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Westminster ICT Strategy
Version: Issued for Approval 1.1 (14 November 2008)
David Wilde
Westminster Information Services
Telephone: 020 7641 2833
e-Mail: dwilde@westminster.gov.uk
792754c8-762a-4413-9e6e-282de4a0095e.doc
Version Control
Version Date Author Comments
Initial drafts, incorporating comments
0.x – 0.4 July 2008 Ben Goward
from WCC Council officers
David Wilde / Ben
0.5 – 0.6 August 2008 Updates following CIO review
Goward
0.7 10 August 2008 David Wilde Draft issued for consultation
0.8 21 August 2008 David Wilde Amended version following feedback
Paul Treacy / Ben
0.9 – 0.9a 22 August 2008 Amended version following feedback
Goward
Updated prior to submission for
1.0 10 October 2008 Ben Goward
approval
1.1 14 November 2008 David Wilde Final version for approval
Table of Contents
1 INTRODUCTION
1.1 ICT strategy 2008 to 2012
1.2 ICT at Westminster 2008
2. TOWARDS 2012: TECHNOLOGY & LOCAL GOVERNMENT TRENDS
2.1 Shared services and technology “commoditisation”
2.2 Our role in London and emphasis on local outcomes
2.3 Economic downturn and climate change
3. WESTMINSTER’S AMBITION
3.1 Reflecting the City Council’s core values
3.2 Delivering One City priorities
3.3 Harmonised service and technology sourcing
4. TRANSFORMED CORPORATE CAPABILITIES
4.1 Citizen Centric Services
4.2 Worksmart Mobile
4.3 Enterprise Resource Planning
4.4 Libraries, Archives & Records Management
5. ENTERPRISE ARCHITECTURE – OUR TECHNOLOGY “BLUEPRINT”
6 STRONG IT LEADERSHIP AND GOVERNANCE
6.1 Target Operating Model (TOM)
6.2 Strategic Alignment
6.3 ICT skills and staff development
6.4 A mature framework for managing the technology lifecycle
6.5 Governance
6.6 Information and Security Management
6.7 Supplier performance
6.8 Transparent IT costs
7 ROBUST IT INFRASTRUCTURE
7.1 A Unified Network
7.2 Externalised desktop & datacentre service
8. SUMMARY & CONCLUSION
Appendices
A. Case management systems strategy
B. IT Programme & medium term financial plan
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1 INTRODUCTION
1.1 ICT strategy 2008 to 2012
Westminster aspires to be the best of the best, a global leader in city management, and during the
2012 Olympics, the eyes of the world will be upon us. Information and Communications
Technologies (ICT) have a critical and expanding role in enabling the City Council’s ambition by
providing radically different methods for customers to access and use our services, new working
practices which improve both service quality and staff productivity whilst reducing overall costs.
This new corporate ICT strategy sets out a fresh approach to the provision of ICT services, not just
for the City Council but in partnership with others to achieve successful service delivery in
Westminster and as part of London. It sets out:
A customer centric approach to public facing services using converged technologies, bringing
together channels and driving up self service availability and use by residents;
A new ICT delivery model using the concept of Total Cost of Ownership (TCO), including
delivery of the Worksmart Mobile project and unifying our communications systems;
How we will reach our ambition to be infrastructure free by 2015, taking advantage of the roll-
out programme to reduce our carbon footprint for technology use;
A roadmap for delivery, backed by a medium term financial plan aligned with growth, invest to
save and efficiency over the period.
Our intention is to establish an innovative and proactive partnership approach to ICT which
establishes Information Services’ thought leadership role within the City Council.
The strategy provides opportunities to bridge the digital divide by making use of our network
capabilities and exploring the re-use of old computer equipment for voluntary groups. Efficiencies
released through the move to these new services can be re-invested in technology based service
provision for residents and businesses in Westminster.
1.2 ICT at Westminster 2008
Information Services is responsible for the City Council’s overall ICT strategy and service delivery.
