Northampton is a small county on Virginia’s Eastern Shore, surrounded by the Chesapeake Bay and Atlantic Ocean. Their government offices were running what County Adminstrator Katie Nunez calls an ancient system.
“It was basically from the stone age,” she said. “It was impossible to export data in any format and we had no audit trail.”
They were working in a world of linked spreadsheets, entering data multiple times.
Once county officials determined it was time to upgrade their software solution, they identified the key requirements of a provider including experience with a community their size, ease-ofuse and the ability to interface with EGTS, the tax billing software selected by the county.
New World Solution
Northampton County selected New World Systems’ Logos.NET solution in 2006, licensing Financial Management and Payroll and Human Resources software. The fully integrated solution combats the many manual processes and duplication of efforts the county faced using their outdated system.
“We now have a master way of updating data without duplicate entries,” said Nunez. “It’s a tremendous step forward.”
Nunez and her team knew it would be difficult for many employees to make the jump to a modern, browser-based software system. Ease-of-use became a large factor in their decision-making process. They knew the familiar Microsoft functionality, and the overall impression from product demonstrations, would make the switch as easy as possible for everyone involved.
The county is also in the review process to add Logos.NET Community Development to their solution which offers a variety of tools to handle complex permitting, licensing and code enforcement processes, making the overall job easier and improving the use of resources.
Implementation Success
Nunez helped two other counties upgrade their software during her career.
“The switch to New World Systems was by far the quickest I’ve done,” she said. “It’s gone very well and I’ve been really impressed.”
Even those who were resistant to change and did not fully understand the need for new technology now realize the benefits of their integrated solution from New World Systems.
“I hear comments every day acknowledging the value of switching,” said Finance Director Glenda Miller. “When they can just export to Excel and go, that’s when the value really shows.”
It’s that ability to process data quickly that also provides better service to employees and residents.
“We’re giving better service to others,” said Miller. “And quickly providing answers to their questions.”
Assistance Beyond Software
Miller says one of New World Systems’ biggest success factors was the training they provided - training that led to understanding by employees and improvements in processes.
“One trainer suggested a new way of recording checks - we didn’t see a problem with the way we were doing it,” said Miller. “But that one, simple thing has saved us so much time and effort.”
A Partnership to Help Customers
New World Systems’ partnership with EGTS, Enhanced Government Tax Software, was one of the biggest factors in Northampton County’s selection process. The county uses the software for tax billing.
It was taking three to four months to process checks manually so residents’ checks were not clearing in a timely manner. The process has now been cut down to a matter of days.
“That would not have been possible without the upgrade and partnership with New World Systems,” said Nunez.
Positioning the County for the Future
IT Director Mark Heneghan says his job, after the initial evaluation and selction of New World Systems, is to keep employees and users happy with the new system.
“It’s very easy to use,” he said. “I’ve had no complaints from users, which makes my job much easier.”
It’s the lack of complaints that lets him know the software was the right choice for the county. He also knows it was the right selection for the future of Northampton County Government.
“We were dealing with 20-year-old software,” said Heneghan. “The ability to make the move to a Microsoft and SQL Server system is the right choice and position for the future.”
