worth by delivering efficiencies, securing data, and improving customer service across the board.
Reliability, enhanced security, and efficient data storage are all key features of the new Northgate system which has been widely praised by both Councils.
“We’re delighted with the results of this joint procurement exercise,” said Ian Stratford, Chief Executive of Newcastle City Council. “Our priority was to maximise the effectiveness of our email and archiving systems and this has been achieved – smoothly and with minimum disruption. Northgate’s skills and experience was invaluable throughout the process.”
Adding his support, Steve Wride, Infrastructure Manager at North Tyneside Council said: “Efficient service delivery stems from staff who are equipped with the tools and skills they require to work to maximum efficiency. Already this investment is making such a difference to the way we work, and in the long run, that means our citizens are benefiting from improved customer service.”
With 11,000 staff across both Councils now using the new system, James Turnbull, managing director of Infrastructure Solutions for Northgate concluded: “Optimising internal business processes is vital to customer-facing organisations such as local authorities – where communication and data protection being both key to business success. We’re delighted that our experience in this arena is proving to be so effective for both Newcastle and North Tyneside and we look forward to further developing our strategic partnership in the years ahead.”
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