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Western Australia's Department for Community Development
Fujitsu helps Western Australia's Department for Community Development consolidate systems and enhance functionality
Web applications are more than just a new delivery channel connecting you to your customers. They're also a low-cost systems integration solution for your existing applications, helping you to update your current information systems without rebuilding them from the ground up.
Western Australia's Department for Community Development was created on 1 July 2001. The Department combined a number of previously separate government agencies covering such areas as family and children's policy, seniors' affairs, women's policy and youth affairs. Among other activities, the Department provides funding to more than 500 non-government service providers, with contracts worth around $60 million per annum.
The Department's problem was that its contract information was scattered across two separate and incompatible applications: the Service Provider Management System (SPMS) and the Audit Control System (ACS). SPMS was an older system, built on an Access 2 database and Access user interface. Due to infrastructure limitations, SPMS was only available to around 15 head office users. ACS was a more recent, Web-based application with superior functionality and dynamic reporting tools.
This division made it difficult to compile the consolidated financial information necessary to manage and audit the funding of non-government services. The Department soon realised that it needed to integrate the two systems.
Improved information and flexible financial reporting
Fujitsu was a natural choice to develop the integrated system, having previously helped to create ACS. This time we worked with the Department to create its successor, the Contract Information Management System (CIMS). CIMS draws on the successful ACS look and feel, combining an intuitive Web-based interface with functional elements from both pre-existing systems. The result is an application that consolidates and extends the functionality of its predecessor systems on a robust enterprise platform.
The new application offers improved information access together with flexible financial reporting tools. Users can generate financial year analyses and dynamic reports tailored to their specifications, as well as monitoring service provider performance data and tracking scheduled audits. Advanced workflow functions and superior management information systems support the Department's work practices and internal processes. Online cashflow authorisation streamlines the contract management process, while hierarchical user profiles ensure financial and information security.
SPMS was based on an Access 2 database, while ACS was a Macromedia ColdFusion 5 web application using an Access 2000 (Unicode compliant) database. For CIMS, we migrated both databases to SQL Server 2000, using a common data model. CIMS was created using XML and Macromedia ColdFusion Application Server 5. It incorporates Online Analytical Processing (OLAP) functionality for dynamic, multi dimensional data analysis.
A consolidated and flexible big-picture view
CIMS now provides a consolidated source for comprehensive information about the Department's non-government contracts. Available via the Department's intranet, CIMS has been rolled out to around 100 contract managers across the state.
