1 Repositioning the parliamentary ICT service – the place of business relationship management in the UK Parliament. Caroline Morgan Director of Development Parliamentary ICT

2 Contents The new ICT service – background. Alignment of the ICT service with the Parliamentary business – the “BRM” model explained. Chosen models for the business relationship Change impact for both ICT and the business Results to date

3 Background: Centralisation of ICT UK Parliament centralised ICT, ending multiple federalist and two-house ICT teams. Recognised danger of building an ivory tower technocratic silo remote from customer. Looked for best practice and best advice. Adopted Business Relationship Management concept

4 Why? Specific responsibility for understanding and documenting the business requirements of all parliamentary users of ICT Clearer alignment of ICT planning with business planning and priorities Greater depth and breadth of focus on the needs of all customers Earlier identification of the relevance of technological developments to business areas Pooling of expert resources to optimise development and delivery through programmes and projects Better management of project initiation across administrative boundaries Clearer view of the interests of particular stakeholders in “corporate” projects Opportunities to develop managers with combined business and technical focus

5 How? Put CIO on Board of both houses. Created new BRM posts Serve two masters – responsible to ICT for understanding and defining customer needs; responsible to business for well-aligned and responsive IT. Roles had to be few, strategic, empowered and credible. Chose the “empowered advocate” option BRMs on PICT Board Some on User Boards

6 Relationship Manager Trust Curve Involvement in business matters Time Inform and communicate Advise and influence Coordinate and integrate Empowered advocate Account Manager (order taking) Relationship Manager (valued partner) Gartner BRM Trust Curve © Gartner Group

7 Five BRMs

8 BRM Key Tasks: Strategy – the development of the business strategy, and the ICT strategy, and alignment of the two. For the customer, a “single point of contact for all strategic business needs in electronic services”.[1][1] Requirements gathering and business case direction. Priorities and planning – the agreement of a programme of deliverables in support of the strategy. Service level management and performance – the creation of a mechanism for agreeing and managing service delivery and for assessing performance. [ 1] Source: PICT Priorities Plan [ 1]

9 Strategic Context The BRM model required a clear understanding of how the ICT team should work with the business. Four models © were identified, based on research by the Leading Edge Forum. (next slide) PICT aspires to the “higher models” Not all customer groups can be at the same stage at the same time. © Leading Edge Forum – see

10 Models of ICT – Business Relationship Passive IT role – focus on supply management – e.g. maintain performance within a tight budget. Provider role – focus on demand management – e.g. anticipate demand while reducing costs. Partner – enable business change – e.g. help the customer meet its targets. Peer – co-lead business change and lead in ICT-driven business transformation.

11 Four Types of ICT Business Relationship

12 Relationship Implications

13 Implications for all ICT staff

14 Communications

15 Lessons to date: Customers appreciate empowered advocate. IT Dept benefits from close knowledge of the customer. Business groups at different stages of the four level model. Programme and projects appear more rational. True measure of success 1-2 years away.

16 Questions?