ICT Services Update report - Shropshire€¦ · h:\democratic services\committees\cabinet\reports\2009\4 november\ict services update report.doc 14. We have recently introduced a

$Page 1: ICT Services Update report - Shropshire€¦ · h:\democratic services\committees\cabinet\reports\2009\4 november\ict services update report.doc 14. We have recently introduced a$
Committee and DateCMT19 October 200914:00

Strategic Overview &Scrutiny21 October 200914:00

Cabinet04 November 200912:30

Item

Public

Paper

Responsible Officer Kevin MaloneEmail: [email protected] Telephone: (01743) 252131

ICT SERVICES UPDATE

Summary

The purpose of this report is provide an update to Members illustrating thesignificant ICT related work that has occurred pre and post Vesting day,noting the developments to the new Council’s ICT infrastructure andidentifying the some of the issues and challenges facing the service over thenext 1-2 years.

Recommendations

Members are asked to:

A. Note the contents of the report.

B. Consider the issues highlighted in the report and note the current andforthcoming major projects that the service is involved with.

REPORT

Background Information

1. ICT Services comprises five distinct teams and functional areas:

ICT Performance & Support ICT Technical Support Telecoms & Business Support ICT Development Services

Strategic Overview & Scrutiny, 21 October 2009: ICT Services Update

Contact: Kevin Malone on (01743) 252131 2

h:\democratic services\committees\cabinet\reports\2009\4 november\ict services update report.doc

Schools ICT Support Services (SITSS).

2. ICT Services comprises of 106 staff, the majority of whom are based atShirehall, but staff are also based at the following locations:

Edinburgh House Stone House Castle View Westgate Guildhall Alaska Building (Emstrey Business Park)

Unitary ICT Infrastructure Improvement Programme

3. The Unitary Accommodation Project required extensive co-ordination andmanagement to increase and significantly improve the technical infrastructureacross all council sites and this had a direct impact on the success ofrelocating approximately 1,300 employees. Electrical and technicalimprovements have ensured that service delivery across all directorates hasbeen as seamless as possible and all work was completed within timescalewith improvements made to the following buildings:

Shirehall* CCTV Centre** Sundorne Sports Village Guildhall* Weeping Cross Stone House, Ludlow* Westgate, Bridgnorth Edinburgh House, Wem Alexander Road, Oswestry* Castle View, Oswestry* Cantern Brook Lane, Bridgnorth Quarry Centre, Shrewsbury* Shrewsbury Crematorium*

* indicates sites which required a significant upgrade to the current technicalinfrastructure which ensured that the unitary accommodation project wascompleted within timescale.

ICT Performance & Support (including ICT Help Desk)

4. The Unitary programme has resulted in a significant increase in the totalnumber of customers now accessing ICT systems and support.

5. The total number of customers supported has increased by approximately1,500 to just over 5,000 and the total number of calls logged by the ICT HelpDesk rose by 34,000 to over 60,000 in the last year alone.

6. The impact on the ICT Help Desk team since April 2009 did result in a back-log of outstanding issues, and whilst the overall percentage of calls resolved




within timescale improved from the previous years results the total number ofcalls resolved at first point of contact has dropped.

7. This has highlighted the need for the team to undergo a period of training toenable them to improve on this key performance indicator. A positiveachievement has been the decision to centralise the ICT help desk serviceacross all 6 authorities prior to the unitary implementation, a decision whichhas been key to ensuring that 97% of all calls being resolved within 4business hours, resulting in the service being identified as an indicator of bestpractice by the Society of IT Management (Soctim).

8. ICT Help Desk procedures are currently under review and staff within theteam continue to develop their trouble-shooting skills in relation to 3rd partysystems previously supported by district and borough staff.

9. Extensive help desk system administration has been required to support theresolution of reported incidents to the ICT Help Desk, including theintroduction of new support groups, call routing structures, and the setting upof customer profiles reflecting employees new work locations and emailaddresses.

