The Department of Budget and Management (DBM) has tapped Microsoft?s cloud computing platform Windows Azure to automate the annual budget proposal submission process and to optimize its reporting system.
Prior to hopping on the cloud, the DBM collected from various agencies the hard copies of budget proposals during the budget call which were eventually encoded online for assessment. This produced clutter and resulted in inaccuracies upon encoding.
Also, there was no reporting system, which left the government agencies in the dark with regard to the status of their submitted proposals.
To simply and automate the process, the DBM asked Microsoft Philippines to develop a cloud-based application that will allow government stakeholders to submit budget proposals online using their own devices.
A unified reporting system was implemented alongside the online submission tool application, which provides key personnel with real-time details on the status of budget proposals.
?As a step towards promoting transparency and efficiency, we took measures to improve the budget call process by simplifying the steps involved,? said Richard Moya, chief information office of the DBM.
?By 2016, we want to be able to roll out a more modern budget management system built on technologies such as Windows Azure to help us achieve our organization?s goals and objectives.?
The DBM?s implementation of an online budget submission and unified reporting system brought benefits including reduction in operational costs, increase in mobility, and boost in transparency of its processes.
Highly notable are the cost-efficiencies reaped from the reduced processing time and manpower required to manually encode budget forms.
The DBM, however, did not indicate the cost of the cloud-based implementation.
The automated processes have prompted the government to recognize the importance of the cloud in delivering essential services to stakeholders.
This has led the DBM to also offer Microsoft?s cloud services through the department?s Procurement Service, making it available for other government agencies without the need for public bidding.
?At Microsoft, we want to empower government agencies by providing them with solutions that utilize latest technologies to improve the way they work and help them serve their constituents better,? said Ferdie Saputil, public sector director at Microsoft Philippines.
?We take pride in partnering with the Department of Budget and Management and including them in our growing list of government partners who are convinced of the power of Microsoft technologies such as Windows Azure.?
