Treasury Agency Sets the Standard for Finance System Procurement in Central Government

CODA Group (AIM: CSY), the financial and performance management software specialist, today announced that it has been working with Fujitsu to successfully implement CODA’s packaged accounting system for OGCbuying.solutions on time, on budget within 16 weeks. Fujitsu Services Ltd, as a *GCat Prime Contractor, signed an agreement to provide the CODA solution to streamline and e-enable OGCbuying.solutions’ transactional accounting procedures.

The resultant solution is helping OGCbuying.solutions to implement a robust e-enabled finance system that will automate many processes for users. These include improved analysis, tailored reporting, effective planning, e-procurement and organisation-wide expense claim to pay. CODA e-Finance and CODA e-Procurement automate online financial workflow for faster processing and reduced overhead on finance department resources. This in turn will improve the speed of service delivery reform. In addition, CODA’s open architecture and use of XML allows for integration with other systems.

Commenting on the arrangement, Ian Strachan, Frameworks Business Manager, Fujitsu Services said, “As a GCat Prime Contractor, we have been successfully providing OGCbuying.solutions’ customers with a range of solutions for some time. This project has proven CODA’s ability to work with us as a subcontractor and has achieved the Agency’s project objectives. The GCat mechanism allowed OGCbuying.solutions to take advantage of the skills and value for money offered by a specialist solutions provider whilst having the peace of mind offered by a large company contract. By using GCat, the procurement timescale has been shortened, cost savings made and the risks associated with procuring a new system, reduced”.

“CODA software affords us a standard Chart of Accounts that can be tailored to match our specific business processes and is scaleable in the event of future changes,” said David Murray, Corporate Services Director, OGCbuying.solutions. “We wanted a web-enabled and fully supported solution that was easy to use. CODA e-Finance met our criteria as a packaged application that is proven both with government and commercial sector organisations. Having gone through a competitive exercise we were impressed by CODA’s professionalism and its strong consulting team, who offered practical advice about the resource we would require for the project to ensure its success. CODA and Fujitsu had the ability and capacity needed to meet the short implementation timescale of four months, from signing the contract to the go-live date of April 2nd.”

The selection of CODA’s products and services was timely as the UK Government is looking to develop a best practice programme for the procurement of finance systems by central civil government departments. Common system requirements are needed more than ever.

*Gcat is OGCbuying.solutions’ on-line IT & Telecomms hardware and maintenance services catalogue. It contains details of recommended suppliers that have met strict eligibility criteria and are approved for central government departments to ensure peace of mind and tighter procurement timescales during tenders.

About Fujitsu Services
Fujitsu Services is one of the leading IT services companies in Europe, Middle East and Africa. It has an annual turnover of £1.86 billion (EUR2.8bn), employs 13,100 people and operates in over 20 countries. It designs, builds and operates IT systems and services for customers in the financial services, telecom, retail, utilities and government markets. Its core strength is the delivery of IT infrastructure management and outsourcing across desktop, networking and data centre environments, together with a full range of related services, from infrastructure consulting through integration and deployment. Headquartered in London, Fujitsu Services is the European-centred IT services arm of the Fujitsu Group. The Fujitsu Group is a US$38 billion (EUR35 billion) leader in customer-focused IT systems and services for the global marketplace.

For more information on Fujitsu Services please contact gcat@uk.fujitsu.com or visit uk.fujitsu.com.

About OGCbuying.solutions
OGCbuying.solutions is an Executive Agency of the Office of Government Commerce in the Treasury. Their role is to deliver value for money gains for central civil government and the wider public sector through a dedicated, professional procurement service.
They provide their customers with a full range of products and services designed to encourage effective procurement, achieve measurable cost savings and improve the efficiency of the purchasing function throughout the public sector.

For more information on OGCbuying.solutions please contact Julie.morgan@ogcbs.gsi.gov.uk or visit www.ogcbuyingsolutions.gov.uk

About CODA
CODA is a leading global provider of performance management and accounting software. Its best-of-class solutions provide organisations with complete financial transparency to monitor and manage performance through real-time business analytics.

CODA is headquartered in the UK, has global sales, service and support operations, including its R&D Centre in Harrogate, and employs 450 people worldwide. CODA’s parent company, CODASciSys Plc, headquartered in Chippenham, is listed on the Alternative Investment Market of the London Stock Exchange (stock symbol: CSY). Additional information about CODA is available at: www.coda.com