10. Work is presently underway to provide ICT support staff with the ability toaccess their support tickets via Blackberry technology. This will providetechnical staff the opportunity to work more flexibly across the county andshould lead to a reduction in the time that it takes to resolve customerproblems.

ICT Member Support & Training

11. Since April 2009 the ICT Help Desk has developed and delivered acomprehensive ICT induction programme for newly elected councillors,delivering ICT training in the use of corporate hardware including Laptops,Printers and Blackberry devices.

12. The programme for Members training is an ongoing project and members arescheduled to attend further ICT training events around the county with theprogramme scheduled to be complete by December 2009. This training hasalso been offered to Shrewsbury town councillors (ICT Services also provideICT support to Shrewsbury Town Council).

13. All councillors have had home broadband telephone lines installed (whereapplicable) and 72 members currently have ICT equipment (the remaining 2are in progress) and to the 17 councillors newly elected to the ShrewsburyTown Council. Members serving on both Shropshire and Shrewsbury TownCouncils use a single broadband line and set of equipment.




14. We have recently introduced a dedicated support line for Members (01743252400) providing councillors with an ICT support service during eveningsand weekends. Investigations are currently taking place to examine optionsfor providing out of hours ICT support to various service areas.

15. During the interim months leading up to Unitary, ICT training was offered to allstaff across each of the districts in the use of Lotus Notes. ICT Help Deskstaff facilitated training events across all districts, however take-up was poor(only 250 staff attended) which may partially explain the recent increase incalls to the ICT Help Desk).

ICT Help Desk Web Pages

16. The ICT Help Desk Web-pages are now updated in line with corporatebranding offering customers support and advice on the use of ICT facilities. Aweekly schedule has been developed to maintain these pages ensuring thatthe items are current and reflect customer requirements.

17. A recent upgrade to the Help Desk system will allow customers to report andtrack their own incidents through an End User Desktop via the web pages bythe New Year.

Corporate Templates

18. The move to Unitary required the development of new “Corporate Templates”for Shropshire Council. This work supported the new branding for ShropshireCouncil and new templates needed to be created for Letter, Fax, Memo,Report, News-Letter and PowerPoint. New individual Members templates areexpected to be completed by December 2009.

ICT Performance Management

19. As part of an ongoing commitment to improving service delivery, ICT Servicesundertakes a comprehensive annual external “Benchmarking the ICT Service”exercise and measures its performance against other local authorities usingthe Society of IT Management (Socitm) Key Performance Indicators (KPIs).

20. The Socitm KPIs are nationally recognised as indicators of best practice andare used to report ICT service delivery. Regular reporting of a range of KPIs isan important measure of ICT performance and these reflect the ICT ServiceLevel Agreements in operation at the council. The KPIs directly link with theAudit Commissions Value for Money indicators which form an integral part ofthe Use of Resources Assessment undertake each year.

List of current Socitm Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)?KPI 1 User satisfactionKPI 2 Resolution of reported incidentsKPI 3 Percentage of successful projectsKPI 4 Acquisition costs of workstationKPI 7 Support costs per workstation




KPI 8 Workstations supported per support specialistKPI 10 ICT competence of employeesKPI 15 Service availabilityKPI 17 Voice and data communicationsKPI 18 Total cost of ownership of workstationsKPI 19 Flexible workingKPI 20 Management of printing.

21. Participation in the Socitm Benchmarking activity provides ICT Services withinShropshire Council with:

an understanding of its cost and value performance, in detail ensured independent validation comparison with performance against other local authorities vital information to help with the development of an appropriate service

improvement plan.

22. Understanding how well we manage the ICT Service is a fundamentalmanagement requirement. The process underpins everything we do as aservice and the results have a direct impact on service delivery across theauthority.

23. Through customer satisfaction surveys we can understand what ourcustomers expect from, and really think, of the ICT service and this is afoundation to the approach we take for measuring our performance anddesigning service improvements.

24. Comparing our performance with our peers and understanding how we mightlearn from them is an essential part of the benchmarking process and allowsICT Services to build this knowledge into our continuous improvement plans(service plans), a critical process for ensuring excellent service delivery.

