It is the largest college in Tayside and has a reputation for providing educational services of the highest quality, attracting around 23,000 students every year.

The College offers a wide range of courses from school level qualifications to work based learning and vocational training, as well as further and higher education programmes.

Having operated the organisation with Infor’s SunSystems v4 financial management and accounting platform for some years, the College wanted to re-engineer their accounting structure, and at the same time upgrade to the latest version of the system, for greater functionality and ease of use.

The College had worked with Castle for several years and chose them to advise on the re-engineering process and implement an upgrade to Infor SunSystems v5.

David Hawney, Manager, Finance and Systems, Dundee College, said:

“We had been using SunSystems v4 for some years and wanted to upgrade to a solution that would provide us with greater capability and a user friendly, modern interface.

“The upgrade to SunSystems v5 gives us much greater analytical capability than ever before with Q&A10 and more advanced budget control analysis. There is a real difference in analytical power and there is such wide analytical flexibility that we are still exploring how to make best use of it. Using extended Objects and Dimensions offers us much more functionality.

“Navigation is much speedier than before and the user interface has a modern, easy to use feel about it, underpinned by flexible business rules that ensure data integrity.

“The key to a successful upgrade is to make sure that the build is done properly and Castle worked closely with us to achieve this, facilitating a number of workshops to design the re-engineered set up and meeting our design requirements.”

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In 2007 the company achieved record average oil and gas production and made two significant acquisitions in Norway and Egypt.  With two major acquisitions in the year, Dana needed consolidation within an ambitious timescale to be ready in time for audit in 2008. Dana recognised the need for an effective, comprehensive solution that would integrate smoothly with their existing financial management system and meet all of their needs. After referencing a number of users, and on the recommendation of their existing system provider, Castle Computer Services, the company chose Infor PM (Performance Management).

Infor PM allows companies to automate data collection, loading, validation and adjustments for fast accurate close. It eliminates the potential for errors, reducing time spent on manual processes, centralises controls for information integrity and has built in support for GAAP, IFRS and local statutory requirements. Michael Cameron, Finance Manager at Dana Petroleum plc, had developed a clear set of objectives that the Infor PM solution had to meet.

He said: “As a rapidly expanding FTSE 250 company with two recent acquisitions we were in a position where a comprehensive consolidation tool was needed quickly that would meet a number of critical objectives:

• Consolidate differing source ledger systems of each reporting unit
• View the different reporting currencies of group subsidiaries tracking both the source and group reporting currencies
• Ensure compliance with differing local and group accounting standards could be tracked easily
• Efficient consolidation of the enlarged group
• Scalability to cope with the future growth of the company

“Dana successfully implemented Infor PM in the last quarter of 2007, meeting all the critical objectives ahead of the 2007 group annual audit in early 2008 and is now looking ahead to further develop Infor PM by utilising the functionality to capture data and perform related calculations for forthcoming re-forecasts and budgets.”
Chris Field, Business Consulting Manager at Infor commented:
“Dana Petroleum now has a financial consolidation solution that streamlines the control of the entire process in an easy to use solution.  Despite a challenginginstallation timescale, we ensured thatthe software was implemented withinthe deadline and with the minimum of disruption.”

It was not long before he instigated a review of the company’s systems and as a result opted to replace the existing Sage software with Infor’s FMS SunSystems version 5 and the Vision (Q&A 10) reporting suite.

“I was looking for much greater level of flexibility from the systems in terms of reporting. Having used SunSystems in the past, I was aware of the functionality on offer and felt that we needed a more effective solution than existed. By using SunSystems and Vision we are able to retrieve information quickly and drill down into data to whatever level is necessary.

“I had dealt with Castle in the past and had complete trust in their knowledge and expertise to implement the system for us. Their PQIS approach to the project ensured that the installation was hassle free and didn’t interfere with normal day to day business. From previous experience I also had confidence in Castle’s support and training services.

“Now that we have installed the SunSystems solution with Vision, we have the flexibility to run detailed ad hoc reports which will save a great deal of labour intensive administration, delivering significant efficiencies. The flexibility of the system means that we can make best use of resources and expedite efficient decision making across the organisation.”

SunSystems has the ability, from a single ledger entry, to analyse each transaction though multiple dimensions, catering for the most complex of financial management requirements. The solution delivers unsurpassed functionality, flexibility and data integrity in its reporting output.

