Case Studies

Grant Management Solution

Customer Sector

Government and Public Services

Project Cost Range

£400k and over

The Brief

As a statutory distributor of National Lottery funds, our customer was looking for a bespoke Grant Management system that could tackle complex processes such as grant applications, means-testing, awards, payments, finance and much more.

Every interaction needed to be tracked in the system to meet stringent regulatory and audit requirements, overseen by the National Audit Office (NAO).

All of this needed to be built very flexibly and quickly, with the first phase implemented within two months of the project start date.

Our Approach

We proposed that we build the system using Procession, a Business Process Management (BPM) tool for creating powerful and flexible process-based business systems.

Procession allows rapid build and deployment because you can:

  1. See and configure the system from a Process Map in a visual environment, with the end-users, ensuring no interpretation gap
  2. Alter any aspect of the process without having to change program code
  3. Deploy changes without adversely impacting any processes in progress

The Solution

  • The project was delivered on time and to budget, whilst also delivering a number of change controls which surfaced during the build phase, at no additional cost.
  • The system has allowed the organisation to drastically reduce its administration headcount.
  • The end-of-year finance reports can be created by pushing one button whereas it was previously taking them 120 man-days.
  • Reporting is now very easy and based on up-to-the-minute information. They are now able to respond to what used to be very challenging ad-hoc reporting requirements from key stakeholders.
  • All processes are now fully computerised, closely integrated, easy to manage and fully auditable.
  • All their information is now stored, accessed and managed centrally.
  • The flow of work around the organisation is fully controlled, with automatic approval and escalation points, and it is easy to see exactly what is where in the funding cycle.
  • They are able to reassign work ‘en masse’ when required. For example, if a member of staff is unable to come into the office.
  • The number of calls to the call centre was reduced by over 50% and those calls that do come through are handled more efficiently.
  • The level of process automation is high.
  • When a new opportunity for automation is identified, it is absorbed into the system very quickly.
  • The organisation and the system are able to painlessly adapt together as legislation and other internal or external forces require it.
  • Customers, suppliers and partners are delighted with the efficiency, effectiveness and level of interaction provided by the system.
  • Procession has enabled continual change and growth in the organisation, without any negative impact on the users of the system.