The project issues
The Council had recently appointed a new Director of Internal Services who was aware there were concerns about the performance of the ICT Service and wanted a comprehensive review. Socitm Consulting was asked to undertake the review and make recommendations for improving the ICT Service according to best practice guidelines.

The Socitm Consulting solution
We began by interviewing a wide range of key stakeholders including the Chief Executive, Directors and Heads of Service, the leader of the Council, the ICT management team and some staff and systems super-users. We also undertook a thorough review of Council documentation relating to the ICT Service and strategy, informally benchmarked the ICT Service using Socitm data, produced a gap analysis and reviewed the Council’s ICT systems.

Our report on our findings incorporated input arising from interim reviews with the Chief Executive and the Director of Internal Services. The final version included the following recommendations:

• The formal alignment of the objectives of the ICT Service to corporate objectives
• The development of an ICT strategy to cover the following 3-5 years
• The establishment of a new governance and coordination structure for ICT, including Member, Strategy and Liaison groups
• The carrying out of an annual ICT customer satisfaction survey against which to review Service performance
• The introduction of formal methodologies and processes for planning, prioritising and monitoring workloads
• The introduction of an internal publicity initiative to communicate the changes in the ICT Service to the wider Council

The benefits to the client
With our experience and specialist knowledge of reviewing, developing and improving ICT performance, we supported the Council in identifying the priority areas for improvement in its ICT Service. The Council now has a robust and integrated basis for taking forward its ICT Service, with a good understanding of the issues among senior management, enabling the establishment of a more effective ICT strategy and Service performance for the future.

Project identification
Client organisation: East Hertfordshire District Council
Client contact: Philip Hamberger, Director of Internal Services, 01279 655 261, philip.hamberger@eastherts.gov.uk
Lead consultant: malcolm.wylie@socitm.gov.uk
Project no: 6144