Why do we need an IT change?
We recognise some of our current business processes are frustrating for all of us; they are difficult, too slow and there tends to be lots of repetition. These frustrations were reflected in findings from our ‘Can Do’ member feedback survey conducted at the end of 2009 where you told us the best thing we could do for your club would be to improve our IT systems.
In 2008 -2009 a formal review of our IT systems was conducted. Based on these findings we developed a proposal that was presented to the Government asking for funding assistance to allow us to transform our technology, so we could build a system, which would move us away from having paper based processes to one which is automated.
The good news
We were successful! The Treasury recognised clearly just how vital these improvements will be for our organisation and in June 2009, we were granted an amazing $4.4 million technology grant from the Federal Department of Health and Aging.
One month later, In July 2009, we began working with expert partners from Fujitsu Australia to develop a new technology system that would be both cost efficient and industry-leading when compared to similar organisations.
When are these changes happening?
The new systems will be rolled out via a staged approach. This means that changes will progressively start to take place, minimising the degree of impact from day 1.
The project will be rolled-out over three phases:
Phase 1: Create a Central Operating Data Store (CODS) and new reporting tools (November 2009 – July 2010)
This phase involves developing the infrastructure to enable the rest of the project as well as enhancing our reporting capability. This phase will also deliver important reporting tools from a single source that will improve our access to reliable and accurate reports on useful information ranging from incidents to beach statistics.
Phase 1 of the project is already in motion and we’re working toward completing this implementation by end of July 2010. This change will only impact employees at a National and State level, who will receive training between July and September. (No impact to Volunteer Offices at Club level)
Phase 2: Introduce a ‘One Stop Shop’ online portal and new systems (August 2010 – September 2011)
The most exciting phase in the project will deliver a host of tools and applications designed to better manage our information and improve access to SLS services.
Phase 2 will deliver a virtual ‘one stop shop’ – an online portal whereby over time, all members and officers will access the following systems and applications
• A document library that will provide a single location for housing documents and files
• A content management system that allows the creation, approval and publishing of content to the document library
• A document management facility that will allow authors and reviewers to provide comments and feedback on all documents across SLS while maintaining version control
• A question and answer forum that allows members to post and respond to questions
• Management of all forms of communications between SLSA, clubs and members
• A centrally managed subscription service to make sure all members can subscribe to the communications they would like to receive
• An event management system that manages the end to end process for all events – from event creation to completion, including sporting events.
A voice portal will also be introduced during this phase, reducing the amount of paper based forms used.
Phase 2 will be rolled out between December 2010 and September 2011. Training plans are still in progress. We will keep you informed once these are finalised.
Phase 3: Replacement of old systems and processes (Late 2011 – Mid 2012)
This phase involves reviewing our old systems and processes to see what can be improved by being replaced or redesigned.
Plans for Phase 3 are still in progress. We will keep you informed once these are finalised. Some phase 3 activities may be run in conjunction with phase 2 activities.
Please remember, we will try our best to minimise IT system changes during busy times, and if possible will coordinate the roll-out outside the peak summer period.
