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ICONI Software: supporting employment

iconi1Belfast-based software company ICONI specialises in employability software, helping jobless people back into work.  Managing director Liam Jordan discusses its growth and future plans.

ICONI provides custom web-based management information systems (MIS) used by organisations involved in supporting people back to work.  The essence of the company’s software is ‘beneficiaries support’ by tracking an individual or organisation through the stages of support for their benefit. One of these areas is employability. To coin a phrase: We help people who help people get back to work.

ICONI has been in business for 11 years and for the last six years has invested a considerable research and development resource into its software framework.  This has allowed us to be very competitive in terms of larger systems, particularly for government.   These systems, in turn, are secure web-based and hosted by ICONI on behalf of the clients and meet the required standards such as ISO27001 and ISO9001.

The majority (80 per cent) of our business takes place outside Northern Ireland: in England and Scotland.  With a strong track record of growth, including doubling our staff over the last three years, our ambition is to become the leading provider of employment-related management software across the UK and Ireland within five years. Last year, we took a leap forward towards this ambition, winning our largest contract to date, to provide a customer management system for Careers Development Group (CDG) in London.  CDG is a ‘prime contractor’ in the Department of Work and Pension’s Work Programme, supporting over 60,000 people back to work over the next five years; put in context, this is equivalent to the number of unemployed people in the whole of Northern Ireland.

Prior to winning the CDG contract, ICONI had delivered similar systems, although on a smaller scale, in Scotland and England.   Clients include City of Edinburgh Council, through Capital City Partnership, which uses an ICONI system (Caselink) to manage its employability programme.  West Dunbartonshire council also uses a similar system delivered by ICONI.

Our systems manage the process from the initial referral from Job Centre Plus (JCP) right through to in-work support and all the stages in between, including all reporting and financial management aspects.  By investing in the software framework, the reusability of the software increases and it therefore does not take as long to develop new projects.  Going into the CDG contract, we had around 100 man-years of software already developed.

However, this is not just about the software but also managing customer requirements, delivering software as a service where customer support is critical.

It’s quite a long journey in terms of operational elements, covering employment relations, individual management, financial management, the stages of the journey and job vacancy management.  We often have to know the process better than the client does.  For example, a client advisor may not understand the financial aspects of their process and we need to have a solid overall knowledge of each stage of the process.  It is often a challenge, but we do it and do it well.

ICONI has been involved in what is very much best practice in the UK.  Delivering quickly is our strength.  For example, we delivered the initial phase of the CDG contract in six weeks whereas many larger companies would only be drawing up their project plan in that time.  Also, by specialising in the sector we are cost-competitive and can be more innovative.  This also gives us a unique viewpoint analysis, seeing the needs of all the stakeholders and users of the system, from directors’ KPIs to the needs of end users.

iconi-logoICONI Software Ltd
Unit 21 Ormeau Business Park
8 Cromac Avenue Belfast, BT7 2JA
Tel: +44 (0)28 9031 9300

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