The Victorian Department of Premier and Cabinet embraces digital transformation with Microsoft Teams

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The Victorian Department of Premier and Cabinet (DPC) supports the ministerial portfolios of the Premier, Deputy Premier, Treaty and First Peoples, Government Services, and Industrial Relations, as well as providing support to the Victorian Cabinet. Each year in Victoria, Australia, upward of 7,000 briefings and 15,000 correspondence matters, ranging from critical situations to new budget initiatives and changes to legislation, are created and managed across the Victorian Department of Premier and Cabinet. Through their implementation and adoption of the Automated Briefing and Correspondence (ABC) system, an Azure-hosted web application built on top of Microsoft 365, DPC has transformed what was once a time-intensive, completely paper-based briefing process into a highly scalable, digital system accessible by all members of the department through the fully integrated Microsoft Teams app.

Impact at a glance:

• Solution currently being used by 1,250 employees.
• 7,000+ briefs successfully passed through the solution.
• Number of steps in the briefing process cut from 51 to 5.
• Printing costs down 96%, largely thanks to the ABC solution.
• DPC reduced their carbon footprint.

Outdated, paper-based briefing processes

When the world came to a halt due to Covid-19, the need to introduce more accessible, equitable, and modern ways of working within the government became mission critical as public servants worked round-the-clock to support the wider community. But even before the onset of the pandemic, DPC recognized some major challenges posed by their outdated briefing and correspondence processes. The department’s matters were previously managed in person through a time-intensive, paper-based briefing system, which required members to walk between buildings across seven different sites to collect signatures. Not only was this process slow and ineffective, but it created serious hurdles for those with disabilities.

The digital system they did have acted only as a basic records management system and lacked the collaboration capabilities needed to support streamlined communication. But with urgent briefs and correspondence, including Covid-19-specific matters, crucial to be approved and heard in a timely manner, it was critical for Victorians that this briefing system was upgraded to a more modern, digital platform.

Streamlining critical workflows through a modern, digital briefing platform

Considering their respected reputation with other government departments and their deep technical expertise within Microsoft technologies, DPC chose to work with Engage Squared to develop an end-to-end digital workflow solution to manage departmental briefing, correspondence, and parliamentary records. The Engage Squared UX team served a consultative role as DPC came prepared with their own dedicated project team, which drove initial requirement gathering, user experience pathways, and visual design. In integrating with the DPC team, Engage Squared helped maximize their investment by guiding and aligning requirements to practical implementations.

The resulting solution was a digital briefing management platform known as the Automated Briefing and Correspondence (ABC) system. ABC is an Azure-hosted web application built on top of Microsoft 365, utilizing the powerful document management capabilities in SharePoint Online and Azure Active Directory (Azure AD) security controls. With members of the department already familiar with Microsoft Teams, ABC has been built as an integrated Teams app, accessible by all users in the department to encourage adoption of the tool. For the first time, users are able to keep track and manage their day-to-day communications and tasks from Teams, with collaboration being at an all-time high. Utilizing Azure AD and Azure AD B2B, ABC can also be accessed from smart phones, iPads, laptops, and home computers by users who are internal to the department, as well as trusted guests. Data security is further enabled via the integration of Microsoft Information Protection labels.

Reducing the briefing process from 51 to 5 steps through task automation

Since its launch in November 2021, ABC has been rolled out to 1,250 employees with 7,000+ briefs successfully passed through the solution.1 The department has significantly increased the speed and efficiency of managing briefs and correspondence, cutting the number of steps in the briefing process from 51 to 5 core steps (with a maximum of 20, depending on the process),1 and for the first time, allowing the automation of time-intensive manual tasks.

For members of the department, the launch of ABC has played a pivotal role in reducing the stress associated with tracking and managing the massive number of briefs that pass through DPC’s internal systems. Thanks to the implementation of automations and more centralized access to critical information, users can reduce time spent on tedious tasks, such as manually tracking down stats and compiling status updates requested by the Minister’s office. With the ability to provide streamlined information quickly, members now have more time to focus on high-value activities.

Building ABC on Azure Cloud has allowed DPC to scale the solution for new implementations, such as election commitment tracking. During the 2022 Victorian election campaign, DPC lever-aged the ABC platform to track election commitments made by members of various political parties and prepare briefs for the incoming government that outlined those commitments.

The department is also achieving its wider goal to reduce their carbon footprint. While not all printing savings can be attributed to ABC, a substantial portion is, with printing costs down 96% in February 2022 when compared to the previous year.1

ABC was awarded the Service Design award at the Victorian Premier’s Design Awards in March 2022. The solution was praised for the flexibility it now provides for employees, as well transforming how the department can manage thousands of matters each year.