Onyx Makes London Connection
Winning a unique contract in the United Kingdom Onyx Software Corp. , the Belleview, Wash.-based supplier of customer relationship management (CRM) enterprise applications, today announced the London Borough of Brent has chosen Onyx to supply its CRM system
Working with UK-based professional services firm Deloitte & Touche, the prime contractor and joint implementation partner, Onyx will assist the London Borough of Brent’s ‘E-Shop’ Pathfinder project, which aims to establish a generic CRM configuration that other councils on the UK can adopt at reduced costs.
The project is part of a push by the Department for Transport and Local Government in the United Kingdom to fund 25 Local Government Online Pathfinder e-government projects, for which GBP 25 million has been set aside in 2001/02.
The projects aim to make use of the latest technology so local services can be more accessible. According to Brent Council, the Borough was awarded Pathfinder status because of its successful track record running one-stop shops and a call center. It chose Onyx Software together with Deloitte & Touche from more than 50 suppliers.
“We chose them because they came up with a solution that could both meet the requirements of our citizens and provide value for money to both Brent and local government as a whole,” says Dane Wright, project director at Brent Council.
“The Onyx web architecture allows us to configure user screens to meet the particular needs of local government services and to provide multi-channel public access.”
She explains that the CRM system will eventually link with back-office applications, such as social services, housing benefits and council tax, to give front-line council staff a single view of the citizen.
Eventually, Brent expects to manage more than 100 different council services with the citizen relationship management system.
The Onyx application will also facilitate public access to council services via the Internet which Brent Council says is a crucial component in meeting local government’s Electronic Service Delivery (ESD) target of 100 percent by 2005.
“To win this contract is a tremendous achievement because many of the world’s top vendors submitted a bid,” says Brent Frei, CEO of Onyx Software.
“However, the Onyx and Deloitte team invested a great deal of time and money to tailor a solution for the public sector’s specific needs,” he explains.
Says John Hayes, director of public sector services at Deloitte & Touche: “This is an exciting project, because it will radically alter the way councils interact with the public. A network of one-stop-shop council offices and a state-of-the-art call center along with the CRM system will promote the government’s vision of a modern joined-up service.”