As at autumn 2008, annual revenue expenditure is £16.6million, comprising in house client side
contract management, strategy, project management and outsourced service contracts, including
the main CSi ICT outsourcing contract. These costs are primarily recharged to service
departments on basis of user numbers. Approximately £10m is invested in ICT development
annually through the City Council’s capital expenditure programme.
During 2007, an external review of Westminster ICT strategy recommended the following to deliver
service improvements:
Address longstanding issues with the performance of service delivery;
Reorganise Information Services under a new Chief Information Officer (CIO);
Implement governance to better align ICT decision making with City Council priorities;
Develop a technology strategy based on the vision of “zero infrastructure” by 2015.
During 2007/8, contract staff were engaged to progress these recommendations, whilst also
supporting the Worksmart 1 project delivery. These activities are now being brought together in
the Worksmart ICT Remodelling project, under the new CIO, David Wilde.
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2. TOWARDS 2012: TECHNOLOGY & LOCAL GOVERNMENT TRENDS
2.1 Shared services and technology “commoditisation”
Over the last decade, the Internet has developed as a major channel for exchanging information
between citizens and government, both local and central. Further computerisation of government
processes has enabled self-service and greater automation. It is increasingly seen as
unnecessary and inefficient for the UK taxpayer to fund more than 1,000 individual public sector
ICT services when many functions are common across the UK, or overlap considerably with each
other.
The cost of PCs, networks and “datacentre” services have also fallen dramatically, with
applications such as email and file storage now managed and accessible from anywhere via the
Internet. Google and Microsoft are investing heavily in “cloud computing” models and it will soon be
cheaper to buy into these Internet-hosted ICT services than to operate desktop and datacentre
infrastructures ourselves. At the heart of this is the concept of Total Cost of Ownership (TCO),
procuring a complete device, data storage, desktop operating system, network access and security
service at a fixed cost per user, per annum.
Westminster has a long history of outsourcing and already does not own the ICT systems
underpinning revenue collection, street management and parking services. We will seek further
economies of scale within both the commercial and the public sector, and covering a growing
range of ICT services. Central London property prices, increased flexible and home working and
business continuity requirements provide further rationale for moving Westminster towards a zero-
infrastructure model.
2.2 Our role in London and emphasis on local outcomes
Reflecting Westminster’s position in the heart of London, we envisage closer working with the
Greater London Authority (GLA), other public sector bodies, the voluntary sector and national
government. The focus of the Comprehensive Area Assessment (CAA) on local outcomes is
demanding ever closer collaboration with local service delivery agencies. The coming three years
will see initiatives such as:
Connection to national infrastructures developed for children and adult services, registrars,
community protection and planning;
Increased use of the GLA’s London Portal and wider use of Transport for London street
management infrastructures;
Joint ICT governance and projects with local NHS and criminal justice bodies;
In this more collaborative, distributed environment, understanding the link between City Council
policy/investment decisions and outcomes for citizens will become “core business”. Westminster
will require strong information management practices and new customer, Business Intelligence and
Collaboration tools to support not just CAA and corporate management reporting, but overall City
Management.
2.3 Economic downturn and climate change
Reductions in commercial activity and rising service demands will pressurise departmental budgets
during an economic downturn, leading to further scrutiny of central service overheads. This
strategy will drive a more efficient use of ICT assets through the TCO model, ensuring our cost
base demonstrates good value for money whilst delivering a high quality service.
ICT also has a strong role in delivering to the Leader’s target of carbon neutrality within five years.
Flexible/mobile working and consolidation of printers & Multi-Function Devices (MFDs) are already
reducing energy use. Further reductions will be sought during 2009 from server
consolidation/virtualisation, provision of a new “green” corporate laptop and a migration to offsite
shared datacentres.
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3. WESTMINSTER’S AMBITION
3.1 Reflecting the City Council’s core values
Our ICT services need to align with OneCity aspirations and the Worksmart transformation
agendas. Contrasting with the tactical approach required to deliver Worksmart Phase 1 (2007/8),
our four year ICT programme provides the capabilities required to enable the City Council’s
ambition in a cost-effective and sustainable manner.
EXTERNAL FACING INTERNAL FACING
Customer driven Value/risk based leadership
Information
Management
Integrated partnership Change and living with
service provider uncertainty is the norm and
Collaboration encouraged
Opportunity based Environment for individuals
enterprise ICT promotes: learning, sharing,
Remodelling making risk based mistakes
Responsive to changing Strategic Strong and constant
environment Sourcing communication
Ability to satisfy changing People-centric Flexible infrastructure
demands quickly access channels
Reputation for making it Resource
planning Adaptable and appropriately
happen skilled workforce
3.2 Delivering One City priorities
Silo-based technology approaches cannot deliver the collaboration necessary to tackle youth
disorder, families at risk and domestic violence. Whilst we must retain best of breed case
management systems, over 4 years we will converge onto a corporate collaborative working
environment supporting secure access and joint working with partners.
MyWestminster OneCity initiatives will require a new approach to customer service technologies,
including a fit for purpose Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system. A more flexible and
customer-driven approach incorporating Web and social networking tools will need to be
established to maintain, track and improve customer satisfaction levels.
Critical to OneCity will be realising the value of information processed through departmental
systems. The Worksmart Business Intelligence (BI) project has forcefully demonstrated the value
of information to children and adults social care. This will be developed as a Centre of Excellence
which will establish and deploy standards and tools to allow joining-up of customer and property
records between systems.
3.3 Harmonised service and technology sourcing
Technology sourcing must reflect the priorities of the City Council and the way our services are
delivered. Whereas “commodity” technologies (e.g. network and datacentre services) will be
procured through outcome-based contracts, transformational technologies in “core business” areas
such as Integrated Street Management and customer service are better suited to wholly managed
service models. Westminster design expertise will be invested in such solutions in return for profit
sharing/trading opportunities. Other business applications will be migrated to managed services as
contracts allow. See Appendix A: Case management system strategy.
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4. TRANSFORMED CORPORATE CAPABILITIES
4.1 Citizen Centric Services
Information Services recognise the need to drive up customer satisfaction through consistent
standards and front-line empowerment, whilst also reducing corporate overheads on services.
Through the Worksmart Knowledge and Information Management programme, focus is being given
to the customer and property records in departmental systems which underpin almost all Council
service delivery. Improved governance and tools will be developed, and further use made of Data
warehousing and Business Intelligence tools to provide an evidence base for Council decision-
making. Customer Data Integration technology being implemented to support the DCSF-funded
Familes at Risk pathfinder will be extended to provide a more integrated customer view across
systems.
Rollout of the (Microsoft Sharepoint)
collaborative working platform as the new
corporate Intranet in 2009/10 will allow
departments to securely share such
information and systems with their delivery
partners. The new “WIRE” will provide greater
transparency of our people (knowledge)
resources and a managed process for routing
customer enquiries to the appropriate back
office expert.
Through the Web Services Programme,
www.westminster.gov.uk will be relaunched in
early 2009/10 with improved design,
navigation, content and search, potentially
hosted in partnership with the GLA. A
replacement CRM will be introduced providing
a platform for greater integration of the
MyWestminster Web channel with contact centre and backoffice processes. Web 2.0 tools will be
piloted to engage citizens directly in the key decisions affecting their local area.
During 2008/9, implementation of Worksmart 1 end-to-end Planning and Licensing solutions will be
completed for Built Environment services. In 2009/10, an online building control application
process will be implemented, alongside further online street/fault reporting solutions integrated with
MyWestminster and Uniform/Confirm. Migration towards a new, customer-centric online parking
portal currently under discussion with Partnerships in Parking will begin with MyWestminster and
be completed following ICPS contract relet in 2011. In people services, an electronic self-
assessment capability will be developed for carers in 2009/10.
4.2 Worksmart Mobile
Mobile working drives efficiency, performance and carbon neutrality and Westminster has a strong
track record in areas such as parking, contract monitoring and Wireless CCTV.
Past projects have delivered a wide variety of technology based solutions with varying degrees of
success. To maximise return on investment and ensure the best fit of technology solutions to user
requirements, there needs to be a shift to an outcome based set of mobile tools which can be
mapped to the way people work in a truly efficient yet flexible environment.
The Worksmart Mobile project is designed to achieve this by establishing 4 outcome based
services for Westminster staff and Members:
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Worksmart @ Home - this service will be designed to meet the needs of staff who work regularly
from home It will encompass secure remote access to online City Council services and systems,
either via City Council provided equipment or through a secure web environment accessible from
non-City Council equipment.
Worksmart on the Move - this will focus on staff needing access to online City Council services and
systems whilst out and about, either visiting residents, on the streets or out in green spaces.
Specialist device solutions for front line staff will be covered here, along with the security and
connectivity demands their jobs place on the City Council’s technology platforms
Worksmart Flex - this is ensure staff are able to log on to the network (voice and data) and work
anywhere on the corporate estate, through deployment of compatible hot desk environments and
standardised roaming profiles. Staff will not be limited to a specific office, floor or desk.
Worksmart Light - Westminster is deploying smartphones as part of the new telephony service.
These devices enable staff to access a range of core services including Outlook, Office
applications and the Internet. We plan to provide secure access to some business applications via
these devices through web technologies. There is also a need for a lightweight laptop to be
deployed as part of the standard ICT service offering. This workstream will achieve that.
All these services will become available as wholly managed solutions, requested via the Wire
through a set of self service menus and with a charging regime which is simple and excellent value
for money. They will be the first of the new infrastructure free services the City Council is moving
towards over the next 4 years.
In People services, care staff will be able to work more effectively whilst out of the office via
lightweight laptops, tablets and PDAs. There is a pilot under way with tablet devices in Childrens
Services which will inform the way forward. Meanwhile, to track care service quality and cost, our
care provider’s (Housing 21) rostering and electronic monitoring system will be integrated with
Swift. A wider Telehealth initiative is also being developed in partnership with Imperial College, for
which Department of Health funding is being sought.
4.3 Enterprise Resource Planning
The provision of core corporate business applications through a hosted Enterprise Resource
planning (ERP) service has become the standard in many parts of the public and private sector.
The main reasons for this trend are:
Reduced cost of provisioning technology platforms and economies of scale by buying
services from large scale providers;
Improved quality of service and business continuity;
Reduced reliance on a small pool of specialist ICT technical staff;
The consolidation of data currently spread across different systems for better business
intelligence;
Alignment with the supplier market which achieves better value for money on software
provisioning.
Integration across applications and with web technologies to improve the user experience
The Candidate applications for ERP in Westminster are:
WIMS Financial Management including GL and AR - Peoplesoft/Oracle OneWorld delivered
through Liberata managed service expiring 2011;
Budget monitoring and reporting tools - Applix, also delivered via the Liberata managed
service;
eProcurement - Ariba-hosted Web solution implemented under a contract due for
extension/relet in Dec 2009;
Human Resources/Payroll system – Oracle system, delivered through the Vertex CSi
contract, due for relet in 2012
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Corporate Property management systems - TRIBAL property and asset management
solution
In addition to capital and revenue cost reductions, implementation of a single ERP platform will
improve central service performance and transparency and allow the City Council to use the data
stored across the platform to better inform our investment decisions across services. For example,
workforce planning and the property strategy can be developed along a total cost of ownership
model (cost per staff member per annum by location) and spend can be analysed across
procurement and general ledger by vendor and account code to drive out better deals. The
business case for a consolidated and/or shared ERP platform will assume incremental deployment
concurrent with the cessation/review of existing contracts.
4.4 Libraries, Archives & Records Management
SirsiDynix will remain the City Council’s Library Management System until the existing contract
ends in 2012-13. During 2008/9, RFID rollout will continue and libraries staff and the ICT network
will be consolidated into the main Westminster network, streamlining infrastructure costs and
consolidating datacentre services to Lisson Grove. The public access computer service is also
being replaced with updated and better supported equipment and online services, including
wireless provision. During 2009/10, this new service will be deployed beyond Libraries and into
One Stops, Leisure centres and other suitable public spaces.
