Decision

The Cabinet Member for Inclusive Economy has decided to migrate Ealing Council's financial accounting system to Software as a Service to address budget pressures and procurement risks.

Analysis

outcome: The outcome of the decision is to move to a SaaS for both BW ERP and Financial Planning and Analysis (FP&A) to address budget pressures and procurement risks.

summary: The decision at stake is the migration of Ealing Council's financial accounting system from on-premise to Software as a Service (SaaS) due to Unit4's announcement of discontinuing support for on-premise solutions.

topline: The Cabinet Member for Inclusive Economy has decided to migrate Ealing Council's financial accounting system to Software as a Service to address budget pressures and procurement risks.

reason_contentious: This issue may be contentious as it involves a critical system for the council and the potential impact on operations and budget.

affected_stakeholders: ["Ealing Council", "Unit4", "Council employees"]

contentiousness_score: 6

political_party_relevance: There are no mentions or implications of political parties or political influence on the decision.

URL: https://ealing.moderngov.co.uk/ieDecisionDetails.aspx?ID=623

Decision Maker: Cabinet Member for Inclusive Economy

Outcome:

Is Key Decision?: Yes

Is Callable In?: Yes

Purpose: Ealing Council’s financial accounting system is currently managed through Unit4’s Business World (BW) Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) application hosted ‘on premise’ in the council’s datacentre.  Unit4 has announced that it will only provide Software as a Service (SaaS) solutions going forward and that with effect from 31 December 2024, on-premise solutions will no longer be supported or maintained.   As this is a business critical system for which supplier support is required, this decision is to move to a SaaS for both BW ERP and Financial Planning and Analysis (FP&A), while addressing the additional budget pressures and procurement risks.  

Content: Ealing Council’s financial accounting system is currently managed through Unit4’s Business World (BW) Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) application hosted ‘on premise’ in the council’s datacentre.  Unit4 has announced that it will only provide Software as a Service (SaaS) solutions going forward and that with effect from 31 December 2024, on-premise solutions will no longer be supported or maintained.   As this is a business critical system for which supplier support is required, this decision is to move to a SaaS for both BW ERP and Financial Planning and Analysis (FP&A), while addressing the additional budget pressures and procurement risks.  

Date of Decision: September 18, 2024