By Trevor=20
Treharne
18=20
September 2007 01:25PM
Tags: case =
| study | counc=
ils |=20
head =
| toward=
s | cro=
ssroads=20
Queensland council amalgamation creates =
potential=20
opportunity for Emantra
Queenland=E2=80=99s=
local=20
councils are in the midst of a series of amalgamation proposals which =
will see=20
areas being run under unified council bodies. Earlier this year the =
Queensland=20
Government=E2=80=99s Local Government Reform Commission announced that =
Redcliffe City=20
Council would be amalgamated into the adjoining Pine Rivers and =
Caboolture=20
shires to form the North Moreton Regional Council.
The move could =
create=20
a potential opportunity to Brisbane based software-as-a-service provider =
Emantra. The firm has an ongoing managed service relationship with =
Redcliffe=20
council, which could potentially extend into the newly formed and =
extended North=20
Moreton Regional Council.
To trace the formation of the Emantra =
and=20
Redcliffe affiliation you have to go back to last year when the council =
had to=20
give its outdated email system a much needed overhaul. =E2=80=9CWe were =
approached by=20
Redcliffe City Council close to a year ago for some suggestions on =
solving its=20
email issues as it was using an end-of-life Lotus =
implementation,=E2=80=9D said Ross=20
Dewar, managing director of Emantra. =E2=80=9CIt was running it =
in-house, with=20
reliability and spam issues, and users could not reliably connect while =
on the=20
road.=E2=80=9D
Dewar said Redcliffe City Council wanted a =
solution to take away=20
risk and distraction, while being highly reliable.
=E2=80=9CWe =
proposed a hosted=20
solution of Microsoft Exchange 2003 and we installed a dedicated =
infrastructure=20
in our data centre, out of which we service our clients,=E2=80=9D he =
said.=20
Redcliffe City Council went live with a hosted exchange email =
solution=20
from Emantra which simplified access to email for all council users, =
reduced=20
internal administration and support requirements, as well as eliminated =
any=20
future capital expenditure requirements associated with the provision of =
email.=20
Additionally, since implementing the hosted email solution there has =
been a=20
reduction in the quantity of spam emails received by council =
employees.
A=20
specialist developer was employed by the council to maintain the mail =
system,=20
however Lotus Notes was becoming less compatible with packaged systems =
and the=20
council had concerns about ongoing support issues. Additionally the =
system did=20
not provide for email access outside the council building which meant a =
Virtual=20
Private Network (VPN) was required for remote access, resulting in heavy =
technical support requirements.
Utilising hosted exchange means =
that=20
council users requiring remote access to email are now able to quickly =
and=20
easily access the system via a web browser, eliminating the need to =
authenticate=20
through the VPN. This in turn has eliminated most of the technical =
support calls=20
and has freed up council=E2=80=99s mail administrator to focus on the =
key role of=20
business analysis. Another challenge under an internally-managed system =
was the=20
high level of spam which was resulting in the mail administrator =
spending=20
significant time creating customised rules to try and combat the spam. =
Emantra=20
has incorporated an email filter from NetBoxBlue into the hosted =
exchange=20
solution to address spam issues.
=E2=80=9CRedcliffe Council gets =
24/7 support,=20
security patching, and complete back-up to add an extra layer of =
security,=E2=80=9D said=20
Dewar. =E2=80=9CThis is the first example of a local government in =
Queensland having=20
their email fully managed and outsourced.=E2=80=9D
Dewar said =
there are around=20
300 users on the email system and the council=E2=80=99s cost to have =
email has been=20
reduced to around $1 a day.
=E2=80=9CThe service we provided =
includes=20
BlackBerrys, an enterprise server, a private IP connection and a spam =
and virus=20
content filter. Redcliffe has an email administrator who names email =
boxes and=20
gives out passwords. It is all low-level stuff as all technical and =
support=20
aspects we cover.=E2=80=9D
Dewar said the council has a number =
of councillors=20
with BlackBerrys, smart phones and PDAs, and the service is fully =
integrated=20
with those mobile devices.
=E2=80=9CThe hosted service option is =
very attractive=20
to any organisation which has disparate offices, and the service we =
provided to=20
Redcliffe is also available to resellers. The Redcliffe project shows =
that=20
people can be redeployed to work on other areas such as improving their=20
website,=E2=80=9D added Dewar. John Mulcahy, manager of information =
systems at Redcliffe=20
City Council, said outsourcing email has offered a terrific benefit from =
a=20
budget perspective.
=E2=80=9CThe response from utilising the =
filter has been=20
overwhelming. Previously we were receiving between 30 to 50 spam or junk =
emails=20
per person per day. By utilising the filter this has been reduced to =
around one=20
to three spam emails per person per day. Employees are freed up to =
respond more=20
quickly to our ratepayer enquiries rather than sifting through =
spam,=E2=80=9D said=20
Mulcahy.
