In 1997 the Isle of Man Treasury decided to replace the existing mainframe and in-house databases which made up the Customs and Excise accounting system, with one database specifically designed to meet the real-time needs of the organisation.
Crown Agents' technical assistance to the Treasury Department delivered software and support services - including customisation, installation and initial training. In addition, the assistance provided for the on-going maintenance and support of VIPS©, Crown Agents' Value Added Tax Information Processing System.
The specialist team evaluated requirements and produced full specifications; planned and designed the necessary software; delivered modules covering registration, payments and repayments, accounting and debt management; and provided a user manual and training.
Then in 2005, Crown Agents was asked to provide consultancy and domain expertise to assist in building a web portal which would provide the ability for VAT Traders and their agents to file returns via the web. The requirement was that this portal should integrate seamlessly into the existing VIPS© application, which had previously been supplied by Crown Agents to support back office processing of VAT.
This began with a proof-of-concept exercise in which Crown Agents provided consultancy on many aspects of the system, including producing a working prototype implemented using state of the art Service Oriented Architecture techniques, integrating with a middle layer messaging system.
This exercise was accomplished working closely with staff in the Treasury, and demonstrated both the technology, and the ability of the Crown Agents team to work with the clients in an integrated environment.
After a successful proof-of-concept exercise, the web portal project has been completed and provides the Isle of Man Treasury with an online VAT submission solution that integrates into the Government gateway project, and provides significant productivity saving for Treasury staff.
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