Terms of Reference - ICT Steering Group



Services ICT Roles Review | |

| |

|Identify and assess all posts based in business Services which have ICT elements within their role and review communications channels between Services |

|development teams and the ICT Service to ensure most effective use of resources and establish any potential efficiencies for savings. |

| |

|Purpose:- |

| |

|Establish that all ICT functions across the council are resourced and managed to ensure best value for the Council. Define clear roles and responsibilities |

|in order to avoid inefficient use of resources. |

| |

|Key Tasks:- |

| |

|Initial tasks – February – April 2012 |

| |

|A) Review current business Services posts which have ICT elements in their role. |

|Establish types of Services-based ICT roles to be included for assessment. |

|Identify all posts currently based in Services with ICT elements in their role. |

|Review each of these posts taking into consideration ICT functions carried out, task levels and percentage of time spent on tasks. |

|Define Services-based and ICT-based posts. |

|Review links and communications channels between Services ICT development and support teams and the ICT Service. |

|Detail findings for review by the ICT Steering Group |

| |

|May 2012 – Onwards |

|To be defined from ICT Steering Group review. |

|Project Board Lead: |Christine Gore, Chair |

| | |

|Project Board Members: |Philip McKay, Infrastructure Services |

| |Maureen Corley, Infrastructure Services |

| |Janelle Clark, Housing and Social Work |

| |Patricia MacLachlan, Housing and Social Work |

| |Nicola Graham, ICT, Corporate Services |

| |Andy Griffiths, Education, Learning and Leisure |

| |Lorraine Grant, Education, Learning and Leisure |

|Project Team Members: | |

| |Alison Mackenzie, ICT, Corporate Services |

| |Jack Grant, ICT, Corporate Services |

| |Donna Redford, HR, Corporate Services |

| |Business Analyst, ICT, Corporate Services |

The background and principles behind the review proposals

There are now new expectations on ICT teams, particularly in the public sector. The recent John McClelland report on Public Sector ICT Infrastructure in Scotland was clear that the government’s vision for ICT is one of integrated and shared deployment and use, which enables the public sector workforce to engage with citizens and deliver efficient and effective services on a national, regional and local basis. There is recognition that an effective ICT team is key to enabling efficient public service reform, delivering significant savings and supporting better outcomes.

A key element of transforming the ICT Service in Aberdeenshire is our involvement in Business Transformation and Corporate Improvement Boards. Both of these Boards are focussed on delivering corporate change and efficiency and there is a clear recognition that ICT are an essential element in making it happen.

Our structure needs to support; both the delivery of day to day services and provide focus on supporting those Business Transformation activities, allowing ICT to be at the forefront of change.

The view that an ICT Team is all about technology and just being a support service is no longer valid. It is recognised that the skill sets required for ICT will change and become more focussed on organisational change, programme/project management, information management, collaboration and strategic commissioning.

Given all of this there is a need for the ICT service to modernise. The new structure needs to provide opportunities for innovation and focus on the delivery of a proactive service. It is however still essential that the current level of customer satisfaction with our operational support needs to remain as a paramount aim for the delivery of ICT Services.

We need to strengthen our leadership, accountability and strategic engagement with all Services. Across the Council the ICT team need to be viewed as a Service that provides a valuable contribution and is a key asset to the Council.

The review of ICT provision across the Council began in April 2011. This review looked at numerous elements such as technology, applications, service management, governance, school provision, national agendas, information management and finance. The findings from this work have also been incorporated into the proposed structure design.

The proposals for the changes to the structure of ICT affect all employees within the service.

The proposals

The proposals aim to respond to the overall findings of the ICT Service Review and to deliver step change in ICT Service delivery described above. The proposals laid out in this consultation paper aim to ensure that the ICT Service is fit for purpose to achieve the new ICT vision.

Team ICT – Enabling innovation and efficiency

It is recommended that the ICT Structure changes from model split into the 3 areas of Strategy, Infrastructure and Services and is instead based on the key areas of Innovation and Support. This will change the team to operating in two business facing sections, delivering ICT Customer Support and Innovation to all Council Services,

• ICT Business Solutions and Change

• ICT Customer Support Operations

The aim is to build a strong ICT Team that has clear priorities and focuses on overall end to end solutions as opposed to individual technical specialism’s. We will no longer differentiate between the delivery of ICT for the corporate environment and education environment - each section will have responsibilities across the entire council

The Head of Service, Managers and Team Leaders will form the ICT Management Team. The ICT Management Team will take responsibility for ICT Service Leadership, Continuous Improvement and Best Practice. The group will ensure effective engagement and collaboration between ICT and all Services of the Council to achieve the vision.

