UK Research Council: implementing Shared Services for Information Technology

The client

Formed in 1995, the Council is an independent, non-departmental public body of the Office of Science and Technology which itself is part of the Department of Trade and Industry. It employs around 2,000 personnel and has an annual turnover of around £170m.

In response to the Gershon Review of public sector efficiency and to significant pressures from its own board to reduce overhead costs significantly, the Council embarked on a major programme, under the leadership of its CEO, to transform its back office functions. Gelst led the IT workstream that implemented a new IT organisation that would enable the Council to achieve its scientific objectives.

The challenge  

Although the Council's IT Department had successfully changed from a loss-making organisation to one which broke even, it was struggling to convince its key customers that it was delivering a value-for-money service. As such, it was under intense pressure to reduce costs, improve the level of service that it delivered and improve the transparency of its activities.

The key challenge therefore was to implement the right IT organisation with the right number of people in the right roles that would enable the Council to achieve its business objectives.

How Gelst contributed

A small, focused team, co-led by two senior representatives from the Council’s market-facing business units and a Partner from Gelst, designed and launched a new Corporate Information and Communications Technology (CICT) organisation. The team, staffed predominantly with personnel from the Council's existing IT departments, based the number of resources needed on a solid estimating model driven by the required services and service levels. This included:

  • Defining the services and service levels to be delivered and aligning them with the needs of key customers

  • Designing an overall organisation for IT, including the boards that set the direction for IT, the structure of the overall organisation together with roles, responsibilities and reporting arrangements

  • Identifying the policies, processes and standards that will specify how the organisation will operate

  • Aligning the aspirations of personnel in the existing organisation with future opportunities

  • Defining the implementation plan and launching the transformation

  • Identifying the benefits to be delivered and further continuous improvement opportunities

  • Aligning executive-level stakeholders with the overall direction being taken.

Results

  • A new CICT organisation with 15% fewer staff is being implemented, predominantly through voluntary departures or reallocation of staff to frontline roles

  • Opportunities have been identified to reduce number of staff by a further 10–15%

  • Service delivery is being improved by clearly defining services, service levels and responsibilities for delivering them

  • Key customers are empowered to make local decisions about service priorities

  • There is a shared understanding across the Council of the services and service levels to be delivered

  • There is improved alignment of expectations between the IT organisation and its key customers

  • The Council's Executive Board has agreed that the organisation will comply with business-focused policies and standards

  • The new organisation is aligned with industry standards and the e-Government Unit's Shared Services and IT Professionalism initiatives.

What they said about Gelst

“I'm absolutely delighted that we've resolved what to do with IT. Six months ago if anyone had told me that we would have completed this exercise by now, I wouldn't have believed them.”  Member of the Executive Board and overall Programme Director.

 

“The best thing about the transformation programme was working with Gelst. They brought a completely different perspective to the programme.”  Head, Corporate Information and Communications Technology organisation.