The corruption-busting Heath Special Investigating Unit is currently implementing Navision financial software from EasiRun, a member of the Universal Computer Services (UCS) Group.
Hylton Long, the Unit's Executive Manager: Support Services, said a new financial software suite was needed when the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) outgrew its existing package. "When the Heath Commission was created, there was no indication of future growth. A straightforward financial package was implemented, with no inkling of the enormity of the workload ahead," says Long.
"While it was adequate in the initial stages, the current package can no longer cope with the volumes the Unit handles."
Navision interfaces with the Unit's database programme, which contains full case details and histories and allows for assessing case progress and money spent on investigations to date enabling the Unit to determine the viability of continuing its pursuit in specific cases.
User-friendliness was another key criterion in the decision to implement Navision financials. The Unit depends on a core team of seven financial professionals, who had to be up and running as quickly as possible.
"We couldn't afford six months for users to get to grips with a package and become fully productive," says Long.
EasiRun's Lucille Livingston says: "The Heath SIU has some unique requirements, which, through the flexibility of the Navision database we were able to incorporate. This made the customisation completely seamless to the system without compromising the benefits of the standard package."
Created initially as a commission, the SIU became an official Unit on April 1 1997. Initially operating with seconded police officials and a small staff contingent, staff complement has now topped 100. The headquarters in East London is connected via a wide-area network to offices in Durban and Johannesburg, as well as representatives in all the provinces.
EasiRun, local representatives of Navision, is in the process of tailoring the software to the SIU's requirements. This includes customising the package to deal with Heath teams in each of the nine provinces, each running its own bank trust account. In addition to implementation and set-up, EasiRun is also providing training.
The Unit is also implementing the Accsys payroll management software from EasiRun's sister company. The plan is to run both systems in parallel initially, with June set as the target for going fully live on Navision and discarding the current package.
EasiRun is a member of the Universal Computer Services (UCS) Group. Navision is a Danish enterprise resource planning package which has been sold into 32 000 sites in 75 countries. It is totally Windows-compliant, running on Windows NT or Unix platforms and offering a choice of proprietary or industry-standard database options. Modules include financials, manufacturing, distribution, point-of-sale, sales management and an executive information system. A key feature is its easy integration with other Windows products.
For details contact Lucille Livingston of EasiRun on tel: (011) 421-4800.
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