Testimonials

Covalent places huge emphasis on delivering a quality service and maintaining the very highest levels of customer satisfaction. Listed in this section are various comments we have received from customers that reinforce this approach and put it better than we could do ourselves.

To view our Testimonial list by category click here.

Local Government

"Covalent has transformed the way we use performance information."

— Stoke City Council

"The Covalent system has become the corporate and comprehensive focal point for performance and management information within Sedgemoor District Council."

— Sedgemoor District Council

"Covalent came top by a long way in all aspects scored [when we conducted a full tender selection process]. I can confidently report we are happy with what we have, Covalent has filled gaps we knew we had and some we didn’t know we have!"

— Dumfries & Galloway Council

"Covalent has really helped us to focus and put performance management at the heart of the organisation."

— East Herts District Council

"We purchased Covalent a year or so ago and I would score it 10 out of 10. It is an extremely good system and the company is very committed and customer focused."

— Uttlesford District Council

"Covalent is now an integral part of our performance management framework. It has become embedded across the organisation and is now part of the ‘day job’. We would be lost without it and it certainly delivers value for money. As a mark of how easy it is to use the system and embed it into the culture of South Staffordshire Council - within three months of it being purchased and set up we used it to present our Quarter 1 data. Elected members immediately liked it!"

— South Staffordshire Council

"Covalent allows us the visibility to see how well and where we are performing and achieving. The managers in the Council have now become reliant on the information we are able to provide and are keen to have access to more."

— Harrogate Borough Council

"Covalent greatly reduces the effort required in data gathering and reporting on performance data, so freeing up the Performance Unit to focus on actively managing, as opposed to just measuring, performance."

— Sedgemoor District Council

"It’s been a pleasure working with you and without Covalent, Hertsmere would not have progressed half as well as it has."

— Hertsmere Borough Council

"We think Covalent’s fantastic! As a council we have in the past, and would in future, recommend Covalent to other potential users. For me, the one thing that makes Covalent stand out is the value placed on the customer, and on customer feedback."

— Ribble Valley Borough Council

"As a supplier Covalent is probably the best I have ever worked with. Ongoing support is excellent and responsive. The staff are helpful, experienced and friendly... when they say that they are going to get back to you, they do."

— South Staffordshire Council

"I trained our first Members on Covalent yesterday and the response was extremely positive. They found the system easy to use and it only took an hour (including questions) to show them how to find out what they want. They all went away keen to find out which officers weren’t putting comments against their data!."

— Harrogate Borough Council

"The quality of the training already received from Covalent has been great."

— Renfrewshire Council

"Good clear instructions. Very good and patient trainer."

— Pendle DC

"The training was excellent."

— Copeland BC

"Relaxed, friendly & very comprehensive."

— North Dorset BC

"The implementation project was well supported, and the data load process completed successfully and within the agreed timescales. The Covalent team were friendly, helpful and responsive to questions and ideas."

— Dumfries & Galloway Council

"The need for involvement of IT during the implementation was minimal. The whole process took around 4 weeks altogether. Given how complex the whole thing can be it didn’t really seem to take that long. Of all the IT companies that I have dealt with over the years, Covalent are certainly the best."

— South Staffordshire Council

"I have to say that you work very fast - faster than any helpdesk I have ever worked with. We in Mid Sussex are very impressed and happy customers :-)."

— Mid-Sussex DC

"You have great team of staff who should be congratulated for their effort, enthusiasm and fun sense of humour (!)"

— Uttlesford District Council

"The implementation project was well supported, and the data load process completely successfully and within the agreed timescales. The Covalent team were friendly, helpful and responsive to questions and ideas."

— Charlie Proctor, Dumfries & Galloway Council

"The need for involvement of IT during the implementation was minimal. The whole process took around 4 weeks altogether. Given how complex the whole thing can be it didn't really seem to take that long. Of all the IT companies that I have dealt with over the years, Covalent are certainly the best."

— Kieran Smith, Performance Officer, South Staffordshire Council

"During 06/07 the Council was awarded an increase to its overall CPA Use of Resources score from 2 to 3 following recognition of the Council's improvement arrangements for internal control, a strong feature of which is extensive use of the Covalent Performance Management Software to track progress and report upon corporate initiatives and other significant service projects or initiatives.
Over the last year, the Council's performance management processes have become far more robust, are linked to high level risk management and more actively involve members through the overview and scrutiny process. We have submitted this as an area of notable practice to the Audit Commission's central database. Software is used to monitor progress against corporate priorities, performance indicators, improvement priorities and a number efficiency and other targets. Progress is summarised in quarterly 'Performance and Risk Matters' reports and is reviewed by the Senior Management Team and members. The Council has improved the way it manages value for money by, for example, using monitoring software and producing summary quarterly reports. This was highlighted as notable practice."

