BRISTOL CITY COUNCIL RESOURCES SCRUTINY COMMISSION. 28 March 2008

Transcription

1 AGENDA ITEM No: 11 BRISTOL CITY COUNCIL RESOURCES SCRUTINY COMMISSION 28 March 2008 Report of: Director of Central Support Services Title: ICT Division - progress report Ward: City wide Officer presenting report: Stewart Long Contact telephone number: Recommendation Members are asked to note the report. Summary This report summarises recent developments within the ICT Division and also looks forward to planned changes and developments in the context of the Council's Business Transformation Programme. Policy Consultation None. Background - ICT Best Value Review 1. As part of the Council's overall Best Value Review process Council wide ICT services were reviewed in 2002/03. Embracing both central and departmental ICT services, a wide range of recommendations were made designed to improve and sharpen ICT within the Council. 2. The main recommendation was for the Council to move to an internal shared services organisational model. Historically the Council's ICT had been organised with many services arranged departmentally with a Central ICT Division providing a range of corporate services. This 1

2 arrangement led to duplication, fragmentation and inconsistency. 3. Moving to the centralised shared services model has delivered significant improvements. All technical/infrastructure services are now delivered from one central organisation and all technical staff are directly employed by the central unit. Common job descriptions and career structures provide a coherent and consistent organisational arrangement. The previous five separate ICT Help Desks have been rationalised into a single ICT Service Desk open, 12 hours a day and delivering significant economies of scale and expertise. 4. In parallel with the organisational changes significant infrastructure investment and rationalisation has been undertaken. Previously the technical infrastructure had been developed departmentally. This had led to a patchwork quilt of provision with some parts of the infrastructure modern and up to date with other parts old and in need of upgrade. 5. A major infrastructure project has now replaced the fragmented infrastructure with a new rationalised arrangement which is fit for purpose and affords significant advantages in terms of flexibility, office moves, mobile working etc. 6. It had initially been agreed that the changes described above would not apply within the former Education department (now CYPS). Subsequently, this decision has been modified and now the whole of CYPS, including technical support to primary schools, has been included. Some organisational changes within CYPS have already been made and more will follow over the next few months and detailed planning for infrastructure upgrades within CYPS is underway. 7. Appendix A outlines recent progress. There has been much enabling work following the infrastructure consolidation. Improved facilities have been delivered to all desktops, and the roll out of modern printing and flexible working facilities has helped achieve savings with the closure of Zion House and the forthcoming closure of College House. 8. However, while progress has been made on the Council's ICT infrastructure, the position in relation to the contribution of ICT to the achievement of the Council's business strategy is less satisfactory. This is referred to in the section on Business Transformation below. Performance and Benchmarking 9. Appendix B summarises benchmarking and performance for the ICT Division. Working with SOCITM we have access to a comprehensive set of comparative information, and we have adopted several of the Audit Commission's recently produced Value for Money Indicators. Customer 2

3 satisfaction has improved significantly and although there is still some way to go the direction of travel is positive and our monthly samples of customer feedback based on specific calls to the ICT Service Desk shows very high satisfaction ratings. 10. Other positive areas include excellent value for money in PC Procurement and desktop software provision. There are some areas for concern and these have been targeted with specific actions over the next few months. Connecting Bristol 11. The City Council has always had a good reputation for initiatives which support ICT within the wider City. The IT in the Community project in the late 90s was ground breaking at the time delivering widespread free public access to the Internet in community buildings and libraries and through street based access kiosks. The Connecting Bristol initiative which arose initially as part of the national Digital Challenge initiative will be important in taking this forward. 12. Bristol, along with nine other cities, has been chosen to take forward a number of projects (under the DC10 Programme) which aim to use ICT to 'make a difference' within the wider community and city. 13. Significant progress has already been made with Stephen Hilton taking the lead as Programme Manager on a full time basis. Many other partners in the City are fully engaged on specific projects. This includes wireless Internet projects to cover the new Cabot Circus shopping centre and projects furthering transport information and Internet connectivity within local communities. 14. Two projects are planned this year which have great potential for economic regeneration and improving job opportunities. Using ICT we intend to develop a 20 seat community based call centre in Filwood. This will provide local jobs for local people who will become part of a local hub connected to the Council's main Customer Contact Centre. This project will be linked to ICT skills training for local people and has significant potential to be replicated in other parts of the City in future years and has further scope to see call centre staff located in their own homes as well as at the community call centre. 15. 'Silvers of Time' is another technology-enabled project which should benefit those seeking work but unable to commit to regular or full time working. Using a powerful computerised database employers (including the City Council) and potential employees can 'match' jobs with potential applicants using the Internet. A potential employee enters their 3

