Back in 2009 the scandal of the British MPs abusing their recoverable expenses hit the news big time and remained on the front page of the newspapers for weeks if not months. At time of writing at least 2 of them are in jail and more to go.
To remind yourself of the whole story.
So it was only a matter of time before appropriate systemised controls were put in place.
Working at an Aussie reseller of the implemented software solution (and how else could you do this but with software?) I was recently also given a more detailed briefing of the improved processes now in place. A problem very neatly solved by a very capable system and implemented across the 600+ squirming MPs from start to finish in around 6 weeks.
Moving from the sublime to the ridiculous, there wasn't a challenge thrown at the system that it couldn't resolve and you can only imagine how extensive the controls and visbility were required following such a publically embarassing event. As could be predicted, one of the hardest things to do was bring the end users - the MPs - into line in terms of systems usage. Again the simplicity of the underlying system helped smooth this transition no end.
An interesting thought struck me - who was the end client in this implementation? It is very easy to assume that it is the MPs - but of course it is not - the real client is the great British taxpayer - and they have complete visibility of who is spending what now. Lots of the MPs are of course noisely complaining about the limitations and constraints that they now have to live by - but they would, wouldn't they? Welcome to the real world.
A fantastic case study of how good systems implemented properly can turn around a business problem with a very rapid return on investment and make a client very happy.
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