Keith Pattinson, executive manager of information and =
services=20
at Redcliffe City Council: =E2=80=9CWe are extremely happy as Emantra =
are the ones=20
servicing our clients. We didn=E2=80=99t have a lot of in-house =
expertise and the=20
integration needed to be done as smoothly as possible, and Emantra =
achieved=20
that.=E2=80=9D
Pattinson said the council has always had a small =
IT team of five=20
people, and having one less service onsite makes a big difference. =
=E2=80=9CSuch a=20
service is rare in local government, but once we heard about it we =
jumped on=20
it,=E2=80=9D he said.
Big decision
=E2=80=9CThe one =
issue is the amalgamation=20
and what will happen next is a big decision,=E2=80=9D said Pattinson. =
=E2=80=9CIt will be=20
another 12 months before they get to the stage of figuring out what to =
do [with=20
the amalgamation]. It is still very early =
stages.=E2=80=9D
Pattinson said all=20
councils involved in any amalgamations will have to consider their IT=20
infrastructures. Dewar said: =E2=80=9CWhen Redcliffe amalgamates we will =
see what=20
happens. I think there is going to be a need for the merged councils to =
assess=20
their communications systems. I would hope there is a good prospect of =
us=20
extending our service to these councils. The more users that come on, =
the=20
cheaper it is for everyone.
=E2=80=9CI think this is a service =
other councils in=20
Queensland would benefit from. Between now and March there are local =
elections=20
and the last thing councils need is communications problems,=E2=80=9D he =
added.
Local opposition
The next stage of the Emantra =
and=20
Redcliffe relationship clearly hinges on the outcome of the future =
amalgamation=20
with Pine Rivers and Caboolture Shire councils.
=E2=80=9CIn =
analysing the=20
amalgamation options the council is strongly of the view that the =
amalgamation=20
of Pine Rivers and Redcliffe would provide the best outcome for our =
respective=20
communities,=E2=80=9D said Ray Burton, chief executive officer of Pine=20
Rivers.
Burton said a Pine Rivers-Redcliffe amalgamation would =
produce a=20
new local government of 208,000 people, which would grow to 275,000 by =
2026.=20
=E2=80=9CThe area can be serviced by 13 councillors, including =
the mayor and can=20
achieve governance and management cost savings and other economies of =
scale=20
which will benefit the ratepayers through improvements in service =
delivery,=E2=80=9D he=20
said. =E2=80=9CIt is an easy option to achieve and there will be minimal =
disruptions to=20
business during the transition phase.=E2=80=9D
Burton said it =
would take=20
advantage of the strong community of interest links which already =
existed=20
between Pine Rivers and Redcliffe supported by the road, proposed rail =
and water=20
networks and the strong community and professional services, employment, =
recreation, education and commercial linkages.
=E2=80=9CThe =
geographic size of=20
the new local government at 808 square kilometres can be well managed =
without=20
reducing the standard of community representation through distance it =
would see=20
one councillor per 17,500 people,=E2=80=9D he said.
However =
residents down the=20
road at Caboolture Shire gave a resounding thumbs down to the =
amalgamations=20
proposal. Residents who took part in a voluntary survey voted =
overwhelmingly=20
against plans to amalgamate their council with Pine Rivers Shire Council =
and=20
Redcliffe City Council.
Results of a voluntary survey show more =
than 70=20
percent of residents who took part voted against plans to include =
Caboolture in=20
the new super council, which will begin operations after the local =
government=20
elections on 15 March next year.
Residents also voted =
overwhelmingly=20
against the name North Moreton Regional Council which had been proposed =
in the=20
Local Government Reform Commission=E2=80=99s =
recommendations.
Amalgamations=20
across Queensland are linked to the government=E2=80=99s efforts to =
establish stronger=20
councils to deal with Queensland=E2=80=99s growth. However they could =
provide a bumper=20
payday for an IT support organisation with the capabilities to support =
such a=20
large contract.
Emantra seems keen to secure the deal for the =
North=20
Moreton Regional Council and with its foot already in the door at =
Redcliffe it=20
can feel confident of its chances. The fact a hosted solution has been =
provided=20
will only serve to strengthen Emantra=E2=80=99s case, with new and =
disparate users being=20
added easily.
The Emantra and Redcliffe project from last year =
highlights=20
two vital channel opportunities. The first centres on the opportunities =
in local=20
government. Further amalgamations will create opportunities to integrate =
councils=E2=80=99 IT infrastructures. The second is the opportunity in =
hosted services.=20
They may not be commonplace, but as awareness rises, so will=20
adoption.
Technical details
The Emantra solution =
implemented=20
at Redcliffe City Council
=E2=80=A2 Dedicated Microsoft =
Exchange 2003 servers=20
300 mailboxes
=E2=80=A2 99.9 percent Service Level Agreement for =
server, application=20
and connectivity
=E2=80=A2 NetBoxBlue email, spam, content and virus =
filtering
=E2=80=A2=20
Fully managed service including software licensing, 24/7 monitoring, =
24/7=20
support, web-based control panel, immediate patching and daily=20
back-up
This article appeared in the 17 =
September,=20
2007 issue of CRN magazine.