— Worthing BC Audit Commission Annual Audit Letter 2006/07

"We use the risk module here at Lichfield to record and manage all our service and corporate risk registers. We find the system very simple to use and are very happy with it. The key benefit that we find from using Covalent rather than a standalone system is the ease with which risks can be linked to the PIs and Actions that they refer to. For instance our Corporate Risk Register is arrived at by assessing the risks to each of the Actions in our Strategic Action Plan, which is also held on Covalent. Reports showing the actions and the risks that could affect them (or vice versa) are easy to produce. We have devolved the maintenance of the risk registers to 'risk champions' in each department, and they have found the system easy to use with very little training."

— Tim Ray, Lichfield DC

"We have now moved all our risk management onto Covalent from the old Excel based system. We have had a few terms changed in Covalent to more closely match what people are used to (e.g. in profile 'Year Identified' changed to 'Key Date'; 'Potential Effect' changed to 'Consequence'). The great benefit is that PIs, Actions and Risks can be properly tied together so a risk has an action plan attached and PIs have actions and risks linked. Previously, it was hard work trying to get people to recognise that they had to take proper account of risk. Also, Covalent makes all our risk schedules very accessible for updating and reporting and we have standard report layouts for people to use. Each risk has an identified owner who is responsible for updating that risk and pursuing the associated action plan. In fact, the next step is to sort out triggers so that all risk owners are reminded appropriately for updating. Final word - far better than what we had before and work s easily and clearly for risk owners."

— Ian Smith, Winchester City Council

"We've been using Covalent to track all internal and external audit recommendations for years. It works well and forms the basis of regular reports to our Audit Committee. We set each up as an action, with a risk rating (we use categories for this rather than the risk module). It's nice and easy to get all sorts of reports out."

— John Patrinos, Policy Manager, North Devon Council

"Has dramatically improved the look of our PI reports."

— Bruce Devile, Hackney Council

"On a quarterly basis we produce a selection of management reports which are circulated to the board and members and senior management team. These cover a selection of PIs, some of which are statutory BVPIs and others local ones particular to Harrogate. Covalent allows us not only the visibility to see how well and where we are performing and achieving, but also the flexibility to see this in the context of departments or organisational objective. The managers in the Council have now become reliant on the information we are able to provide and are keen to have access to more."

— Rachel Glendinning, Harrogate Borough Council

"I would definitely recommend Covalent to other potential users because the product is always developing with the customer in mind. The team are always on hand to offer help and advice, and above all they listen to their customers and bend over backwards to make the product right for them. Therefore all customers get a product that is tailored to their specific needs."

— Becky Midgley, Ribble Valley

"It's been a pleasure working with you and without Covalent, Hertsmere would not have progressed half as well as it has."

— Selinaz Nain, Corporate Performance Officer, Hertsmere Borough Council

"We think Covalent's fantastic! As a council we have in the past, and would in future, recommend Covalent to other potential users. It fits all of our performance management needs and the product is constantly developing and adapting in line with its market, so as a customer you experience consistent improvement in a product that was good to start with. For me, the one thing that makes Covalent products stand out is the value placed on the customer, and on customer feedback. Also, the willingness to adapt your product to user needs. Each customer is treated as individual and I think this is very important."

— Becky Midgley, Performance Officer, Ribble Valley Borough Council

"Covalent came top (by a long way in all aspects scored) [when we conducted a full tender selection process]. I can confidently report we are happy with what we have, Covalent has filled gaps we knew we had and some we did not know we have! If there is anything missing it is not major. Covalent has a list of developments which are shared with users and an active user group which is used to shape the Covalent future."

— Charlie Proctor, Dumfries & Galloway Council

"Covalent has really helped us to focus and put performance management at the heart of the organisation. It enables us to effectively measure and check that the Council's priorities and objectives are being achieved."

— Ceridwen Pettit, Head of Performance, East Herts District Council

"During the two years we've been using Covalent, there have been many improvements to our processes thanks to the system. Not only has it ensured consistency of definitions (should the DCLG decide yet again to make late changes) but Covalent has also added capacity within the Quality and Performance Unit. Mainstreaming Performance and Risk Management was never going to be a walk in the park, but it is certainly made easier with the use of Covalent. Having previously been up to our necks in Excel spreadsheets, Covalent has simplified what used to be a painstaking cross referencing exercise each quarter. Reporting is now done at the click of a button, and with access at all levels (from Management Team, Elected Members and all other employees) transparent working is now the norm. Responsibility is now being taken seriously as you never know who's next to log-on."

— Nik Moore, Quality and Performance, Rugby BC

"We purchased Covalent a year or so ago and I would score it 10 out of 10. It is an extremely good system and the company is very committed and customer focused."

— Alaine Clarke, Performance Improvement Manager, Uttlesford District Council

"Covalent is far better than the diverse mix of spreadsheets and other systems that we previously had dotted across the Council."

— Charlie Proctor, Dumfries & Galloway Council

"The council's electronic web-based performance management system Covalent has been in place for over a year and has transformed the way we use performance information. Timely performance information is easily accessible to officers across all directorates and service areas."

— Stoke City Council

"I consider the system an extremely effective tool for supporting performance management in my council."

— Steve Di Ponio, Edinburgh

"With limited consistent information on how we were delivering our services to them we had a challenging role to say the least. Although there were basic processes in place and we collected the statutory PIs along with selected local indicators, there were no standard procedures for monitoring and reporting on Performance and no measured way of being able to compare data in a meaningful and consistent format. Only fragmented information was available and action and risk planning was done by each department in an inconsistent manner, making it time consuming and complicated to produce overall corporate performance information. Fortunately we had the budget to implement a PM software solution, and even though some managers in the organisation were initially wary of expenditure it what was perceived to be an "IT project", the results and changed reactions speak for themselves."

— Kevin Douglas, Executive Director, Department of Corporate Policy, Harrogate Borough Council

"Covalent has completely changed the way performance information is monitored and reported with emphasis on the availability of Real time information; one of the main benefits of the system is that it this has reduced the amount of time collating and chasing information. This time in theory, can then be spent to manage and put actions in place to improve or sustain performance rather than simply monitoring. I have been happy to provide references to potential Covalent customers on the competency of the system and the efficiency of the Company. I would not hesitate in recommending Covalent to other potential customers."

— Steve Wiseman, Stoke

"It is very intuitive to use. It's good value for money with very little set up time needed. It's not too complicated to use."

— Jackie Booth, Middlesbrough

"Very user friendly piece of software which has made it easier to get colleagues to buy into the concept and proactively use Covalent."

— Emma Austin-Diment, Chichester

"I have to say that you work very fast - faster than any helpdesk I have ever worked with. We in Mid Sussex are very impressed and happy customers :-)"

— Milena Plummer, Mid Sussex District Council

"You have great team of staff who should be congratulated for their effort, enthusiasm and fun sense of humour (!)."

— Alaine Clarke, Performance Improvement Manager, Uttlesford District Council

— Rachel Glendinning, Performance Manager, Harrogate Borough Council

— Charlie Proctor, Dumfries & Galloway Council

— Kieran Smith, Performance Officer, South Staffordshire Council

"The implementation process was very straightforward, and users found the system particularly easy in practice because Covalent uses public sector terminology and is not commercially-oriented."

— Tim Ray, Principal Policy & Performance Officer, Lichfield District Council

"Covalent was rolled out as the way forward for performance reporting, monitoring and improvement at Chichester. We undertook a series of training sessions, beginning with lead users - known as Performance Information Champions - encompassing managers and support staff. Initially, we trained them on the basics - measuring PIs and projects - and also showed them the potential of Covalent and how it could minimise duplication and make the performance management process easier."

— Emma Austin-Diment, Corporate Policy Officer, Chichester District Council

"With Covalent Complaints, we will be able to consolidate in one place all complaints, comments and compliments, monitor and report to Officers & Members with "Lessons to be Learnt" actions, meet the requirements of "Community Call for Action" and listen and learn from customer feedback and turn complaints into service improvements"

— Alan Balkham, Performance Officer, Adur & Worthing Council Services

Testimonial
>>

— Charlie Proctor, Dumfries & Galloway Council

Also in this section: