The Financial and Income Management projects are being carried out in parallel, and the target live date for all systems is April 2005. Radius has a number of consultants working on the combined projects, and all are on target to meet the deadlines.

Radius has been selected to provide Bournemouth Borough Council with a replacement for their ageing Sundry Debtors system. The selection followed a market review that identified Radius as the leading supplier of Sundry Debtor solutions to Local Government.

The implementation, scheduled to be live by mid October, will put Radius Debtors working alongside, and integrating with, Bournemouth’s existing Oracle core Financials modules.

To meet the demands of its recent city status and the modernising government agenda, Preston City Council is replacing all of its mainframe applications with modern and innovative software. The ambitious plan to replace these systems was launched in 2003 and after an extensive evaluation process the City Council has chosen Radius Financials as its preferred financial management system.

The implementation, which started in early July 2004, is being carried out in close partnership with the suppliers of revenues and benefits, payroll and human resource systems. Preston City Council plans to be live with Radius Financials during February 2005.

After a lengthy review of the products available to them in the counter-fraud computer system market, the Benefits Investigation Team at South Gloucestershire Council, a unitary authority with a population of over 240,000 has purchased, and is already live on Radius’ proactive intelligence-led solution, RadiusFDMS.

When comparing it to other solutions, they viewed it to be the only offering that allowed them to work the way that they wanted to, and also to encompass their own Authority’s strong anti-fraud strategy and policy.

Glasgow City Council has recently joined the increasing number of authorities to purchase Radius’ proactive anti-fraud, intelligence-led solution, RadiusFDMS. After looking at what was available in the market place Glasgow decided that RadiusFDMS was viewed to be the only offering that allowed them to work the way that they wanted to, encompassed their own authority’s size, and provided them with a stable working environment.

Radius now counts the two largest authorities in the country among its Anti- Fraud user base (Birmingham City and Glasgow City).

At the same time, Revenues Manager Chris Allin was looking to offer customers a wider range of payment choices, and selected RadiusICON to provide a comprehensive e-Payments suite, plus a replacement Cash Receipting and Income Management system.

Radius’ systems use the latest Microsoft technology, which will help Ashfield gain some quick wins against its IEG plans, and also provide a fully interoperable solution that meets the long-term e-targets of Government and the Authority.

Sovereign Housing Association has become the first Radius Powersolve user to upgrade to the new Radius Financials suite. Following a full review of the market, Sovereign, based in Newbury, elected to stay with Radius and have now gone live with all modules of the new Financials suite. Sovereign Housing is one of the largest Housing Associations in the South West, covering an area from Newbury as far west as Plymouth, and the new software will be used in all its offices.

Jackie Denton for the Association commented: “We have had a very good relationship with Radius for a number of years, and although we were keen to see what else was on offer, ultimately we decided to upgrade to the new Financials, and build on our partnership with Radius.”

Following the successful live date of 1st April, Jackie added: "The implementation has been very smooth. This is a reflection on the efforts and dedication of our internal project team and Radius consultant, whose contribution has been excellent and highly professional. Most of our internal staff and customers didn't notice any disruption at all to their daily routines, and all are now expressing their pleasure with the new facilities we have available in the software."

The last 12 months has seen a move to the greater integration of Financial Information systems in use at East Lindsey District Council, with the introduction of Radius Financials Purchasing and RadiusICON Income Management with e-payments. The Council is based near Louth in Lincolnshire, and also includes the popular holiday resort of ‘bracing’ Skegness.

The Council introduced a new Financial Management system in 1997, with Radius Powersolve, and now wants to ensure that progress is made towards achieving the Government’s e-procurement targets by the end of 2005. The new e-procurement system will, when fully implemented, help to satisfy the Council’s stated objectives: to automate the purchase to payment process; reduce processing time and cost; manage the order rather than the invoice; improve compliance; and eliminate ‘maverick’ purchasing, whilst also improving the availability of management information.

RadiusICON will provide a comprehensive, integrated solution to the Council’s requirements to maintain tight control of all income, from multiple sources, including full reconciliation with Bank information.

The Council will also introduce a full e-payments capability, capable of close integration with the Council’s Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system to help staff provide a complete information service to citizens and tourists alike.