A housing authority whose software could not do payroll.
Knoxville's Community Development Corporation is the public housing authority for Knoxville and Knox County. In mid-2019 it asked Avèro to establish what its technology estate could actually carry.
The software was doing what it was bought to do. The agency had simply outgrown what that was.
KCDC contracted Avèro in mid-2019 to understand its current information technology platform — infrastructure, staffing levels, and processes — and to establish where the gaps sat.
EmPHAsys Elite, the incumbent public housing authority software, did not provide the integration or the applications the agency's business needed: payroll and HR, reporting, and contract management were all outside what it could support.
The document management system, Eclipse, had been implemented without file-naming conventions or targeted search, which turned retrieval into a bottleneck. Training was inconsistent, so staff were not using what the agency already owned.
The deliverables.
ERP procurement
Defining requirements for and procuring a system that supports the agency's actual business — payroll and HR, reporting, and contract management — rather than one that covers housing operations and leaves the rest to spreadsheets.
Re-implementing document management
Eclipse was not replaced. It was re-implemented with the file-naming conventions and search capability it should have had originally, removing the retrieval bottleneck without a new purchase.
Periodic end-user training
Inconsistent training meant staff were not using available systems to their potential. A recurring training cadence turns licensed capability into used capability.
Disaster recovery
Reviewing the disaster recovery plan annually and testing it against current practice, with defined action steps rather than a document that exists but has never been exercised.
Status and outlook.
Where it stands
Avèro delivered the assessment and carried KCDC through ERP procurement, alongside the re-implementation and training recommendations.
Why re-implementation beat replacement
Two of the four recommendations made better use of systems the agency already paid for. An advisor earning implementation revenue has less reason to suggest that.
In their words
“The Avèro team builds trust and relationships with our staff. By using ordinary English and humor, they can speak to different levels because they understand that most people do not speak IT.” — Terry McKee, Procurement Director
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