Local authorities are increasingly dependent on a
handful of suppliers for core business applications.
According to the Society of IT Management’s Application Software
Index, just two software suppliers provide social services systems
to 86% of authorities.
Some 91% of council tax collection systems are supplied by four
companies and 90% of electoral registration systems have been
developed by four software suppliers.
The index’s editor Brian Westcott said, “The pace of
consolidation is accelerating, but I’m surprised that there are any
in-house systems in use at all in some areas.
“In planning there are a lot of established systems around, but
still 5% of councils use in-house applications.”
A small minority of councils – less than 5% – even continued to use
their own applications for general ledger, although many packaged
products were available.
In-house developed applications were much more widely used for
specialist council functions. In refuse collection, for example,
37.4% of authorities used applications they had developed
internally.
Socitm surveyed 353 of the UK’s 441 councils in England,
Scotland and Wales for its eighth annual survey of the application
software market in local government. Some 35 fire authorities, 23
police forces and 33 housing associations also responded to the
survey.
The survey covered the applications used to support 77 different
local authority services. Councils’ range of software suppliers was
more diverse in relatively new software markets.
The four suppliers with the largest number of customers in the
content management systems market accounted for just 37% of all
councils.
The survey also revealed that software supplier OLM Group had
the largest share of the market in social care applications for the
first time. Some 34% of councils with a social care service used
OLM, compared with 29% that used Anite.
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