Strategic ICT review

The project issues
The Council undertook an assessment of their five-year e-Government programme and concluded that benefits had not been maximised. As a result, a new Organisational Transformation Programme was approved, consisting of four main workstreams including a comprehensive strategic review of ICT, BPR of all services, a property review and a workforce development plan. Socitm Consulting was asked to undertake the ICT strategic review, to identify those areas of the ICT function where transformational benefits could be achieved.

The Socitm Consulting solution
Socitm Consulting undertook an in-depth and structured research process. This included a comparison of Tamworth’s ICT performance with 22 other shire districts that use the Socitm ICT benchmarking service. Interviews and workshops were also held with all key stakeholders, including the cabinet and Corporate Management Team (CMT), senior management, super-users and systems administrators, key suppliers, partners in the Staffordshire Connects Partnership and the ICT team. A customer satisfaction survey was also undertaken.

From this and other research, it emerged that that improvements to customer service access and CRM implementation were a major priority, and would have significant implications for the ICT function. In addition to the main review report, draft ICT strategy and benchmarking “highlights” report, a review of customer service access and CRM was also produced. This included a detailed analysis of the use of the shared CRM by Tamworth and other partners in the Staffordshire Connects project.

These reports were reviewed iteratively with the Project Board, ICT team and CMT during the four-month project. The 36 recommendations were accepted, and CMT identified a number of key points to be progressed as a matter of urgency.

The benefits to the client
In initiating an Organisational Transformation Programme, the Council needed a comprehensive strategic review of ICT to identify areas where efficiency improvements could be made in line with the overall transformation objectives. By providing expertise and an extensive knowledge base in ICT strategy, benchmarking and performance improvement, Socitm Consulting was able to identify key efficiency issues, including how ICT could fully support the Customer Service and Access Strategy. As a result, the Council were able to prioritise implementation of the recommendations as a central part of the overall programme.

Project identification
Client organisation: Tamworth Borough Council
Client contact: Nicki Burton, ICT Service Delivery Manager, 01827 709420, nicki-burton@tamworth.gov.uk 
Lead consultant: malcolm.wylie@socitm.gov.uk
Project no: 5834