4 availability (which might be just a few hours a week) and the Silvers of Time software matches this with possible jobs. Effectively an ultra flexible electronic 'labour exchange'. Underpinned by an agency arrangement dealing with references and CRB checks, payments etc, this has real scope to offer jobs to people who otherwise would find it impossible to find work. 16. These two projects are practical examples of how the Digital Challenge can use technology to advance wider City Council objectives in terms of regeneration and job creation. Business Transformation / KPMG findings 17. Members will be aware that KPMG are advising the City Council on its Business Transformation Programme. Recommendations are being formulated with a number of specific opportunities being developed for further work. Several planned ICT activities will need to take account of these recommendations when agreed. 18. KPMG's findings echo many of the themes in the Council's draft IS&T Strategy. Their summary key findings are: The lack of direction and Business Strategy appeared to be a recurring theme. With no guidance, ICT have been undertaking preparatory work in terms of consolidating and centralising the function in readiness of a future transformation. There was a lack of co-ordination between ICT and the other departments, which was compounded with the fact that ICT were often excluded from major IT procurement. This lack of engagement resulted in unfit systems being procured with poor integration. The ongoing operation of these systems was a cause of major pain to the Departments, who looked to ICT for resolution. With no discretionary budget, ICT were unable to implement improvement programmes and end up doing the best they can with resources available. ICT as an organisation were found to be in good health in terms of preparedness to react to departments needs, but the proliferation of systems have resulted in an overly large number of personnel in the ICT function. 19. It is clear that ICT will be crucial as an enabler of transformation. Technology solutions will underpin much of the change programme which is envisaged and will enable many processes to be improved and rationalised with consequent significant cost reductions. This will require investment in ICT infrastructure and skills but with a properly planned investment strategy this will enable significant savings and service 4

5 improvements to be delivered throughout the Council in future years. Legal and Resource Implications Legal : None sought. Financial : None sought. Appendix : 1 - ICT Progress. 2 - ICT Benchmarking. ACCESS TO INFORMATION: Background Papers: IS and T Strategy. SOCITM benchmarking data. 5

6 Appendix 1 ICT PROGRESS WORK ITEM PROGRESS NEXT STEPS STRATEGIC WORK ICT Strategy Substantial progress. New strategy produced. Will form an integral part of going forward in context of business transformation Internal shared ICT services Real progress with CYPS - they will now be included for both HQ and schools, mirroring rest of council arrangement. Organisational implementation by April 2008 Discussions with Director of NHS on revised model for departmental IS management Agreement on transfer of GIS staff to Property / ICT Business transformation Data provided for both council-wide and ICT-specific baseline exercises Organisation Blueprint and Opportunity Assessment expected March 08 Information management Progress slower than ideal but progress in areas of Finance and HR CYPS information management - director and management team have identified priority areas and systems replacement. Management information plan emerging Customer satisfaction Third year of participation in SOCITM external benchmarking. One of most improved ICT units. 30% improvement in two years New Fast Track process for ordering IT equipment Introduction of industry standard processes (ITIL) in progress, improvements gained in system reliability and customer communication. Business continuity Disaster plans for technology sound and robust. Detailed work with Emergency Planning to improve overall business continuity planning and readiness Progress core projects Review against BT Programme Apr 2008 Implementation Pilot during 2008 Implementation 2008 Review ICT Strategy Apr 2008 Develop more focussed plan Jun 2008 Detailed plan by April 2008 Review & improve ICT processes 2008 Streamline support activities Plans by Apr 2008 Implement data centre 2

