Palmerston North City Council is looking for a way to integrate the numerous documents its staff create with its corporate management system.
There is no linkage at present between the disparate Word, Excel and CAD documents “that get created by everyone and stored [informally] in different directories and drives” and the Fujitsu corporateVision database, says information manager Meta Mair.
The council is legally required to keep copies of many of the one-off documents produced in the course of normal business. At present, that is done by printing them off and filing them in paper form.
“We’re looking for a way to integrate our core system with that information. We think we could be more efficient managing [the documents] electronically.”
The council is looking for suggestions from vendors and systems integrators. It chose that approach rather than picking a document or content management system off the shelf, Mair says. “We’ve said ‘these are our needs, what technology do we need?”
She wouldn’t disclose the budget for the project but says it’s “quite large”, as the chosen system will be used by the 350 staff who have access to the council’s network.
Respondents to the council’s initial request for information issued earlier this month will be shortlisted. Those chosen will submit a request for proposal and the successful bidder chosen in the new year, she says.