Highlights
$10m annual turnover
Future-proofed business systems and processes
Holds 160 race meetings per year
Saved 6-10 hours per week
Processes 400+ stake money transactions per fortnight
Harness Racing SA LTD
HRSA has saved 6-10 hours per week with AMS and future-proofed its business processes
The Transformation
As South Australia’s principal controlling authority for racing, Harness Racing SA Ltd (HRSA) is charged with regulating, administering and promoting the sport statewide.
HRSA conducts 160 race meetings per year, has an annual turnover of $10 million and processes more than 400 transactions per fortnight in stake runs.
Since implementing TechnologyOne’s solution and its Application Managed Services (AMS), HRSA has empowered its small finance team to be more efficient and able to meet its many demands. The team also receives timely technical support and continues to improve its use of the solution
The Challenge
Unique to the Australian harness racing industry, each state uses a finance system that must integrate with the national harness race management information system.
HRSA previously operated from a system that was old, slow and struggled to keep pace with the national system. TechnologyOne Financials addressed this issue, however with only two full time staff in the finance department and a high level of transactions to process daily, the team struggled to find time to implement the solution while maintaining business operations.
“We have to process a large volume of transactions, so it’s not as if we could just close down and implement the new system for a period. This meant the project became very stop/start in nature and was taking too long,” said HRSA’s Finance Manager Oliver Bott.
“AMS has been pivotal in getting us to where we are now in terms of the service we provide."
Oliver Bott
Finance Manager, HRSA
The Solution
HRSA engaged TechnologyOne’s AMS team to accelerate the go-live process and provide ongoing technical support and business process improvement.
“AMS consultants log in to our system and do what needs to be done remotely, freeing up our team to continue with their daily processes,” said Mr Bott.
“We were able to go live soon after engaging AMS. Our business processes are now quicker and more streamlined - we save around six to 10 hours per week with AMS.”
“AMS provides a level of knowledge and technical support that is very high and very timely in response.”
Oliver Bott
Finance Manager, HRSA
HRSA's perspective
Prior to engaging TechnologyOne, HRSA faced the danger of falling behind in its capacity to integrate with the national harness race management information system and keep pace with technological advances.
“We were wanting to get into the 21st century and implement the functionality TechnologyOne is able to provide,” said Mr Bott.
“We knew we needed to provide a more modernised service. We’re in a service industry where our customers’ expectations keep rising, and we needed to meet that demand.
“AMS provides a level of knowledge and technical support that is very high and very timely in response. We get regular updates on what’s happening with the system via fortnightly teleconferences with our AMS manager, so we still have that person-to-person interaction.
“We’re a specialised industry and the key is having a finance system that properly integrates with our race management system. TechnologyOne has delivered that, and AMS has been pivotal in getting us to where we are now in terms of the service we provide.”
Spotlight on AMS
HRSA credits AMS for a smooth go live process and transformation of business operations.
“We went live on 1 July 2015 with AMS’s assistance and we were pleasantly surprised how easily that went - there were very few hiccups in the go live process,” said Mr Bott.
“The AMS team helps with troubleshooting, system upgrades, software upgrades and technical support. We have a dedicated consultant who responds quickly to our queries.”
Mr Bott is confident HRSA will continue to benefit from working with AMS, moving forward. “AMS has significantly changed the way we do business. We rely on AMS as our only source of internal technical support – we no longer need to provide these resources ourselves.
“We now have a robust, up-to-date financial system in place and a support team which I’m sure we’ll utilise for many years to come.”
About Harness Racing SA LTD
HRSA is South Australia’s principal controlling authority for harness racing. HRSA conducts 160 race meetings per year, with an annual turnover of $10 million, and processes more than 400 transactions per fortnight in stake runs.
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