7 INFRASTRUCTURE / SYSTEMS Corporate infrastructure Novell and managed desktop roll-out completed and consolidated Improved facilities at the desktop including controlled Internet access for all and Spam filtering. CYPS migration to standard desktop and council Novell infrastructure planned Detailed plan May 2008 End-of-life/replacement planning for current infrastructure begun Procurement Dec 2008 New services Online carers self-assessment. HomeChoice Bristol (on-line registration for rehousing applications) Submit-a-plan (Building Control and Planning services website) Wi-Fi in public libraries Online consultation on the Local Development Plan Automated HR Information Compendium CRM infrastructure Benefits, Rents and other NH&S & PTSD services transferred into CSC Recommendation expected Knowledge management software implemented for selected services from BT. BPR / integration approach The Source Major redevelopment and re-branding of corporate intranet - The Source. New look and feel, one stop shop for internal information / more information Simplified system for content authoring and management Home and mobile working Colston 33 and St Annes House implemented on time and budget. Major new technologies applied. Romney House project & vacation of College House on track. Comprehensive menu of technology choices now available which will support flexible working into the future. Enterprise application integration Identity / access management Detailed research into options completed. Evaluation and price/performance comparison in progress. Formal project launched to consolidate a number of pieces of work - secure extranet, single sign on and egov facilities Promote use and improve content 2008 Roll out improved facilities Jun 2008 Final evaluation by Apr 2008 Complete work package planning by Apr 2008

8 Electronic document management (EDM) Progress with DIP in major business units consolidated. Additional software with more flexible capabilities to meet flexible working requirements being evaluated. Printer strategy Colston 33 pilot very successful. Approach will be phased rollout in context with HQ accommodation strategy In-house systems Software licence costs reduced by replacement of obsolete PL/1 code Members use of ICT After a pilot all members have been offered a Blackberry device to allow them to work on the move A new portal page for members implemented as part of The Source Wireless networking being deployed to all CH Committee Rooms Implementation May 2008 To match accommodation plans Assess feasibility of handling all council papers electronically Complete rollout May 2008

9 Appendix 2 Benchmarking ICT Performance 2007 The ICT Service benchmarks annually with SOCITM (Society of IT Management ), and has this year adopted several new Value For Money indicators proposed by the Audit Commission. Table 1 summarises the results of our 2007 benchmarking exercise. Indicator BCC Median User Satisfaction (scored 1-7) Total cost of acquiring a PC Annual cost of a connection to the telephone network Annual cost of a connection to the data network Annual support costs per workstation Workstations supported per support specialist Service Availability (Weighted index over a set of key services 55% 64% for year 06-07) ICT problems resolved within agreed timescale 83% 91% Cost of the ICT function as a percentage of organisational 2.91% 2.04% running costs Average number of support calls per user per year 4 4 Management good practice indicator (see below) 7 - User Satisfaction User satisfaction has improved but remains below average. A comprehensive review of all ICT processes has been initiated to improve them from the customer perspective. Use of Resources The ratio of workstations to support staff has improved from 215 last year. Further improvement will result from ongoing improvements in both support processes and the underlying Infrastructure. Unit costs for telephone networks, data networks and PC provision are acceptable but can be improved. Recent investment in infrastructure and work within the corporate Accommodation Programme will lead to further reductions. BCC cost per user for desktop efficiency software is much lower than any other authority at 7.50 pa due to our use of StarOffice. However, desktop support costs are high. Standardised desktop provision, plus a review of ICT Division processes and organisation during 2008 will target a reduction in costs as well as improvements in user satisfaction. Cost of the ICT Service is significantly above average as a percentage of overall organisational costs, and has risen by 0.11% over the previous year. The figures partly 9

10 reflect a bulge in project work in the years concerned (eg infrastructure upgrades), and support costs for the internally-written finance system (CFS). The unusual complexity of the council's IT environment is also a factor, and proposals are emerging within the Business Transformation recommendations to address this. Reliability The figures quoted are for Intensive work on Service Availability during Jan Mar 2007 will produce a considerable improvement in the current year's figures. The introduction of a standard desktop in 2007 has already improved the number of problems resolved within agreed times, with figures for Apr Dec 2007 averaging over 90%. Work continues. Good Practice The ICT Service has 7 out of 10 indicators of good practice recommended by the Audit Commission in place. The three still to be achieved are: Good Practice Indicator Information security management capability is in place with BS7799 / ISO 27001accreditation already achieved. The organisation has a designated individual with the role of Chief Information Officer who has a seat on the board. The organisation has assessed the ICT competence of end users within the last 12 months and put in place an appropriate training and development programme BCC Progress Implementation project planned and Project Manager recruitment in progress. Planned within IS&T Strategy awaits next phase of Business Transformation programme. Currently this is a departmental responsibility. Corporate approach to staff skills and development proposed within Business Transformation programme. Bristol's ICT Project Management is mentioned by SOCITM as an example of good practice for routinely carrying out post-project reviews. 10