Lotterywest banks on new ERP system
Key business applications at the Lotteries Commission of Western Australia (Lotterywest) are about to get the "rip and replace" treatment as the public agency puts in a new enterprise resource planning (ERP) system over the next year.
Lotterywest runs the state's official lottery services, distributing the profits directly back to public service organisations such as hospitals. The organisation's product line includes popular variants such as Saturday Lotto, OZ Lotto and Powerball.
The group's IT function is headed up by Information Services director Don Wharton. Lotterywest has around 160 employees and achieved sales of around AU$546 million in the 2005/2006 financial year.
In tender documents recently released, the agency said it was looking for a comprehensive new ERP system to provide basic business services such as financial and human resources management, but also to interact with Lotterywest's gaming systems and provide wider functions such as records management, data warehousing and analytics.
"The current core business systems are a combination of ageing vendor application and in-house custom-built applications," the documents said.
The ERP replacement is just one aspect of Lotterywest's wider MATRIX project, which aims to address the organisational, business process and technology changes necessary within the organisation to sustain current operations and obtain revenue growth over the next 10 years.
Other aspects of MATRIX include a new gaming operating system (GOS), as well as a new broadband network connecting the 480 retail outlets who sell Lotterywest products to the agency's gaming system. Lotterywest is currently negotiating with a supplier for the new GOS, with the contract expected to be signed soon.
Like many organisations, Lotterywest seems to be moving away from the in-house development model for its business applications.
"It should be emphasised that Lotterywest has a clear preference for an "out of the box" solution," the documents said. "That is, a solution which meets the stated requirements with appropriate configuration, but without the need for customisation."
Lotterywest is likely to appoint a supplier for the new ERP system late this year.
The initial focus of the work will be to get the base financial, procurement and human resources management aspects of the new system working by June 2007, in addition to integration with Lotterywest's current GOS.
The second stage will see the ERP solution integrated with the new GOS by December 2007, with any remaining functionality coming online by March 2008.
The contract to build and maintain the system is for an initial five years, with another five 12-month renewal options.