CRM projects hurt by long delays

Councils are as much as two years behind schedule with their customer relationship management projects and few of those that have completed the work are happy with it.

According to research by tech company ndl-metascybe, four out of five local authorities said their CRM systems have fallen short of expectations.

The company said compared with last year's findings it is clear that authorities have a better understanding of the benefits of CRM systems but there are "huge disappointments" with their programmes due to the complexity of many of the implementations.

One in three councils interviewed said they had no idea how they were going to integrate their back office systems with their new CRM programmes.

Declan Grogan, managing director of ndl-metascybe, said in a statement: "Moving from a departmental, vertical silo approach to a horizontal cross functional way of working is causing significant difficulties. Nearly half the authorities we interviewed cited this as their biggest barrier."

English authorities are leading the way with 70 per cent saying they have a CRM system in place - compared to just a quarter in Wales.