Jackson County, Missouri and Mitchell Humphrey Partner for Success
County Goes Live on Mitchell Humphrey's FMS II System - On-Time and Under Budget
ST. LOUIS, Feb. 7 /PRNewswire/ -- Mitchell Humphrey, a long-time specialist in financial accounting software and related services, is pleased to welcome Jackson County, Missouri as a new client. The County, which includes the Kansas City Metropolitan area, is the second largest in the state of Missouri with a population of 654,000.
Gloria Fisher, Director of Finance, explained why the County chose to replace its previous system. "The real catalyst in our decision was the vendor's decision not to support our older version of their system after December 2005. In actuality, that was okay with our users because the system had some major inefficiencies including the inability to upload and download data resulting in frequent re-keying efforts, and it offered very few controls over the data entry process."
Once the decision to acquire a new system was made, the County formed a Leadership Group featuring Gloria Fisher; Art Chaudry, Chief Administrative Officer; and Thad Thomas, Director of MIS, to spearhead their search for a new solution. The team then appointed Scott Jacoby as the project's Program Manager.
The Leadership Group chose to evaluate several financial management solution providers, including Mitchell Humphrey, while considering an option to migrate to a newer version of their previous vendor's solution.
"Mitchell Humphrey made an immediate and powerful impression not only with the functionality of their software, but also in the way they approached the opportunity. The relationship felt like a true business partnership from the beginning," Art Chaudry stated. "They obviously cared about our needs, understood them, and were willing to take the risks necessary to meet those needs. Our decision to go with Mitchell Humphrey was made easier following a successful trip to Birmingham, Alabama and Sarasota, Florida to visit two of their clients. The testimonials from these satisfied customers provided additional confidence and credibility to the decision making process we had used."
"That trip really sealed the deal. The clients we visited were excellent hosts and provided us with significant insight into the positive impact the Mitchell Humphrey system had on their operations," indicated Thad Thomas.
The County selected Mitchell Humphrey's FMS II General Ledger, Position Budgeting, Cashiering, Project Accounting, Accounts Payable, Purchasing, and Fixed Assets solutions. In addition, the County opted for a number of Mitchell Humphrey's reporting, productivity management, and business intelligence tools.
Phase one of the project commenced in September 2005 with the first go- live date for the General Ledger, Accounts Payable, and Purchasing modules set for early January 2006. On January 3, 2006, six days early and under budget, the County went live on all three modules.
"We were on a very fast track and even with a decision late in the process to combine the Circuit Court's existing FMS II system with ours, Mitchell Humphrey and our project team were able to beat both the time and cost targets," Gloria Fisher explained. "This is a huge accomplishment considering the horror stories out there regarding government entities efforts to implement new software systems."
The implementation of Mitchell Humphrey's FMS II system also enables the County to enhance its already sterling national reputation for environmental stewardship. Under County Executive Katheryn Shield's guidance, the County has received 23 awards from a variety of Federal and State environmental protection organizations for its efforts in recycling and reuse.
These awards include the National Association of Counties (NACO) Innovation Achievement Award for a stadium recycling program, an award from the Coal Combustion Products Partnership (C2P2) for use of fly ash in road surfacing, and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Waste Wise Program Champion Award for waste reduction and recycling efforts.
"At Jackson County, we are dedicated to improving the delivery of services to our citizens and customers. The new FMS II system will enable us to respond faster through on-line approvals in the payments of invoices or the release of purchase orders," Ms. Shields explained. "The opportunity to streamline and improve our dated business processes positions the County at the forefront of government institutions dedicated to best practices in public administration. Mitchell Humphrey's FMS II becomes another important component in our inventory of tools focused on enhancing organizational efficiencies and effectiveness."
The executive sponsor of the project, Art Chaudry, attributed the success to the empowerment given to the team by Ms. Shields, the high performing dedication of the project team led by Scott Jacoby, and the outstanding support and partnership demonstrated by Mitchell Humphrey through its project management expertise.
"Mitchell Humphrey has exceeded our expectations and I would not hesitate recommending them to others," Gloria Fisher concluded.
ABOUT MITCHELL HUMPHREY
Mitchell Humphrey Software provides business application software and services that promote faster implementations, providing better access to information, resulting in smarter decision making. Mitchell Humphrey clients include organizations in the insurance, retail, services, government, not-for- profit, and other markets.
Backed by over 28 years of Best Practices methodology, Mitchell Humphrey's software is designed, developed, implemented and supported by our own team of CPA's and IT professionals.
Source: Mitchell Humphrey Software
CONTACT: Tim Kiely, Business Development Manager of Mitchell Humphrey,
+1-800-237-0028 extension 3028, tkiely@mitchellhumphrey.com
Web site: http://www.mitchellhumphrey.com/