During 2008/9, we will review the business case for consolidating Records Management Centre IT
into the corporate TRIM implementation. Some departmental systems already have embedded
scanning/capture and EDRM capabilities which meet legal standards and better suit our move to
an infrastructure free environment, but opportunities to digitise the high volume of remaining paper
records will be sought.
We will also develop a strategy for weeding, categorising and storing the large number of non
case-related documents and personal email folders currently stored on J & Q network drives.
Future searchable repositories are likely to include Sharepoint (for collaboration) and the new
desktop & datacentre storage services.
These activities will place Westminster in an ideal position to roll out EDRM through the TRIM
solution and achieve the productivity gains not yet realised in terms of access to well structured,
properly managed information.
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5. ENTERPRISE ARCHITECTURE – OUR TECHNOLOGY “BLUEPRINT”
A Corporate Technology Architecture (CTA) has been developed with partners over several
months to provide a technical, contractual and commercial framework for future ICT service
provision. The absence of a blueprint historically has caused Information Services and the wider
City Council to react to ICT requests with ad-hoc or interim solutions. The CTA sets out a common
strategic approach which offers significant cost and service benefits.
Departmental
case management
systems to be
delivered through
service
outsourcing or as
fully hosted &
managed
services.
Costs recharged
direct to
departments on
basis of use
Single
transformation &
hosted service
partner to deliver
new Information
Management,
Web, CRM &
Collaboration
capabilities
required to
support
Worksmart 2
Establish
business case for
consolidated ERP
suite, recharged
as part of central
service offering
Deliver new
desktop through
fixed price “zero
infrastructure”
model whilst
rationalising and
stabilising
remaining
datacentre
services.
Recharges via
standard TCO
Establish case for
single unified
network provider,
recharged via
standard TCO
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6 STRONG IT LEADERSHIP AND GOVERNANCE
6.1 Target Operating Model (TOM)
Delivering the architectural vision as a high quality ICT service demands a new ICT delivery model
(clientside structure, governance and contractual arrangements). A TOM has been developed
through the Worksmart ICT remodelling project to communicate how we will provide:
Excellent core ICT services with high levels of customer satisfaction;
Close alignment between ICT decision-making, business objectives and customer needs;
Transparent and demonstrable value for money;
A clear set of ICT policies and processes for customers to follow.
Customer/Stakeholder Experience
Technology
Business Aligned
Service Desk
£n Bus. Process Outsourcing
Software as a Service
Catalogue:
Maturity
User Laptop •Total Cost of Ownership
Rationalise / standardise
Delivery 2 days •Known and Transparent roadmap
Tel: 2441
Wire-Self Help Build & operate
Everything locally
20% Time
Reactive
Business Partner
80%Planned
• Federated architecture model established – technology fully aligned with service
delivery models
• High level of customer satisfaction with IT – as per industry benchmark • Very few IT assets still owned by WCC – outsourcing, managed and shared services
• IT considered critical to service departments and engaged in all strategy issues opportunities maximised
• Fully transparent IT price/performance metrics agreed by service departments • Core information management, integration, and collaboration capabilities recognised
• More planned than reactive activity as best of breed
Process
Service
{
Projects Model
{
{ Service Desk
Wire
W
Government
Government
Government
Standards.
Standards.
WCC Business
Business ICT Partners C
Policies
Information Service
Desk
C
• Skills aligned to future requirements – focus on contract management &
• Government Standards Accreditations performance, information, strategy & projects
• All processes operational • Embracing new concepts and technologies to provided the Low Volume and High
• Accredited structured approach of ICT projects across the business flexibility to keep with Business Vision.
• Governance model, seamless engagement with supplier • Contractors reduced
6.2 Strategic Alignment
This ICT strategy and supporting medium term financial plan aims to provide stakeholders with a
greater transparency of ICT, enabling the closer collaborations required to embed ICT strategy in
the City Council’s overall planning processes. A dedicated strategy team, linked directly to
departmental priorities through business partners and far stronger governance arrangements will
form the basis of a new strategic engagement model. New versions of this ICT strategy document
will be approved annually at the ICT board, with a full strategy being submitted to cabinet in three
years.
