Revenue and benefits: 4 million records migrated in just 8 weeks

Delivering essential services to over 320,000 residents, Shropshire Council aimed to enhance the efficiency and functionality of its revenue and benefits services by upgrading its legacy document management system to Northgate – requiring a migration of over four million records. Here’s how the council utilised NDL Automate to enable collaborative working and modernise its operations, all while navigating tight time constraints.

The challenge

In order to sustain the efficiency and effectiveness of its revenue and benefits services - as well as ensure improved functionality, user experience, and overall service delivery – Shropshire Council sought to upgrade its back-office system. To achieve this, the council was required to migrate a staggering 4 million documents from its legacy revenue and benefits document management system to a new platform, Northgate. The council faced the challenge of executing this transition without interrupting ongoing services, overstretching its limited administrative resources, or compromising data integrity. It was also essential that the migration was completed promptly, avoiding potential data losses at the end of its contract.

The solution

Shropshire Council began its automation journey with this project, using it as an initial test case for robotic process automation (RPA) to evaluate its potential for streamlining other processes across the organisation. The team opted to utilise Automate - NDL’s low-code RPA product - finding its ability to handle large-scale data transfers, price and performance most suited to the council’s requirements. Collaborating with key stakeholders, a detailed migration strategy was designed to ensure minimal disruption during the transition.

Automate bots were used to extract and format data precisely for the new system, emulating the rekeying of information from one system into another as a human would. Its flexibility allowed Shropshire Council to dictate the number of bots used at a time, scaling up activity outside working hours to ensure no downtime during working hours - allowing council staff to carry out their roles without interruption. Daily process updates were provided, allowing the council to closely monitor progress, with the number of extracted documents reported each day.

The benefits

The migration was completed in just 8 weeks — far ahead of manual alternatives, which would have taken years. Bots achieved a remarkable 99.6% success rate, meaning just a fraction of records required manual review. NDL Automate's capabilities enabled the council to selectively migrate only necessary data, helping them adhere to data protection and retention policies by disregarding outdated or irrelevant information. This compliance was further strengthened as the process required barely any human intervention, reducing the risk of data loss, error or displacement of sensitive information.
The migration was completed ahead of its contract-led deadline, meaning all necessary information was retained – now available in a new system, which is better aligned with the council’s current needs and requirements.

What’s next?

Shropshire Council’s leadership views NDL Automate as an essential tool in driving future efficiencies, with this successful migration laying the groundwork for future digital transformation initiatives. The project not only met but exceeded the council’s expectations, and the use of RPA has shown the potential to streamline operations further, with the council planning additional migrations – such as its Adult Social Care Records. The council is also exploring the use of NDL Automate across other departments to enhance operational efficiency.

To learn more about the project, or about the products within the Evolve Digital Transformation Platform, don’t hesitate to reach out to the team. For more inspiration, check out our growing library of public sector use cases.