The website was built by GOSS Interactive and uses GOSS iCM (intelligent Content Management) to manage the site content. Since selecting GOSS and launching the site, the web team have be very impressed with the levels of service, professionalism and understanding of the public sector supplied by GOSS
GOSS entered a detailed tender process to secure the contract, which involved providing documentation and practical demonstrations of the capabilities of GOSS iCM. The GOSS team also presented the exceptional value for money that the company's solutions provide.
Kathryn David, Applications Team Leader, Bury metropolitan Borough Council adds "We selected GOSS as they had significant experience in delivering excellent Local Authority websites and were the preferred supplier at the end of an extensive procurement process. We had a very detailed requirements specification and the shortlisted suppliers were asked to do both a technical and non-technical demonstration. The software is functionally rich and the technical and system knowledge of the GOSS demonstrators was second to none and very impressive. They achieved the highest marks and had by far the lowest costs."
The project included migrating content from the previous web content management system and training the in-house web team to enable them to work with template code to create their own functionality. The whole project was delivered on time and to budget.
Kathryn continues, "Since selecting GOSS we have found them to be excellent to work with and helped us migrate from our existing content management platform. The implementation phase was a period of working very closely with GOSS who were clearly well versed in working with councils, understanding our issues, offering solutions, and responding very quickly to any problems. GOSS provided the right level of support for us from a technical perspective, whilst ensuring that if required, we had the freedom to develop our own solutions on their platform, which we have done already. There were no hidden or unanticipated charges and the project was completed to the agreed project timescales and budget. GOSS iCM itself is easy to use and we have trained up a number of users within the Authority."
When looking to the future, the council know they can rely on the support, expert guidance and thought leadership of GOSS.
Kathryn adds, "GOSS are proactive in reacting to Local Government requirements and understanding our future aspirations of channel shift for the Authority."
Rob McCarthy, CEO, GOSS Interactive comments, "The fact that this project has been such a success is a credit to the time and effort Bury Metropolitan Borough Council put in to selecting, planning and implementing their new website and Web Content Management system. By having clear objectives and an understanding of what they wanted to achieve, we have been able to assist the web team in delivering an exceptional website, strong ROI and an excellent client experience."
