Defence Vetting Agency
Company: Logsys SolutionsCustomer: Defence Vetting AgencySubmitted by: Media LinkThe Defence Vetting Agency (DVA) supplies the Ministry of Defence and other Government Departments with a complete range of security clearance procedures, covering military personnel as well as civil servants and external contractors to government bodies.According to Michael Wilson, DVA Chief Executive, the Agency carries out checks relating to over 160,000 cases each year.
In 1999, the DVA identified a requirement for an information system to support its core vetting processes. The requirement encompassed a complex, cost effective process-oriented solution that had to be from a supplier prepared to undertake the entire project on a fixed-price basis, working to a tight implementation time-frame.”We were not seeking a supplier that would simply automate the current vetting processes.” explained Mr. Wilson.
“We wanted a supplier that would work with us to develop a total business solution. As the Agency carries out checks relating to thousands of cases each year, it was essential that we had an efficient means of carrying out these checks. We needed to automate those processes that lend themselves to automation, and free up our staff to concentrate on the experience based judgements that are core to security vetting. It was vital that the system was delivered on time.”The DVA’s requirements were set against a background in which the operating climate in government had changed dramatically over the last decade.
Each year more demanding performance targets are set with the corresponding budgets being squeezed further still. The DVA were clear that the only practical solution was to become more efficient with the effective use of Information Technology (IT). Within IT, Business Process Automation (BPA) was seen to be the one technology worthy of investigation to achieve their aims.In summary, BPA technology automates the rules and conditions necessary to pro-actively manage the flow and processing of work within and between organisations. It is the backbone of e-business and process-oriented organisations, both commercially and within the Public Sector.Using BPA, the DVA expected to realise significant business benefits including: the unification of disparate organisational units; a reduction in the turnaround time of vetting requests; a move away from paper-based processing to a ‘soft copy’ environment; and to be able to respond more rapidly to peaks in demand for its services.
“The Agency chose the occasion of its formation and the subsequent collocation at York, as a unique opportunity to re-engineer the vetting process,” continued Mr. Wilson.”The aim was to achieve a quantum improvement in the timeliness and efficiency of the service provided to customers. The key to success would be an integral system to carry the new business processes. That system would help us to manage our workload in a professional, holistic fashion, and allow us to keep customers informed of progress of individual cases.
It would also automate many of the routine tasks that are part of vetting, without reducing the quality of the product, and improving responsiveness. We were also looking for a technical solution that would reduce costs and improve efficiency. Additionally – and very importantly – we wanted an approach and solutions that would benefit not only the DVA, but which could be broadened across the Defence community and across Government generally.” he stated.After lengthy investigations and assessments of all the capabilities and offerings available from each potential supplier, Wokingham-based Logical Solutions Limited (Logsys) was selected as the DVA’s development partner.
Logsys’ previous experience of complex, process-oriented systems enabled them to propose the chosen solution, undertaking the entire project on a fixed-price basis of around £600k.”Logsys demonstrated that they could provide a cost-effective solution to our business needs within the time available, based on a standard product, but meeting our specific requirements,” explained Michael Wilson.Craig Harper-Ashton, Managing Director of Logsys added: “We are excited about working with the DVA and look forward to developing a long-term partnership with them. They have embraced the BPA approach and have recognised the potential of this technology to help them in meeting their business objectives.”