6.3 ICT skills and staff development
During 2008, a major reorganisation of Information Services will be undertaken to provide the City
Council with clearer ICT accountability and access to the analytical, strategy and service delivery
skills which will be required in future. The new ICT organisation will include three senior IT
business partner roles to act as the liaison between Information Services and City Council
departments.
An industry-recognised skills framework will be introduced to develop staff, with stronger
performance management practices linked to Reward. As part of the remodelling project we will
explore opportunities to enhance further the ICT delivery model through a review of ICT resources
across the City Council in partnership with service departments. We will seek to engender a
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passion in the delivery of Westminster’s ICT and encourage teams to pursue industry awards and
external speaking opportunities.
More widely the City Council will broaden its ICT skills base across its employees. Significant
investment is made in technology and we must ensure our staff have the capability to make the
best use of it. We will work with Organisational Development in Human Resources to establish
core competencies around ICT and develop a corporate training programme to ensure staff are
skilled up to use business and corporate technology platforms. This will improve productivity, drive
up the return on investment in business systems and encourage IT enabled change to take place,
improving the customer experience.
6.4 A mature framework for managing the technology lifecycle
During 2008/9, a new service management framework is being implemented to ensure
performance and strategic alignment for all future ICT contracts, projects and systems. Based on
the industry-standard “ITIL 3” service lifecycle it incorporates Service Introduction (SI) quality gates
to ensure alignment with core principals of ownership, contract/procurement, lifecycle costings &
recharges, resilience and configuration management. As part of this we will be seeking to achieve
ISO 2000 accreditation in 2011-12 with our delivery partners.
6.5 Governance
To keep activity closely aligned with organisational needs, clear ICT governance is being
established. Regular Information Services DMT meetings will be held, attended by the three
business partners to ensure the alignment between business needs and service delivery remains
in place. The ICT Board, with Cabinet Member and appropriate chief officer representation will
approve ICT strategy, resources and delivery plans.
The CIO will be engaging regularly with all senior management teams to ensure ICT and the
businesses remain aligned in their objectives to deliver excellent services.
An IT programme management Centre of Excellence is also being established based on the Office
of Government Commerce (OGC) Project and Programme Management Framework. The
methodology can be scaled appropriately according to project size (small, medium, large) and will
be aligned to the Worksmart programme governance during Autumn 2008. Validation of the
programme against available capital funding, infrastructure & contract capacity and clientside skills
will help to ensure that projects are delivered within agreed timescales and budget tolerances.
6.6 Information and Security Management
With increasingly outsourced and remote ICT services, strong Information and Security
Management frameworks, enshrined in service contract and operational processes will be
essential to ensure service/customer insight and compliance is maintained. As part of ICT
remodelling, fragmented ICT security, Information Management and Acceptable Use policies will
be consolidated and updated, and sustainable governance established through Information
Services reorganisation.
6.7 Supplier performance
The City Council’s primary ICT operations plus call centre, HR and parking services & systems are
outsourced to Vertex as part of the CSi contract, until October 2012. There is also a combination
of outsourced and mixed source arrangements for:
Finance systems with Liberata, Ariba & Capita;
Revenues and benefits services & systems with Capita;
Social care systems with Anite (Northgate);
Environmental systems with IDOX;
Transport and road management services & systems with TranServ;
Education systems with Capita;
Libraries systems with SirsiDynix;
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Secondary school ICT systems (via BSF) to Ramesys.
During 2008/9, a review of performance against contracted obligations and the business needs of
the City Council will be undertaken for all outsourced services, with the existing partnership
addressing any areas of non-compliance. In future, Information Services will focus on achieving
contracted performance levels, not “filling the gaps” with ad-hoc and reactive solutions, and
developing services as part of a clear migration path aligned to this strategy.
