Published on Friday, 29 January 2021 at 1:13:58 PM
The Challenge
Renowned for its orchards and beautiful rolling landscapes, the Shire of Harvey is local government authority located in Western Australia’s South West region. With a passion for community service, the Shire searched for digital solutions that would empower their staff, streamline their governance operations and ultimately help them better serve their community.
There is significant opportunity for local governments across the country, like the Shire of Harvey, to leverage emerging technology and improve their internal business operations. The Shire of Harvey partnered with Harbour Software as part of their digital transformation journey.
Selection Process
The Shire of Harvey’s main objective was to streamline their internal processes in order to reduce the time required to assemble agendas for council meetings. It was also important for the Shire to keep their council documents uniform, using creative templates to maintain consistency in the presentation of the documents. Once created, the Shire was eager to find a way to keep all related documents together and easily accessible from any device or location.
The Shire of Harvey requested quotations and product demonstrations from several service providers to find a comprehensive agendas and minutes solution that suited their needs. The demonstration of Harbour Software’s cloud software, Doc Assembler, impressed the Shire and appeared to ‘tick all the boxes’ in regards to feature and function.
“The product demonstration presented by Harbour Software was certainly, by far, the best out of the other service providers. The customer service provided by the staff is also top notch which led to us choosing Harbour Software.”
Kourtney Williams
Manager Governance and Strategy – Shire of Harvey
The Brief and Development
The key factors that led to the Shire of Harvey proceeding with Harbour Software’s Doc Assembler solution were:
- Ability to establish workflow processes to manage documents within internal stakeholders
- Reporting functions which include assigning tasks and deadlines
- Delivery of a digital hub to store and access documents from anywhere, at anytime
- Ability to automate work processes and streamline workflow
- Uniformity, and the ability to keep the ‘look and feel’ of agenda documents consistent
- Harbour Software’s ability to provide ongoing support and customer service
By harnessing digital technology, the Shire of Harvey changed how council documents were produced, enabling flexible working and resulting in a lift in business productivity.
The Outcome
The Shire of Harvey was successful in using technology to streamline governance processes focused on delivering improved community outcomes. Working in partnership with Harbour Software, the Shire has re-engineered workflows through digitised and automated processes, producing immense time savings.
“The competitor product did not have a reporting functionality whereas with Doc Assembler you can put all of your reports such as risk management information, strategic plans and corporate business plans into the document as attachments. The reporting functionality is very handy for assigning tasks to specific officers and setting timeframes, offering a holistic solution to governance processes.”
The training provided was highly detailed and tailored to our needs. I found Doc Assembler to be a very intuitive program and the software interface was very easy to use and understand. We are able to create and assemble agenda documents with ease in a fraction of the time it used to take.
Moreover, the customer service delivered by Harbour Software has been excellent. The contact hours are flexible especially with the time difference. Emails are always responded within 24 hours and the use of Microsoft teams makes it easy to collaborate and communicate.”
Kourtney Williams
Manager Governance and Strategy – Shire of Harvey
Learn how you can accelerate your digital transformation journey today by contacting Harbour Software on sales@harboursoftware.com.au or call +613 9071 002.
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