This change in structure will allow for strategic delivery of new initiatives with specific focus on innovation and taking new ICT solutions forward in the Council. It will also allow for continued focus on the existing well defined support element of ICT that is highly valued by our customers.

A clear ICT Business Plan and Strategy will be developed to ensure that all ICT staff and customers are clear on priorities and overall strategic direction. In order to encourage innovation and service improvement, all staff will be actively engaged in the development of these plans and long term strategies. The newly introduced ICT Governance process will support this way of working and provide clear priorities and guidance.

Transition to this new structure will be carefully planned, our staff need to be trained and given the necessary tools to undertake their roles, ensuring that we have high quality, trained and effective staff. As part of the restructure process everyone will have a full transition plan and development plan to support individuals in their new roles.

ICT Business Solutions and Change

It is proposed that the ICT Business Solutions and Change section will be responsible for all new initiatives and innovation. Overall the section will drive the direction of ICT strategy whilst ensuring that new initiatives are closely aligned with business needs. The section will be forward looking and responsible for ensuring that the Council plans ahead for ICT.

The ICT Business Solutions and Change section will cover 3 sections:

Projects

A project section will be established and cover project across all ICT areas. Based on a clear understanding of the Council’s strategic aims, plans and change requirements, it will ensure linkages of projects and alignment of project activity to Council Service and Business Plans. They will establish best practice in project delivery across ICT and ensure all new initiatives are appropriately managed, scoped, resourced and achievable.

This section will work closely with Project Managers across the Council to ensure that the ICT Team support and are aligned with corporate transformation and improvement project activities. They will be responsible for working with the other areas of ICT to ensure successful project delivery.

In addition they will provide the key Business Analysis skills to support business transformation across the Council. They will work with and support Services in identifying key projects and improvement initiatives.

Applications Development

The Applications Development section will be responsible for guiding the overall applications architecture for the entire Council. It will develop and implement an applications strategy focussing on effective data management and systems integration.

The section will support the implementation of new application systems, make amendments and deploy upgrades to existing applications, complemented by in-house development where specialist bespoke development provides business value.

Infrastructure Development

An infrastructure development section will be established to support the research, design and implementation of new ICT infrastructure initiatives. This will include the deployment of integrated infrastructure solutions across converged networks, messaging platforms, physical and virtual environments encompassing servers, storage, desktop, mobile and any related supporting software and appliance based technologies.

The section will be responsible for guiding the overall technical architecture for the entire Council with a focus on innovation and flexible access to information. Working closely with all other ICT and business functions ensure that the technology platforms introduced and enhanced offer best value and business benefits reducing costs to the Council and supporting business efficiency.

ICT Customer Support and Operations

It is proposed that the ICT Customer Support and Operations section will be responsible for providing the customer facing and operational elements of ICT and to support the core business hours of 7:30am to 6pm. Overall the section will support the customer’s needs across all of the Council’s infrastructure and systems whilst ensuring that excellent availability and operational practices are implemented. The section will be responsible for ensuring availability and support against agreed SLAs. The overall focus will be on delivering Service Level Management and excellent customer support.

This section will provide a strong customer focus that ensures effective day to day delivery of the Aberdeenshire ICT Service meets our customer’s demands. In addition strong incident and problem management processes will be deployed to ensure a high level of service.

The ICT Customer Support and Operations section will cover 3 sections:

Technical Support

A technical support section will be established to support the operational effectiveness and maintenance of existing infrastructure services and Database administration. This will include the support of all networks, messaging platforms, physical and virtual environments encompassing servers, storage, desktop, mobile and any related supporting software and appliance based technologies.

Customer Support

A customer support section will be established to provide the delivery of the Council Service Desk and Desktop functions. The sections focus will be on delivery of an excellent service desk function, device support and device deployment. This will be the key customer facing support element of the ICT Team and excellent customer service will be core to their function.

Applications Support

An applications support section will be established to provide support for applications across the Council. This will include support for all central applications and line of business applications. This support will, in most cases, be operational support to maintain the live environment.

Service Development

These two business facing sections will be underpinned by a smaller Service Development unit which will focus on driving forward service excellence and ITIL processes. It is essential that we continue on the process of implementing ITIL across the team, this will ensure an efficient and well run Service.

A primary focus will be on the deployment of robust change management and move into operations processes, ensuring at all times the interests of customers are served and good practices are embedded.

The section will also focus on the wider ITIL areas of Performance, Financial and Contractual management within the Service.

Information Management

The Information Management function will not change from its current format and will remain as is. It will be reviewed as part of the overall Information Management review. This section will report into the Head of Service whilst this wider information management review is on-going.

................
................

In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.

Google Online Preview   Download