Merseyside Police Elevates Service Excellence With Oracle Cloud Integration

Police agencies are always enhancing the technology they use in order to better serve communities and address issues that are significant to them. From body cams to biometrics, innovations are being introduced and welcomed more regularly. But what about technology that you cannot see?

Merseyside Police, who patrol a 647 square km area across Merseyside and North West England, provide security for about 1.5 million people. The force continues to put a premium on the caliber of the public safety services it offers to its citizens. However, due to its operating budget restrictions, it had to search for ways to boost value and services by allocating cost savings to front-line services.

Merseyside Police has successfully completed a multi-phase Cloud deployment project in partnership with Oracle in order to increase productivity, create cost savings that can be applied to front-line services, and better support their personnel and the communities they serve.

Inefficient and Inconsistent: The Starting Scenario

Merseyside Police had to agree to a sizeable savings goal as part of the government’s Comprehensive Spending Review for the period 2010–2015. The austerity measures required significant revisions to programs. Following many studies, the organization advocated improvements that would boost efficiency and effectiveness while also delivering value for the money.

The force used a number of IT programs to handle tasks relating to finance, procurement, payroll, the academy, and human resources. Due to the numerous shortcomings and limitations in these, Merseyside Police was unable to provide a seamless and cost-effective service. Regular human interventions were required due to the requirement to re-key data, use separate systems to perform activities, unconnected data, use spreadsheets to store and change essential data, and limited access to management information.

The Cloud Transformation Journey

As part of its digital transformation plan, Merseyside Police decided to adopt and implement a feature-rich Oracle Cloud system for public safety organizations. Among other police ERP solutions, it involved the deployment of Oracle ERP Cloud, Oracle HCM Cloud, Oracle Learning Cloud Service, and Oracle Procurement Contracts Cloud Service. The intention was to combine HCM with ERP for effective and integrated business processes.

Oracle Integration Cloud was incorporated into the multi-phase implementation project to facilitate integration between new and current cloud applications, including their new Crown Duty Management system.

Enhancing Efficiency through Oracle Cloud Solutions

Merseyside Police’s goals depend on this cloud transition because it gives them a single source of information. With the use of the public safety solution, the police will be able to integrate all of its crucial data from multiple functional business sectors, guaranteeing that the data and procedures are accurate and accessible from a single platform throughout the entire organization. As a result, administrative time spent manually updating data has decreased, operational efficiencies have been created, and the risk of delays has potentially decreased.

Merseyside Police switched from an email-based system to an online supplier portal and adopted a strategic procurement methodology. The force is able to supply essential operating equipment quickly to the locations where it is required since suppliers have been centralized in one location, simplifying accessibility and streamlining authorization procedures.

The quarterly software updates and Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) constitute a significant shift for the force and a real innovation platform. The force may relax knowing that it is never more than one software release behind the most recent release and that it is no longer concerned with how to plan and when to budget for the upcoming upgrade.

There are two significant benefits for the force in never being more than three months from the most recent software release:

1) It will keep up with the most recent developments in public safety technologies.

2) Regular automated upgrades ensure high levels of security against continually evolving threats.

Despite the limitations brought on by the epidemic, the team of Oracle Cloud experts was able to successfully deliver the police ERP system remotely. The project was successfully delivered thanks in large part to our tried-and-true implementation process and the use of cutting-edge solutions to reduce risk and speed up the implementation.

Where next?

Merseyside Police now intend to expand the Oracle HCM solution with additional modules, such as Oracle Cloud Recruiting, Performance & Goal Management, Talent Review & Succession, and Career Development, in support of the Force’s more extensive strategic goals and objectives. This follows the successful implementation of Oracle Cloud ERP. By using standardized procedures, a unified scalable platform, and quarterly updates to deliver ongoing innovation to Cloud capabilities, Merseyside Police is ensuring that it can continue to offer top-notch policing services while also positioning the organization to be able to respond quickly to challenges and demands in the future.