6.8 Transparent IT costs
Current technology costs are in the process of being base lined and indicative costs for the
proposed new technology architecture sought, to inform the business case for the new ICT
strategy and the attached medium term financial plan. As the new model is established, we will
start to revise the existing recharging model to provide stakeholders with greater visibility & control
over their technology costs, and an overall reduction in TCO.
To provide greater clarity of ICT investment, a legacy of almost one hundred individual IT schemes
from across the City Council has been consolidated to 20 clear proposals, linked to the enabling
themes in this strategy.
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7 ROBUST IT INFRASTRUCTURE
7.1 A Unified Network
Westminster currently contracts for three primary network services:
Core data network – the computer network within and between City Council buildings
Telephony – incorporating internal IP telephony and mobile services
Wireless City – on-street connectivity (also covers CCTV and control services)
The concept of unified communications has now reached a state of maturity where it can be
procured as a managed service which will deliver performance and cost benefits by convergence
and the reduction of individual networks.
A review is being undertaken to establish potential financial and service benefits of consolidating
telecommunications services under a single provider. The proposed service will be configured to
make maximum use of commodity network services and the Internet, providing ubiquitous
coverage and increasing the agility of the City Council to respond to new work patterns and
changing use of City Council buildings. It will also address the requirement for improved resilience
and greater connectivity with London and national government infrastructures.
7.2 Externalised desktop & datacentre service
All existing IBM laptops are owned by the City Council and most of the datacentre services they
access (e.g. email, storage, print queues, Uniform & Swift) remain located within City Council
buildings, primarily City Hall and Lisson Grove. Space constraints, unreliable power supplies and
the prospective sale of City Hall pose significant challenges. Resilience and performance, whilst
improving, are still not as good as required.
During 2008/9 and 2009/10, we will stabilise, consolidate and then begin to outsource our
datacentre services, prioritising “at risk” servers and infrastructure required to support the
Worksmart and OneCity developments. We will also prepare for the deployment of a new
corporate laptop from late 2008 which supports increased flexible working with collaboration and
video conferencing tools. Reduced power consumption, lightweight options for frequent travellers
and robust security to prevent data loss will be designed into a new build to replace our ageing
Windows XP/Office 2002 configuration.
These new desktop and datacentre services will be procured as defined, fixed price commodities
wherever possible. We will seek solutions which move us most quickly towards our zero
infrastructure model and offer the best potential for current and future economies of scale.
Although there are still relatively few suppliers who can genuinely provide such services, the
market is maturing rapidly and there is an opportunity to develop a partnership approach to
procurement. This has the potential to move the City Council to a new desktop technology
platform with transparent TCO far more quickly than could be achieved with a traditional managed
service outsourcing.
To support deployment of the new desktop, funding provision has been made for a significant user
training programme which will ensure that staff have the skills to make best use of new IT services.
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8. SUMMARY & CONCLUSION
The City Council is moving to an infrastructure free environment for ICT provision by 2015. This is
in line with the direction of travel for the industry and will align well with our aspirations of being a
flexible and dynamic organisation, able to flex our resources in line with changing business needs.
This strategy and supporting medium term financial plan outline how we will transform our ICT
service delivery model through:
Delivery of a new operating model for core ICT, involving converged network provision and
a fully managed and mobile desktop service delivered at a much reduced Total Cost of
Ownership;
Migration to an outsourced Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) platform, delivered as a
managed service;
Establishment of a converged customer centric managed service for all public facing
engagement;
Migration of all business applications to externally hosted (managed) service providers.
A consolidated ICT capital investment plan, with supporting development programme has been
developed to deliver these workstreams over four years, whilst ensuring that business as usual is
maintained or improved as service transformation takes place.
The strategic approach outlined will allow a reduction in capital investment from £10million per
annum to under £7million by 2012 by reducing the reliance on one-off funding spikes and instead
provisioning managed services over time. It is also projected to support a reduction in revenue
costs over the four year period, subject to additional cabinet member approvals, from around
£16.7m to under £14m per annum.
Information Services Page 14 of 14 Printed on 27/08/2011
