Featured Case Studies - ICS Computing

ICS is one of the UK's leading IT organisations and provides a range of software and outsourcing services in the areas of Payroll & HR, Financial Accounting, Outsourced Software Development and Business Process Outsourcing including Document Management and Application Hosting. Serving a range of blue chip clients in both the public and private sector, ICS builds long-term partnerships with clients based on the professionalism and skill of the Company's experienced staff and its commitment to excellent customer service and the use of leading edge technology. Established in 1966 ICS is part of the W&R Barnett Group with annual revenues of approximately £100m. The Company operates throughout the UK and Ireland from its headquarters in Belfast and an extensive network of regional offices.

BUILDING A PARTNERSHIP

INITIATION
ICS Computing provides a leading eHR solution which enables its clients to implement a self-service model of Human Resource Management. Recognising that good Process and Workflow Management was vital to the success of its eHR offering, ICS chose Singularity after an extensive search for an OEM partner who could provide Process and Workflow Management capability in an easy-to-integrate and fast-to-deploy product. ICS's clients now utilise a richly featured eHR solution incorporating the critically-acclaimed and awardwinning Singularity Process PlatformT.

EVOLUTION
ICS and Singularity recognised that the top-down sponsorship of eGovernment initiatives in the UK posed challenges to many public sector organisations. Building on their shared strengths, the Companies were selected to provide eGovernment solutions to the Public Records Office, the Department of Social Development, the Department of Enterprise, Trade & Investment, the Healthcare Commission and others. Acknowledged as providers of high quality solutions, the partners are now preferred suppliers under the NI Government's Workflow Framework contract, making purchase of their products and services straightforward for all Government agencies.

FUELING GROWTH

SEAMLESS INTEGRATION
Recognising that clients sometimes see risk in purchasing solutions from a team comprised of multiple providers, ICS and Singularity focus intently on working as a single team, bound together by the single goal of helping clients meet their goals.

FLEXIBILITY
When proposing solutions to prospective clients or helping current clients meet project delivery challenges and deadlines, the ICS/Singularity team works flexibly to provide solutions unique to clients' needs, acknowledging that each client faces distinct challenges.

COLLABORATION & INNOVATION
At executive and project team levels ICS and Singularity staff collaborate in anticipating future challenges clients will face, in devising ways to offer clients more value, and in helping clients overcome project delivery hurdles. At all these levels ICS and Singularity staff bring a broad spectrum of talent and experience to the challenge of innovating in the interests of clients.

CHALLENGE

COMPLAINT MANAGEMENT
The Healthcare Commission is responsible for the independent review stage of the National Health Service (NHS) complaints process in England, dealing with complaints from individuals who are dissatisfied following local complaint resolution activities. The Commission's Complaint Management Process assesses complaints and takes one of the following courses of action:

• Recommends further action by the NHS organisation involved in the complaint
• Conducts detailed investigation, resolving individual complaints as part of a wider inspection or inquiry into failures at an organisation
• Refers cases to other bodies such as the General Medical Council, etc
• Fast tracks cases to the Ombudsman
• Closes the complaint, taking no further action.

The Commission required implementation of the Complaint Management Process in a two month timeframe, with full roll-out in the third month. In addition the Commission forecast a need to double the Process's capacity within a year and wanted to achieve this expansion without further cost.

"Singularity's staff were excellent team colleagues on this key project. The Singularity Process PlatformT allowed us to achieve in weeks what would otherwise have taken months and has provided the Healthcare Commission with unique flexibility to scale and evolve its process to meet future needs."

Philip Murray
Project Manager,
ICS Computing

"Our partnership with ICS has gone from strength to strength as we have worked together to improve our clients' performance. As our knowledge and respect for each others' capabilities has grown we have successfully anticipated and met the demands of a fast-evolving marketplace."

Padraig Canavan,
Managing Director,
Singularity