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Essential reading for all ICT managers. |
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Cumbria County Council Cumbria County Council has improved the usability and accessibility of its website thanks to expert assistance from Socitm Consulting. Using our extensive knowledge of best practice in local government website development, Socitm Consulting made recommendations on how the Council could improve its website to most effectively support the online delivery of customer services.
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Are you clear about how social networking can deliver value and reduce cost for your organisation? If not, you may not be benefiting to the full. Having a customer service strategy is something that most customer-facing organisations accept as a necessity - but how far does it go in terms of specifically identifying the role of the web, the role of social networking, and taking account of access from smartphones? Currently few councils address these issues either in their strategies or in the practical reality of their websites. |
What if there were a one-stop shop for web improvement?
What if? Well now there is, and it's called Socitm.
Four Essex councils in joint procurement deal
Four Essex councils have signed a shared service agreement with Capita which they claim will save £7m over the next five years, and cut their ICT costs by more than 45%.
Braintree, Castle Point, Colchester and Rochford councils will pay the company £8m to provide shared ICT support services. These will include a mix of service, asset, security and network infrastructure management, desktop support, server and data storage and consultancy.
Channel shift – are you reaping the benefits?
Shared services - the limitations
A recently published report by the New Local Government Network says what we've been saying for some time - that shared services applied to the back office achieve little by way of savings. The report has found that back office functions account for only 8.9% of total local authority expenditure - so even a very significant reduction in these costs would have only a minor impact on the overall budget. Clearly Eric Pickles' claims about sharing back office functions being able to protect front line services are nonsense.
The perfect website
Every council in the UK has a website (many have several) but relatively few of them earn their keep. For many councils, the website is a constant drain on resources, delivering little if any benefit. It is a cost, not a benefit.
Customer-centric view of the Council of the Future
Putting the customer at the heart of your strategy for becoming the Council of the Future is absolutely vital.
User login and Registration
Socitm Consulting is well-known for four key offerings:
- Local public services of the future - a framework for the new localism and Big Society agendas
- Shared services - a complete one-stop shop for advice and support for shared services
- Websites that deliver - a "website in a box" solution for councils, based on open source and drawing on best practice from the public sector
- Information - your greatest asset - a framework for helping you to protect and leverage the full value from that asset
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Mark Wheatley is a SFIA Accredited Consultant and a highly experienced strategic manager in the public sector. Formerly Head... |
- Cosy cloud coterie snuggles into top nob govIT jobs - ComputerWeekly.com (blog)
- Socitm: New review criteria means Better Connected may accord higher ratings ... - eGov monitor
- Grayling to promote Northgate expansion - PRWeek UK
- Get behind broadband projects or lose funding, councils urged - UKauthorITy.com
- Councils Face 'Big Ask' For Broadband Not-Spot Funds - TechWeekEurope UK