Tameside MBC Legal Services purchases Axxia dna*

Axxia, a leading supplier of practice managementsystems, and creator of dna*, the first practice and case management system to be developed on a business process management platform, today welcomed Tameside Metropolitan Borough Council to the rapidly expanding Axxia Local Government Legal Services customer base. The decision confirms Axxia’s position as one of the leading suppliers to Local Government and establishes Axxia dna* as a next generation product designed with both technical and business requirements at its core.

Tameside is an "excellent" rated council and the only local authority in the North West to receive the top CPA rating of four stars with a judgement of "improving strongly". The council recently won the coveted “Best Achieving Council” award at the prestigious Municipal Journal Awards 2007. As the lead authority for the Government Connect project – currently a £22.5m initiative led by Tameside, DCLG and the Cabinet Office to provide a common infrastructure for secure electronic interaction between local government, central government and citizens - Tameside is at the forefront of the service transformation agenda, and its in-house Legal Services enjoy a correspondingly excellent reputation. The council’s procurement of dna* underpins its strategy of further improving the quality of its Legal Services by using a next-generation platform which can offer internal and external clients a seamless, business-orientated service, whilst supporting the service’s longstanding Lexcel accreditation.

Sandra Stewart, Tameside’s Borough Solicitor commented on the decision; “The choice of Axxia’s dna* system was made after a comprehensive procurement process. We concluded that dna* was the only truly web-enabled system which met the current and future needs of my service, and Axxia as a supplier showed a real enthusiasm to work with Tameside on a partnership basis, recognizing the mutual benefits that this contract should deliver. By deploying dna* across a diverse service, including the team which provides legal services to the Greater Manchester Pension Fund, we are looking to improve the quality of our overall service and meet the business demands of our internal and external clients for electronic service delivery and comprehensive management information.”

Part of the Tameside implementation will involve significant conversion of data from the Council’s existing Datix system. Once fully deployed, the 35 user dna* system will comprise case management, electronic files, time recording, KPIs, conflict checking, workflow (including Lexcel) and legal business process management, Capella management reporting and PDFdocs to create electronic case bundles. The implementation will be incremental and, over time, integration with Tameside’s existing systems is planned.

Stuart Holden, Axxia’s managing director, commented: “We are delighted with the glowing reception that Axxia dna* is receiving within the local government community. We believe that dna* is a powerful solution that offers extensive functionality and benefits to the end user. With the recently established Axxia DNA Centre of Excellence, we are keen to provide a strong network and community for all out local government users.”