Whitsunday Regional Councll in Queensland has announced that it will implement cloud-based business process management software from Promapp to support the organisation’s day-to-day operational processes. The decision, which was part of the council’s strategic plan prior to Tropical Cyclone Debbie, was expedited by the havoc caused by the storm earlier in the year.  Promapp will underpin process support for a major new council IT system which is slated to go live within the next 12 months.

Similar to many businesses in the path of this year’s natural emergency in Queensland, the onslaught of Tropical Cyclone Debbie reinforced the significance of where and how Whitsunday Regional Council’s IT systems are managed and where council processes are stored.  The result is a decision to host council processes in the cloud to better support its overall business continuity, disaster recovery and risk compliance.

“Prior to Tropical Cyclone Debbie, all our processes were controlled and stored manually on locally-held computing devices which is less than optimal when you’re faced with a distributed workforce in a natural emergency where quickly following approved processes is critical to support the community and mitigate overall risk,” said Jodie Rugless, Manager Innovation & Technology, Whitsunday Regional Council.

“What we needed at council was a system that can manage and update critical process content in a simple way to ensure it is captured in approved template formats, which is usable by teams and individuals wherever they are located while at the same time being easy to manage and update.” 

Promapp will support the council’s decision to embark on an infrastructure renewal project followed by a core IT system replacement which will impact core processes across operations.

“The new IT system will eventually integrate with a future enterprise content management (ECM) system and be available in the cloud so that when we’re faced with future emergencies, we can access information at any time, from an island on the Barrier Reef to the public library in Bowen,” said Rugless.

In order to understand its requirements for the new IT system, the council will undertake process reviews across the entire organisation with Promapp providing the core repository for storing and managing core processes across the organisation’s operations.

Promapp will also provide the functionality to enable teams and individuals to make process improvements.

In deploying Promapp, the council is replacing its ad hoc, departmentalised, informal approach to process which has seen many processes held in various formats, resulting in a lack of engagement and out-of-date information.

The decision to deploy Promapp also followed a desire by the council to select a proven solution which was in operation in other councils and had been used to identify and optimise processes, was easy to use and logical in its workflow. Promapp is the BPM tool of choice at more than 60 Australian councils.

Promapp will enable Whitsunday Regional Council to map, review and improve processes in line with Australian Business Excellence Framework methodologies.  Version control of processes will provide the council with a systematic process for continuous improvement in all aspects of leadership and management and provide a basis for measuring adherence to business excellence principles.  Single sign on will also facilitate ease of use across the organisation.

“We are committed to providing our 400 employees and the Whitsunday region with strong and responsive local government and achieving an innovative, efficient and sustainable organisation.  Improving efficiencies across the board is a priority,” says Rugless.