City of Marseille centralizes data and planning with Pigment

At a glance

• Marseille was experiencing some difficulties in passing information and data to decision-makers due to a fragmented and siloed information system.
• Pigment’s quick implementation meant the controlling team was able to hit the ground running, and encouraged widespread adoption.
• The Pigment platform enabled the team to centralize data and information, so all stakeholders could access a single source of truth.

The City of Marseille revolutionizes its budgetary management with Pigment

Home of France's biggest port, Marseille has more than 670,000 inhabitants. With an annual budget of around €1.5 billion, and 12,500 agents distributed in 60 directorates, this is a complex public organization.

Local authorities in France are facing more and more regulation. To comply, they require access to consistent, reliable, precise management information.

However, Marseille was experiencing some difficulties in passing information and data to decision-makers due to a fragmented information system. Finance spent too much time collecting data, formatting it and sending it on to the right person. The main challenge was therefore to facilitate communication between all the people and departments.

In this context, the implementation of a connected tool for performance measurement, multidimensional planning and financial and strategic foresight had become essential. Pigment was selected following a competitive selection phase, for its speed of implementation, power, and flexibility.

The impact

One of the main benefits of using Pigment for the City of Marseille is the ability to anticipate and plan proactively. Thanks to Pigment, business teams are now able to simulate various financial scenarios and adjust budgets accordingly, understanding the clear impact of each investment.

Pigment has transformed the way teams collaborate with the local administration. Before the EPM platform implementation, budget data and management conversations were siloed, all communication mainly done by telephone or by Excel files shared by email, leading to potential sources of errors and misunderstandings. 

Pigment EPM platform enabled the controlling team to centralize data and information, so all stakeholders could access a single source of truth and work more efficiently.

Rapid adoption and widespread use

The simplicity and intuitiveness of Pigment's interface enabled rapid adoption by users in the city. Teams quickly mastered the tool, which led to a natural increase in productivity. In addition, notification, alerts, and comments functionalities made it easier to monitor discussions and understand internal budget processes, thus improving strategic decisions.

In a few weeks, Christophe's teams were able to manage Pigment’s platform and create a first budget application which was then reviewed and modified.

The City of Marseille's experience demonstrates the importance of a modern and integrated strategic planning solution for the public sector. Pigment has enabled the city not only to overhaul their budget framework, but also to improve process flow, the quality of inputs, and overall collaboration.

Read more about Pigment for public administrations here.