Serving many industrial sectors, DEM Solutions is a global leader in discrete element modelling software. The company’s software is used for simulation, analysis and visualisation of particulate flows providing high resolution information on particle kinematics, momentum, heat and mass transfer.

South Lakes Housing delivers a full range of management and maintenance services for over 3,500 tenants and leaseholders and employs around 130 staff.  A recent Audit Commission inspection of the organisation awarded a two star rating with excellent prospects for improvement.

The organisation identified a need to introduce a fit for purpose, modern financial management system that would deliver ease of use and high levels of functionality and allow easy integration with the company’s core housing management systems.

After an extensive tendering process, Castle Computer Services was chosen to implement Infor FMS SunSystems with QA10 reporting, which met all of the necessary functionality criteria for the required financial management system, as well as increased integration with the housing management systems.

Castle was chosen to implement the system because of the company’s specialist expertise in the housing sector and unique project management approach that ensures workplan deadlines are achieved.

Garry Ronson, Financial Director, South
Lakes Housing, said:

“We now have a financial management system that offers a high degree of functionality, combined with ease of use and the flexibility to integrate with our housing management systems.  The reporting functions offer a high degree of visibility across our operations and management decisions are better informed as a result.  We were impressed by Castle’s track record and their genuine understanding of our business needs.”

George Strathie, Software & Services Director, Castle Computer Services said:

“South Lakes Housing now has the benefit of a fit for purpose financial management system that will meet the organisation’s needs and allow for scalability and additional functionality in the future as the organisation continues to develop and grow.”

Following the merger between F&C Group (Holdings) Ltd and ISIS Asset Management plc there was a need to provide a consistent platform for financial accounting and management information that would deliver uniformity across all locations.

Castle has worked with F&C Asset Management for some years and was asked to create a single, robust platform for financial management across all of the company’s operations, using the existing Infor FMS SunSystems solution.

Castle had to amalgamate the company’s two financial management systems into one in the main Edinburgh office, whilst still allowing access from other offices. Half of the Group’s data was converted and migrated to align all companies onto the same reporting and accounting structure.

At the same time Castle implemented Citrix software that would allow secure remote access to financial reporting.

George Strathie, Software & Services Director at Castle Computer Services said:

“The conversion and merger of half of the company’s data without causing any disruption to day to day operations presented a significant challenge for the team. Our approach was to work closely beside F&C Asset Management’s own staff to ensure that all the project objectives were met. The client now has a single robust financial management platform that meets their needs effectively.”

Jim Crawford, Manager, Financial Accounting and Payroll at F&C Asset Management plc added;

“We can now consolidate all Group companies efficiently on a monthly basis, providing valuable reporting. The single Infor FMS SunSystems platform delivers a powerful financial management solution that remains flexible and the addition of remote access is essential to effective performance management. Castle’s commitment to the project was impressive and their willingness to work closely with our internal team ensured that the project was delivered on time and with minimum disruption.”

There are now three campuses in Inverness including a specialist School of Forestry; a Further Education Centre in Dingwall anda specialist aquaculture, fisheries management and research facility at Kishorn in Wester Ross. In Lochaber, the College works in partnership with Lochaber College to offer courses from their campus in Fort William.

The College identified a need for an effective debt management solution to deliver optimum cash flow and improve the efficiency of credit management and collection facilities. They wanted a system that would deliver an effective process for debt control and at the same time record communications with debtors. Castle Computer Services has supported the College’s existing Infor FMS SunSystems Financial Management System for many years and were appointed to implement the Infor FMS SunSystems Collect credit control application with the existing system

The new application means that managers are now able to easily access current outstanding debt and view the age of that debt. The credit control department is able to manage actions for debt management through a diarised system backed up by an automated communication process that will issue emails, letters and prompt phone calls. The result is a significantly improved cash flow for the organisation with up to date reporting.
Fiona Mustarde, Financial Services

Manager, Inverness College said:

“Managing debt and improving cash flow is an important issue for higher education establishments and we identified a needfor a solution that would integrate effectively with our existing financial management system. Having worked successfully with Castle before we had absolute confidence in their ability to meetour needs and they did not disappoint, delivering their usual high standard of service and expertise.”
George Strathie, Software & Services

Director, Castle Computer Services added:

“The addition of Infor FMS SunSystems Collect is an effective add on to the College’s existing system that will deliver a return on investment very quickly. It ensures a co-ordinated approach to credit control and its automatic features are ideal
for organisations with large numbers of customers.”