Collaborative Working to Deliver IT Transformation and Business Change Andrew Dale – Head of IT Ian Pritchard – IT Manager

collaborate to deliverwww.deliverIT.org.uk Collaboration between Shropshire Housing Group (SHG) and Severnside Housing (SSH) Delivery and Management of all IT Services to both SHG and SSH as a single team Created from each company’s separate IT Departments Brand created as an identity for IT and to enable long term resale of IT Services to other organisations Who are we – unITe Solutions

Based in Shrewsbury Owns and maintains 5,400 properties across Shropshire Employs 280 staff. Group structure that also includes electrical contractors (A.Walters), registered charity (Shrewsbury Homes For All) and Social Enterprise (Digital Den). Who are we – Severnside Housing (SSH)

Based in South and North Shropshire, comprises two HA’s (South Shropshire and Meres & Mosses) Owns and maintains 4,500 properties across Shropshire employs 270 staff. Group structure that also comprises a DLO contractor (Total Response) and social enterprise (Grow Cook Learn). Who are we – Shropshire Housing Group (SHG)

Benefit from geographical location of offices and staff Enable resource sharing for VFM and skill transfer Enable holiday and sickness cover Enable joint IT strategy with joint working practices and common solutions Enable service and procurement cost sharing Enable resale of IT services in the future Business Objectives for change to IT Services

Business objectives Understanding of a joint IT service Perception of unequal IT service Technological deficiencies and differences Process deficiencies and differences Lack of IT strategy and alignment with business objectives Team and people issues Challenges Faced in Meeting Objectives

– On-going acceptance of IT as a shared service – SHG DLO growth and SSH DLO acquisitions – SSH expansion and group structure setup – SHG and SSH expansion of staff and working locations – Digital Inclusion Initiatives – Customer Service Initiatives – Ever Increasing Internal Customer Expectations Business Challenges

– Lack of long term IT Vision and Strategy at both SHG and SSH – Lack of alignment with business objectives – Different viewpoints within SHG and SSH for future IT requirements – Incomplete and delayed projects for housing and DLO system upgrades at SHG Strategic Challenges

– Aging and differing infrastructure for Networks, Servers, Telephony – Various Data Centre and office locations – Aging and differing systems – If systems across SHG and SSH could be different, they were different! – Keeping up to date with technology developments across diverse technologies in use Technology Challenges

Lack of: – IT Policies – IT Procedures – Project Management Methodologies – IT Performance Measures Insufficient processes for monitoring and maintaining system availability Process Challenges

– Fragmented teams – Lack of customer service – Lack of willingness to work at different locations – Lack of willingness to work with different technologies Breaching of Comfort Zone! – Occasionally, a lack of willingness to work with each other Team and People Challenges

Delivering IT Services as a “Business Partner” Ensuring Relevance of IT to Overall Business Strategy Making Services Proactive, not Reactive Ensuring IT Staff are customer service focused Enabling standard working practices and processes Delivering standard working solutions Making change through “Evolution”, not “Revolution” Transforming IT Objectives

Initial appointment of joint Head of IT Review of Stakeholders aims and requirements of IT Review of Existing team members roles and skills Recruitment of team members with the right future skills Team Members training Review of IT teams identity and brand creation Selling and Embedding joint service offering How unITe was developed

Brand creation was a very interesting time…. How to get away from…. – Shropshire Housing Information Technology – Severnside Housing Information Technology unITe Brand

Not a separate company – yet! Staff employed by either Shropshire Housing Group or Severnside Housing Due to staff structure, salary costs are similar per company unITe define and manage separate budgets per company How unITe has been structured

Strategy Transformation Customer Interactions Information Giving Core Systems Flexible Working Infrastructure unITe Services

Common Policies and Procedures Common SLA’s and KPI’s Single Service Desk and contact numbers Adoption of ITIL principles Regular IT Review Meetings with key business stakeholders Board level representation on IT Steering Group Service Transformation

Review each companies: – Contracts – Availability, performance, capacity, points of Failure Compare and contrast both companies setups Review Business needs for continuity, remote working, office locations, etc Devise short and long term strategy, action plans and budgets Infrastructure Transformation

Infrastructure Changes Servers Physical WAN/LAN Telephones Data Centre Servers Physical WAN/LAN Telephones Data Centre Wifi MDM Contracts Wifi Data Centre Telephones WAN/LAN Servers Virtual Contracts

Review each companies systems for: – Contracts – Functionality, Ease of Use, Fit for Current Purpose Compare and contrast both companies setups Review business needs for systems match against future objectives Devise short and long term strategy, action plans and budgets System Transformation

System Changes Housing Assets DLO Finance Housing Assets DLO Finance ASB Reports HR GIS Reports HR Texting Housing Assets DLO Finance Housing Assets DLO Finance GIS Reports HR Texting ASB Apps

Setting up and embedding single team working Developing Customer Service ethos Encouraging cross site working and cross training Monitoring role responsibilities Ensuring training is relevant to new initiatives Team and People Transformation

Cost savings on contracts through economies of scale 15% saving on mobile contracts 35% saving on office WAN contracts For joint solutions (HR, ASB, Telephony) – 35% saving on system implementations – 25% saving on system annual maintenance Savings have enabled of additional solutions to be installed Tangible Benefits

Tangible Benefits – IT Staff v Total Staff, Locations

Tangible Benefits – Availability, Continuity, Recovery

Tangible Benefits – Service Desk Performance

Tangible Benefits – Satisfaction with IT Service

Collaborative working was well worth setting up due to the benefits that have been realised Creating an identity has been key to the success What wasn’t anticipated was the level of work required to setup and promote the service, nor the level of effort required to stabilise systems and develop staff Having a joint board level steering group has been important to strategy development and acceptance of service Summary

Thankyou