Customer Solution Case Study
/ South African Job Skills Agency Registers Gains 82 Per Cent More Employers with Online Solution
Overview
Country or Region:South Africa
Industry: Public Sector
Customer Profile
South Africa’s Policing, Security, Legal, Justice, and Correctional Services SETA (SASSETA) was one of 25 SETAs established in 2000 to facilitate and promote skills development across South Africa.
Business Situation
SASSETA wanted a comprehensive information systems solution to meet the needs of employers seeking to track levies paid, workplace skills plans, and applications for grants, employees seeking skills training and certification.
Solution
Praxis developed a Web-based enterprise resource planning system using Microsoft® Business Solutions–Great Plains®, now part of Microsoft Dynamics™, Microsoft Windows® 2000 Server and Windows Server™ 2003, and Microsoft SQL Server™ 2000.
Benefits
Integrated systems for management
Single point of entry for customers
Helps change management process for SETA
Improves learner registration data
Powerful reporting tool for stakeholders
Monitors progress in core business activities / “The achievement of reaching our targets over the next five years will be based on the stability we have delivered within the organization...”
Vuyelwa Penxa, Chief ExecutiveOfficer, South Africa’s Policing, Security, Legal, Justice, and Correctional Services SETA
South Africa’s Policing, Security, Legal, Justice, and Correctional Services SETA (SASSETA) was founded in 2000 to facilitate and promote workplace skills development across South Africa. It initially lacked an enterprise resource planning (ERP) system to manage its activities and deliver services to customers. SASSETA implemented a Web-based ERP system based on DataNet from Praxis Computing, a Microsoft® Certified Business Solutions Partner. The solution employs Microsoft Business Solutions–Great Plains®, now part of Microsoft Dynamics™ running on Microsoft Windows® 2000 Server and Windows Server™ 2003. With the new system, SASSETA has increased the number of newly-registered employers by 82 percent. At the same time, plans submitted for workplace skills have risen by 35 percent, and follow up annual training report submissions by more than 60 percent.
Situation
South Africa’s Policing, Security, Legal, Justice, and Correctional Services SETA (SASSETA) was one of 25 SETAs established in 2000 to facilitate and promote job skills development across South Africa. After being set up by a consortium of the government, trade unions, and employers, as part of a national workplace skills development strategy, the organization had a tough start. There was little clarity at first from South Africa's Department of Labour about legislation and operational expectations.
In 2002, as part of a turnaround strategy, SASSETA management decided to implement a comprehensive information systems solution. The agency's managers wanted to better meet the needs of employers seeking to track levies that they had paid, and to view progress on workplace skills plans and applications for grants.
Additionally, the management team wanted to assist employees seeking skills training and certification, as well as to enhance other SASSETA internal business needs. This included ongoing performance management of the SETA itself and the challenges around compliance with new statutory regulations.
The solution, which was the subject of an open public bid process, required intensive internal collaboration between the different departments of the SETA. It involves processing massive data transfers from the South African Revenue Services through the Department of Labour and to the South Africa Qualifications Authority, as well as extensive online interaction with stakeholders.
Lisa Seely-Herbert, Head of Financial Systems for Praxis Computing, which advised SASSETA on the project, recalls, “SASSETA's management was seeking maximum integration and flexibility from any solution we recommended. They needed 'rock-solid' financials and rich public sector functionality to meet all the demands of the country's 1999 Public Finance Management Act, which sets stringent transparency standards for the public sector.”
Praxis Computing, a Microsoft® Certified Business Solutions Partner in South Africa, has extensive experience in the design and development of systems for education and development organizations, which helps form the foundation for the Praxis SETA solution.
Solution
The Praxis SETA solution, which is based entirely on Microsoft technology, is an integrated software system that helps SETAs manage core business processes such as education and training quality assurance, learners, unit standards, levies, grants, and operational accounts.
It uses Microsoft Business Solutions–Great Plains® software and Praxis DataNet Internet database software. Microsoft Great Plains won the SASSETA contract against stiff competition from Oracle and J.D. Edwards.
Seely-Herbert comments, “Praxis particularly chose Microsoft Great Plains for its ease of integration with customized applications to handle massive specialized data transfers, as well as hooking into all the skills development information needed to process and pay training grants.
The Microsoft Great Plains solution which was implemented in just eight months is using a number of other Microsoft products. These include Microsoft Office 2000, the Microsoft Windows® 2000 Server operating system, the Microsoft Windows Server™ 2003 operating system (part of Microsoft Windows Server System™ integrated server software), the Active Directory® directory service, the Microsoft Exchange 2000 Server messaging and collaboration server, Microsoft SQL Server™ 2000, Microsoft Office Project Server 2003, and Microsoft Office SharePoint® Portal Server 2003.
The core application running on the infrastructure is DataNet Internet database software developed by Praxis to support the SETA’s business processes and management information needs and licensed for unlimited users.
Valerie Allem, Audience Marketing Manager for Microsoft Business Solutions in South Africa, notes, “There are about 40 internal SASSETA users and 10,000 employers in the sector who are potential customers, with 7,000 so far registered on the system—many through the Web site. A recent development has been to add functionality for SASSETA’s role as the authority which accredits firearms training providers.”
A sub-system is being implemented by Praxis to offer a registration service for about 2.5 million firearms owners. The public can already verify firearms registration certificates online, a high profile service in South Africa that is attracting a great deal of media attention.
Seeley-Herbert advises, “A high level of integration exists in the overall job skills solution in particular, covering the complex relationship between the flow of funds and the administration of education and training processes under the national qualifications framework.
“One example of this is where a learner is declared competent and the moderation process is complete. The system calculates the grant that is then credited automatically to the account for the learner's employer. Likewise, approval of a workplace skills plan triggers the calculation of a block grant, which is credited to the employer’s grant account.”
Benefits
Employer Registration Improves by 82 Percent
By using the Microsoft Great Plains and DataNet solution, the SASSETA has increased the number of newly-registered employers by 82 percent. At the same time, the submissions of workplace skills plans have risen by 35 percent. Further, follow-up annual training report submissions have increased by more than 60 percent.
The registration of job skills learners has also improved. In 2004, SASSETA was one of only a handful of SETAs and other training institutions to win the coveted top-level ‘green light’ award from South Africa Qualifications Authority for learner registration.
Vuyelwa Penxa, Chief Executive Officer for South Africa’s Policing, Security, Legal, Justice, and Correctional Services SETA, comments, “The achievement of reaching our targets over the next five years will be based on the stability we have delivered within the organization. The integration functions and flexibility of Microsoft Business Solutions–Great Plains will certainly play a part in our achieving success.”
Robust Systems for Management and Reporting
With Microsoft Great Plains and DataNet, SASSETA has an integrated system for management and reporting, which covers managing the agency's finances, as well as its line of business in education and training. The solution benefits from a single point of data entry for employees, employers, and other national groups including owners of firearms.
A key principle underpinning the NQF in South Africa is that information on qualifications should be accessible to all users. South Africa Qualifications Authority and its various accredited quality assurance bodies are responsible for maintaining the integrity of the NQF information that is stored and accessed at various levels of the agency's management.
Seeley-Herbert explains, ”This calls for a robust and stable database design. DataNet has overcome this problem using SQL Server 2000, which makes it robust and stable enough for Internet publication and access. In addition, this means the database can be backed up while in use.”
SETA Turnaround Through New Management System
Using a solution based on Microsoft Great Plains, gives SASSETA maximum integration and flexibility, combined with ease of use and security.
The rich functionality and reliable financial management capabilities in Microsoft Great Plains have also helped SASSETA to comply with South Africa's Public Finance Management Act and brought about a change in the agency's performance—for the better.
Seely-Herbert advises, ”The Microsoft Visual Studio® .NET development system helped ensure rapid development of Web-based business systems with customer self service and cross-platform data interchange.
“Using SQL Server 2000, Praxis is able to build data cube functionality with online analytical processing, which enables users to separate and examine information in ways that are most relevant to them. This will present data for business intelligence analysis in powerful tools, such as spreadsheets created in [the Microsoft Office] Excel® spreadsheet software. These tools are familiar to managers at SASSETA.”
Monitors Progress in SETA’s Core Business
Microsoft Great Plains is giving SASSETA a powerful reporting tool to keep its major stakeholders informed—including employers, trade unions, and the government. The solution's functionality helps not only with daily business but also monitors and measures progress in unit standards, workplace skills plans, and much more.
“Microsoft Great Plains is helping to make us an effective organization, and we’re now ready to drive forward our mandate and to accept any new challenges given to us by the government, learners, or employers,” Penxa adds.
Microsoft Dynamics
Microsoft Dynamics is a line of integrated, adaptable business management solutions that enables you and your people to make business decisions with greater confidence. Microsoft Dynamics works like familiar Microsoft software such as Microsoft Office, which means less of a learning curve for your people, so they can get up and running quickly and focus on what’s most important. And because it is from Microsoft, it easily works with the systems your company already has implemented. By automating and streamlining financial, customer relationship and supply chain processes, Microsoft Dynamics brings together people, processes and technologies, increasing the productivity and effectiveness of your business, and helping you drive business success.
For more information about Microsoft Dynamics, go to: