Digital transformation in the public sector is no small feat. With complex, often legacy systems and a pressing need for efficiency, public sector organisations face significant challenges in modernising their operations. Made Tech, a UK-based company providing digital, data and technology services to the UK public sector, was no exception. They sought to optimize internal operations across HR, project management, and finance, and to do so quickly. To achieve this, they partnered with iQlink, known for its integration and automation expertise. Together, they leveraged the SXconnect managed service, powered by Workato, to deliver a far more efficient, automated, and seamless experience across key business functions. This is their story.
Manual processes, limited visibility and affected client dynamics
Made Tech recognised several key areas where manual processes were hindering efficiency and visibility, creating opportunities for improvement. One major challenge was managing staff absences. The company aimed to enhance visibility and reliability in tracking absences, ensuring that project timelines and customer experience were not impacted.
Made Tech also relied on manual processes to transfer project invoices to the finance team, which led to errors, delays, and inefficiencies in reconciliation. This not only affected cash flow but also impacted relationships with stakeholders. The goal was to streamline these operations, reduce the risk of mistakes, and enhance the overall financial process, ensuring a smoother experience that contributes to stronger relationships with clients and partners.
Partnering with iQlink to reimagine billing and resource planning
Faced with broad and complex requirements across core business functions, Made Tech partnered with iQlink, who pioneered a strategic approach rather than relying on piecemeal automation or rigid native integrations. iQlink reimagined end-to-end workflows using SXConnect, powered by Workato’s enterprise orchestration capabilities. This involved replacing costly and time-consuming bespoke Salesforce APEX code with Workato’s powerful yet elegant integration-led automation workflows (i.e. recipes) and robust integrations (i.e. connectors). Workato’s dashboards and analytics also offered real-time monitoring and lifecycle management of these business-critical workflows, while syncing with Python code blocks used to handle complex data transformation.
Together, they redesigned the way Made Tech handles HR data, project management and financial processes — all without needing to manage the technical infrastructure in-house. This includes:
- Enhanced resource planning through automation
iQlink collaborated with Made Tech to automate the transfer of absence data, giving project managers instant visibility into employee availability, making resource planning more accurate and efficient. This automates complex data flows between Made Tech’s HiBob HR system and project management tool, Kantata SX – a Salesforce App with highly configurable schemas.
- Automated billing for increased efficiency
iQlink streamlined Made Tech’s billing process. With SXconnect, invoices are now automatically transferred from Kantata SX to Xero, removing the need for manual data entry. This has significantly sped up invoicing, improved accuracy, and shortened the time it takes to collect payments.
By managing business process logic and security using Workato, iQlink could deliver a modern and efficient managed service, significantly improving data quality and reliability for Made Tech. This reduced operational overheads, without demanding time from Made Tech’s internal resources.
Connected systems, improved data quality and reduced overheads
Through their partnership with iQlink, Made Tech experienced the benefits of automation without the burden of maintaining their middleware. iQlink provided end-to-end support for Workato, managing integrations, updates, troubleshooting, and ongoing maintenance. This allowed Made Tech’s internal teams to focus on their core business with confidence.
The benefits include:
- Hands-off reliability: iQlink’s management of SXConnect ensures smooth, uninterrupted data flow with automatic, accurate, and on-demand data transfers. For instance, absence data can now be transferred within minutes of being requested and approved.
- Time savings and visibility: Automating HR and billing processes has saved significant time each month, while ensuring real-time, accurate data integration across project and financial systems. SXConnect allows Made Tech to automatically process over 1000 absence requests monthly with high visibility, negligible failures, and the ability to reprocess any errors – errors which could not even be detected before.
- No IT burden: Made Tech avoids the complexity of managing middleware infrastructure as iQlink handles all system maintenance and support, freeing up its resources to focus on growth and delivering value to clients.
Expanding the partnership to deliver agility and scale
Building on their success, Made Tech and iQlink are looking to deepen their partnership. The next phase will focus on expanding the integrations further, automating employee onboarding and customer registration processes using Workato. By continuing to streamline operations in partnership with iQlink, Made Tech is poised to improve efficiency as they scale.
