Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service has signed a five-year deal to have its HR, payroll, finance and procurement systems hosted and delivered by managed services provider Advanced 365.
The finance and procurement applications will go live in August, followed by HR and payroll in the following months.
The new contract will include NorthgateArinso’s ResourceLink Aurora HR and payroll software.
The organisation, which employs 850 firefighters and 350 back-office staff across 35 sites, selected Advanced 365 following a tender process that involved more than five managed services providers.
It needed a supplier that could provide one system across HR and payroll, as well as integrated finance.
Mike Davies, project manager at Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service, said: “We were looking for a one-stop system across accounting software, HR and payroll, including the hosted service.
“The fire authority must make £10 million worth of savings over the next two years and there is a lot of pressure on back-office functions.
“Advanced 365 was able to run all of the applications we needed in a cost-effective way, which is vitally important in the emergency services sector. Its role is to completely manage the finance, procurement, HR and payroll applications for the fire authority, so there will be a single point of support and contact for any issues.
“What we didn’t want was to split a contract and deal with multiple account managers. Working solely with Advanced 365 will give us a more efficient and reliable service.”