Somerset County Council is offering support sessions to help
staff cope with the effects of a troubled SAP
implementation.
An e-mail from the council dated 8 June 2009 offers support to
"staff who have been adversely affected by the SAP implementation".
Workshops in the coming weeks will include:
1. Managing excessive pressure within your team
2. Coping strategies for abnormally high workloads
3. Dealing with difficult situations/conversations
Somerset County Council went live with the delayed first stage
of a SAP implementation on 1 April 2009. Staff have struggled to
pay invoices on time. It is further claimed that some bills have
been paid to the wrong suppliers and that some companies have been
paid twice for the same service. The council says the difficulties
are teething problems.
The council accepts that a higher-than-usual number of emergency
payments to the authority's suppliers are being made through the
same-day bank-to-bank
Chaps
network. The extra costs of the payments through Chaps are expected
to be met by IBM.
The SAP implementation is part of a transformation programme
being run by SouthWest
One, a joint venture company which comprises IBM as the
majority shareholder, Somerset County Council, Taunton Deane
Borough Council and Avon and Somerset Police.
Now that the Conservatives have won control of the county
council from the Liberal Democrats, they are
reviewing SouthWest One. Troubles with the SAP system, and the
political controversy over the setting up of SouthWest One, might
have contributed to the loss of 16 years of control of the county
council by the Liberal Democrats.
Anwen Robinson, director of ERP provider Agresso, who has been
following events at SouthWest One, said, "Shared services demand a
flexibility in the software which underpins everything. If you
don't have that flexibility you will end up with a system that is
slow to adapt to the needs of the organisation. This in turn means
downtime, delays and spiralling support costs."
A spokesman for Somerset County Council said, "As many large
corporations and central government departments have found, the
bedding in of new and substantial IT systems takes time but we are
confident that the ultimate benefits and savings that SAP and our
relationship with SouthWest One bring will more than compensate for
the teething problems in the early stages.
"The new political administration of Somerset County Council is
due to take over the council at the end of the month and staff and
politicians are working closely together to make the transition as
smooth as possible.'
Council chief's apology after SAP go-live >>
SAP's troubled system at Somerset County Council becomes a
political football >>