We would like to welcome ATSICHS Brisbane to the PA Community.
ATSICHS Brisbane have chosen Professional Advantage (PA) as their partner to help deliver the Microsoft Office 365 platform.
We sat down with Kirsten Holland, Director of New Business & Implementation, to discuss some of the business issues they were facing in the organisation, why they chose the Microsoft Office 365 platform, and their decision to partner with PA.
Q: What was the business issue you were trying to solve?
Kirsten: Coming in as a Director a year and a half ago, the word I kept using was disconnected. We are disconnected with no one way to connect with each other, to know who belongs in which department, which location they were based at, and how best to contact them. It’s really to know who’s who, was one part of that.
To also have some enterprise vision and understanding across the organisation. We needed a way to understand what our business looks like, or as simple as how many leave applications have been put in by my department in the last 12 months. There is no one space, or place to understand what our business processes and business rules are. We can be quite siloed as an organisation. I could see that if we didn’t undergo some form of digital transformation, or a full review of our IT systems and structures, we wouldn’t be here as an organisation in 10 years’ time.
Q: Why did you decide on the Microsoft Office 365 platform?
Kirsten: We brought in a consultant to undertake an IT systems requirement review so we could look at what was the best roadmap moving forward. We realised many of the legacy-based products we already had were all Microsoft compatible. To be financially responsible as an organisation, trying to refine them all into one platform as a service and one operating platform would be best moving forward. We aimed as much as possible to buy out of the box products, with the least amount of customisation was another key principle.
Q: Why did you decide to partner with Professional Advantage?
Kirsten: We put out an expression of interest document to PA and six other organisations. Some were suggested by other members here at the organisation, some I found on the internet. Our selection panel went through and matched tender documents to our business requirements and those who were a cultural fit for us as well. We used a weighting document to do that. Two companies came out on top. Professional Advantage was one of those.
For us, it’s not what it also looks like on paper, it’s about that cultural fit; it’s about working with humans as well as the project methodologies. This was followed by a face to face interview with the two top providers.
It was very clear at the end of that meeting that working with Andrew, Joshua, and Kelly [the PA team they met with] was a no brainer for us. It was a natural fit. They were very acknowledging of the work we had already done, they had a very good understanding from their own previous experiences what we wanted do, and they were really open about, “have you thought about this,” “would you look at this.” It was more of a chat really. But of course, you need to follow good probity and the vendor selection team were all on board. It was a unanimous decision by the IT Steering Committee to go with PA.
Q: Is there anything else you would like to add?
Kirsten: When PA submitted the tender document it was 37 pages, but it was detailed. We could really see what was going to be achieved. We liked the methodology as well.
The stakeholder group engagements were only 90-minute sessions, so our teams weren’t going to be locked into half day, or 2-day discussions about what we need. It was going to be quick; it was going to be agile. Those sprint sessions were attractive to us. What was in and what was out of scope was also very clear to us.
The Microsoft Not-for-Profit rebate made it financially attractive to us as well.
About ATSICHS Brisbane
Formally known as the Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Community Health Service (ATSICHS) Brisbane, ATSICHS Brisbane was formed by community members and concerned general practitioners as a small volunteer group in the early 1970s.
ATSICHS Brisbane are one of the largest Indigenous community organisations in Queensland and proudly remain community controlled and managed. They provide a diverse range of health, social, and educational services to more than 10,000 clients throughout the greater Brisbane and Logan areas, with approximately 380 staff.
