Abel Solutions Delivers Records Management Solutions to Two Georgia Counties

April 13, 2009

Abel Solutions, an Atlanta-based Microsoft SharePoint solution provider, announced today the delivery of records management solutions to two Georgia counties as part of a pilot program with other partners coordinated by Microsoft and the Association County Commissioners of Georgia (ACCG).

Microsoft, Abel Solutions, KnowledgeLake and the other members of the Microsoft® Records Management Preferred Partner Program (RM3P) which include Information Manufacturing Corporation and Fujitsu deployed the Microsoft Office SharePoint® Server 2007-based solutions. Previously the counties had been maintaining paper-based records systems which were labor-intensive, difficult to access and left critical official documents vulnerable to catastrophic losses.

“Through our Records Management Preferred Partner Program (RM3P), Microsoft and our partners have made significant investments in understanding the challenges inherent to records management processes, Freedom of Information Act requests, e-Discovery requirements and more,” said Andy Pitman, Microsoft Electronic Government Industry Manager.

The RM3P Partner-developed solution makes use of the document storage and retrieval capabilities of SharePoint to not only help reduce operational costs but also provide safeguards for the data managed by the counties. Users in departments throughout the county will find the familiar web-based interface designed by Abel Solutions easy to use and navigate.

“Abel Solutions is a deeply knowledgeable SharePoint partner who understands the records challenges of our customers. As demonstrated in the pilot projects, Abel brought together their depth of knowledge with the power of the SharePoint platform to deliver a records solution that reduced the records challenges and cost of operations while increasing the productivity of the county teams,” stated Leslie Hofeldt, Electronic Government Partner Alliance Manager.

“Delivery of this records management solution in support of e-government is yet another tremendous example of the business value that we have been helping our customers discover using SharePoint,” stated Kevin Abel, President of Abel Solutions.

County governments across the country play a key role in vital records management for legal, personal and property records. The significant volume of these records requires technological advances in electronic storage and data maintenance to be seriously considered.

“Abel Solutions, serving as the core member of the Microsoft team for this Georgia county government case study pilot project, provided the professional staff, systems, and technical guidance which ensured the development of very useful information to assist in meeting the ultimate goal, which was the development of a volume pricing schedule for other local governments to benefit from in the future,” stated Ross King, Deputy Director of the Association County Commissioners of Georgia.

“The key to building these solutions comes from a deep understanding of how the technology can be best configured to meet even the most stringent requirements of the organization,” concluded Abel. “In this case, SharePoint was a great match for improving records management in Georgia government.”

About Microsoft RM3P Partners

Records Management Preferred Partners (designated RM3P Partner) have invested in additional Microsoft and AIIM training on issues related to records management and e-discovery, enhancing their ability to solve electronic and physical records challenges. For a complete list of RM3P Partners, visit:www.microsoft.com/
industry/government/solutions/records_management/all_partners/default.mspx. For more details on the Dawson and Chatham County solutions, visit www.abelsolutions.com/rdocs/dcc.html.

About The Association County Commissioners of Georgia

The Association County Commissioners of Georgia (ACCG) is a nonprofit instrumentality of Georgia’s county governments. Formed in 1914 with 19 charter county members, today ACCG serves as the consensus building, training and legislative organization for all 159 county governments in the state.

“Abel Solutions, serving as the core member of the Microsoft team for this Georgia county government case study pilot project, provided the professional staff, systems, and technical guidance which ensured the development of very useful information to assist in meeting the ultimate goal, which was the development of a volume pricing schedule for other local governments to benefit from in the future,” stated Ross King, Deputy Director of the Association County Commissioners of Georgia.