Essex-based Objective Computing was selected after a competitive tender process for this project to bring e-mail, information management and relationship management together using EEDA’s existing investments in Microsoft technologies.
About East of England Development Agency
The East of England Development Agency (EEDA) is the driving force for sustainable economic growth and regeneration in the six counties of Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Essex, Hertfordshire, Norfolk and Suffolk and the unitary authority areas of Peterborough, Luton, Southend-on-Sea and Thurrock.
Established in April 1999, EEDA is one of nine regional development agencies created to bring a new focus to economic development and to build prosperity across the East of England.
Their vision is 'to make the East of England a world-class economy, renowned for its knowledge base, the creativity and enterprise of its people and the quality of life of all who live and work here.'
Business Situation
EEDA had several disparate IT resources, mainly its huge database of key contacts, ranging from economic development organisations to MPs within the region.
Under the tender, the different segments had to be brought together in the same system without disrupting day-to-day usage. “Our aim,” explained Jan Pinkerton, Head of Knowledge Management at EEDA, “is to ensure that everyone at EEDA has the best tools we can afford to do their job: Making this region one of the best in Europe. The huge volumes and wealth of information at our disposal together with our requirements to monitor and then improve how we’re doing, means without the aid of good technologies we would be far less effective."
Solution
The solution had to be one that built on EEDA’s existing and substantial investments in efficiency. They needed a “Hybrid” solution that meant staff could work better and faster, building on present skills.
Rather than not re-inventing the wheel by replacing one system with another, EEDA focused on building on and joining together the good investments already made; to make them better.
Cathryn Fox, Managing Director, and the team at Objective were absolutely delighted to provide a ‘hybrid solution’, “EEDA knew it had already made the right decisions and rather than bolt on another disconnected module we were able to knit in extra efficiencies and improvements to the way they work; using a combination of our pre-developed toolkits with a unique blend of software development and data integration."
The Challenges
EEDA’s decision to appoint Objective, a local Microsoft Gold Certified Partner, without a specific “off-the-shelf” solution for such a critical project cannot be seen as a gamble. It represents a lower risk, higher benefit move. It showcases EEDA as an organisation that is ready to embrace new ways of doing things in order to achieve its mission.
The Verdict
Objective brought e-mail, information management and relationship management all together, designing the system specifically to EEDA’s needs whilst basing the development on their existing investments in Microsoft technologies.
Additionally EEDA has successfully implemented a remote-working scheme which sees significant amounts of the 130 staff being able to work from home, and has helped to reduced business mileage.
Microsoft has written a formal case study on this project.