Software aids ex-prisoners' reintegration
The non-profit Australian Community Service Organisation supports people making the transition from prison into the community to reduce repeat offending. It also works with those at risk of entering the justice system.
The organisation's senior manager of ICT, Rick Noble, said its IT department had historically been under-resourced.
"But that all changed about a year and half ago - the position I am in now was created and a few other resources were thrown at IT," Mr Noble said. "One of which was looking at business intelligence [BI] and how we could look at getting more information out of a new client management system."
Business intelligence software defines programs that report, analyse and help present data contained in other enterprise systems.
"The client management system is quite significant. It supports three major business arms of the organisation. It is like the financial system for a bank - it is the bread and butter of what we do," Mr Noble said. "But the reporting component of it is not that fantastic despite it being a good commercial product. So we looked at a couple of alternatives. There was one recommended by the vendor not much better than the internal reporting."
The organisation decided on Jaspersoft, an open source-based commercial offering.
Read the full story at smh.com.au/itpro
Frequently Asked Questions about this Article…
The non-profit is using an open source business intelligence (BI) program to get more information out of its new client management system. The goal is to improve the organisation's chances of helping ex-prisoners reintegrate into the community and reduce repeat offending by improving reporting and data analysis.
Business intelligence software helps report, analyse and present data from enterprise systems. For a non-profit working with people leaving prison or at risk of entering the justice system, better BI means clearer insights on client needs, program outcomes and resource allocation — all of which can support more effective reintegration efforts.
The organisation chose Jaspersoft, described in the article as an open source-based commercial offering. That means it combines open source software foundations with a commercial support model suitable for enterprise use.
Historically the IT department was under-resourced. About a year and a half ago the organisation created the senior ICT manager position and boosted IT resources, which enabled the team to evaluate business intelligence options and pursue better reporting from the client management system.
The client management system supports three major business arms of the organisation and is described as the 'bread and butter' of its work — similar in importance to a financial system for a bank. However, its built-in reporting component was not strong enough, prompting the search for BI software.
According to the organisation’s senior ICT manager, the vendor-recommended option wasn’t much better than the system’s internal reporting. That led them to evaluate alternatives and ultimately select an open source-based commercial BI product (Jaspersoft).
The article shows that even resource-constrained non-profits are investing in business intelligence to improve outcomes and reporting. That indicates practical, cross-sector demand for BI solutions — including open source-based commercial offerings — from organisations that need reliable reporting and data analysis.
The article notes the full story was published at smh.com.au in the IT Pro section (smh.com.au/itpro).
Call 1300 880 160
Start a chat
Schedule a call
