Controlling and Streamlining Document Delivery

The Challenge

In response to an OFSTED inspection, Sheffield Education Authority aimed to improve the speed and streamline the process with which it managed information and policy and made the associated documentation available to those involved in the delivery of Education Services.

Sue Nelson, the Information Officer, said: "Each time we issued new policies, standards or directives, the manual process of photocopying appropriate sections and issuing paper documents was time consuming. It was also costly to deliver. We needed a means of publishing documents electronically in a controlled fashion to ensure delivery of the right documents to the right people at the right time. We also wanted to automate document approval to speed up the generation and accuracy of information."

The Solution

After rigorous scrutiny of a number of Document Management tools, Sue and her team selected EQMS from Qualsys. "EQMS compared very favourably on price and functionality. Scalability and web-integration offered by EQMS were important as this meant we could roll out access to the content to Schools and Colleges, School Governors, Teachers and any other member of the educational establishment at no additional cost."

EQMS also routes new or revised documents around appropriate managers for approval. Reports are available that measure the speed with which approval processes are completed, thereby removing bottlenecks. "Naturally, the EQMS database records all the changes to documents and archives previous versions" said Mike Pound, Qualsys’ Managing Director.

Qualsys also provided assistance loading existing documents into the system. "We sent a box of floppy disks to Qualsys that had a large proportion of the documents we wanted to incorporate in the system. Within days they had loaded them into the system. We started life with a fully operational electronic system and have been in maintenance mode since."

The Benefits

EQMS speeds the distribution and update of vital information, and in addition to helping satisfy OFSTED requirements will save the authority approximately £36,000 a year in photocopying and distribution costs alone.

"By using Qualsys’ intranet based system, we have made an immediate time saving on photocopying as well as cost savings on paper and delivery. I expect the system to have paid for itself within three months." Said Sue Nelson. "Sheffield Education Authority are now offering us a hugely improved service. By accessing the system, users can be sure that we are always accessing the latest version of documentation, which is vital if we are to continue meeting the high standards set by OFSTED."  Mike Pound, managing director of Qualsys said: "If all the local government bodies responsible for education in the UK made similar savings, over £35 million pounds would be saved in one government’s lifetime."