ICT Strategy 2013 - Hays

1.5 Corporate ICT Services
The shape of the Council’s corporate ICT service is undergoing a transformation that commenced in
late 2011 as a response to the changing business requirements of the Council, changes to the way
services need to be delivered to the community and on-going cost pressures.
Over the last few years there has been increasing emphasis on flexibility and agility in the way the
Council delivers services and ICT have put in place a number of supporting initiatives; in particular
the Smarter Working initiative launched in 2009 which has seen a shift of 20%-30% of staff now
working remotely on a regular basis. This service development work is on-going and ICT is
committed to continuing to develop new and innovative ways to meet the requirements of the
business and support it in delivering the Council’s core values as set out above.
The corporate ICT function supports the 3,100 staff engaged in providing services and there are
currently approximately 4,000 desktops, laptops, thin client or tablet devices. There are around 30
key business systems and almost 600 business productivity applications in regular use. There are
three primary IT locations and around 30 branch and satellite offices.
In addition, the Schools IT service provides ICT support services to 114 schools in the Council area
and makes use of the corporate IT Data Centres and Network services. The Business ICT Strategy
2013-2016 anticipates increasing co-operation between Corporate ICT and Schools IT services with a
joint approach to ICT service provision whenever appropriate.
The major restructure of the provision of corporate ICT services was delivered as part of the
Council’s wider transformation programme. The overriding aim of the new ICT organisational
structure is to maximise customer service and work more effectively to manage and deliver IT
enabled business change. The service will continue to provide professional IT advice and technical
support to all areas of the organisation including Councillors, other Council departments and
partners.
The Business ICT Strategy will shape and drive the on-going ICT transformation journey over the
coming period of 2013-2016 and will build on the established foundations to meet the new and
emerging business requirements.
South Gloucestershire Council Business ICT Strategy 2013-2016 Page 6 of 30