Corporate ICT strategy

The project issues

Southend-on-Sea Borough Council had been recently restructured at senior management level, including the creation of four new Directorships. The Corporate Director for Support Services had responsibility for the ICT function and wanted a review to establish that the ICT strategy and departmental structure effectively supported the Council’s overall business objectives.

The Socitm Consulting solution
We began by holding meetings with senior managers to establish the overall strategic context for ICT and interviewed key individuals within the ICT department and across Council services. We also held two workshops with ICT staff and service representatives, carried out a staff survey of the ICT department, reviewed the ICT job structure and undertook a skills audit to identify how far the ICT strategy was integrated at a corporate level. We also reviewed key documentation and the Council’s systems.

From this, we submitted a report, which included the following recommendations:

• The founding of an ICT strategy group, chaired by a Director with representatives from each Service. The group has responsibility for reviewing and approving the procurement of ICT services and systems with a value greater than £10,000 to maximise any potential inter-departmental deployment
• Placing the ICT department on a firmer and more transparent financial footing, with the introduction of a trading account to ensure effective departmental budget management
• A series of technical recommendations, including upgrading the Council’s LAN and WAN, the need for a further review of security to work towards the BS7799 standard, increasing the resilience of the SQL and Oracle databases, improving business continuity and consideration of the introduction of VoIP at the end of the existing telephony contract

The report was presented to the Corporate Management Team which accepted all of its recommendations, and these are now in the process of being implemented. The Council subsequently asked us to assist with the new ICT strategy and produce a road map to align it fully with Council priorities.

The benefits to the client
By providing expertise in the strategic review and development of the ICT Service, we assisted the Council in aligning and integrating its ICT function more fully with its overall corporate objectives. As a consequence, both senior management and key personnel gained a much better understanding of the corporate-level benefits of ICT, and a strategic road map for greater and more flexible corporate ICT deployment. This will ensure that the ICT Service performs more effectively in meeting Council priorities and delivering customer services.

Project identification
Client organisation: Southend-on-Sea Borough Council
Client contact: Sally Holland, Corporate Director for Support Services, 01702 215000 sallyholland@southend.gov.uk
Lead consultant: michael.roe@socitm.gov.uk
Project no: 6023