ICT Technical Support

25. The ICT Technical Support Team implement, develop and support theauthority’s ICT technical infrastructure including the data network, servers,corporate databases, desktop PCs, laptops and associated equipment. Adiagram of the current infrastructure can be found at Appendix A of thisreport.

26. Preparations for the creation of Shropshire Council resulted in major changesto all components of that infrastructure and there will be the need to continueto support a number of the legacy IT systems from the 6 former councils forsome time to come – until all service areas are supported by singleapplications rather than relying on a number of different systems.

27. Major recent achievements include:

Integrating the 5 former data and voice networks into the new ShropshireCouncil network.




Assisting with the significant moves associated with the creation of thenew authority (PCs, printers, scanners etc. for around 2,000 staff).

Assisting with installation of the Voice Over Internet Protocol network forthe Revenues & Benefits service - and consolidation of 3 former districtVOIP networks.

PC replacement with dual screens for the newly created county wideRevenues & Benefits teams.

Implementation of the technical environments (usually virtualenvironments) for Revenues & Benefits, Planning/Land Charges/BuildingControl, Public Protection, Elections and many other systems.

The Northgate Revenues and Benefits system has been upgraded severaltimes since its installation and merge from the 5 district database to thecurrent live system. We are still working with the district databases untilan audit can be carried out then we should be able to clear out some ofthe unused database and make more room for some of the other modulesthat will be required in the future.

The Academy Housing System has been upgraded by several versions sothat it can continue to be used until such time as a single Housing systemis implemented.

28. Current major projects include:

The Corporate PC Replacement Programme. Smaller moves associated with the creation of the new authority. Continued consolidation of ex-district data and VOIP networks. Moving former ex-district PCs to the Shropshire domain (requires legacy

systems to first be ceased).

Database Administration and Support

29. Most of the database work is about maintaining the current databases toensure they are available 100% of the time. They are constantly monitoredfor any changes that may cause problems this is mostly successful but onoccasions something may happen that had not been picked up.

30. Any required upgrades are undertaken where possible with as little disruptionto the service as possible. When downtime is required it is done viadiscussion with the systems administrators so the best time can be found.

31. The main current issues for the team include space restriction on the serversand the cost of Oracle licenses. It is also difficult to complete parts of theDatabase Administrators’ work in office hours when it has an impact onanyone accessing the associated systems.

32. The team is involved in virtually all system upgrades – e.g. Samis,ResourceLink, Revenues & Benefits, Carefirst, Planning, Confirm etc.




Telecoms and Business Support

33. The ICT Telecoms Team implement, develop and support the authority’svoice network. This includes all core sites (Appendix B) including theCustomer Service Centre and many schools. The team also manage allmobile voice and data contracts.

34. The transition to Shropshire Council required significant changes to the voicenetwork to support the additional sites, users and call traffic. The majority ofthis work is now completed however some elements of legacy systemsremain and work is still being completed to complete this migration.

35. The ICT Business Support team raise all orders for ICT equipment on behalfof customers, 2,147 orders were raised in the last financial year.

36. Major recent achievements include:

Migrating the 6 former council telephony systems onto a single voicenetwork. This has meant that staff located at the core sites have a uniquetelephone number and benefit from free calls between core sites.

A significant amount work was completed at the Customer Service Centreas part of the unitary work programme. This included upgrading theexisting hardware and infrastructure to support the increased call volumesand additional advisors following 1 April.

The Telecoms team were heavily involved in the migration of key servicesinto the Customer Service Centre for example planning. This alsoincluded ensuring that back offices had the necessary replacementtelephony.

A key piece of work was installing a new IP telephone system to support avirtual contact centre for revenue and benefits. This allowed the servicearea to distribute calls throughout the county making best use of theresources.

The Telecoms Team played an important role in the unitaryaccommodation project moving almost 1,300 people. Where there wereinsufficient network points to allow staff to move into their new areas theteam arranged additional network points to be installed

Consolidating all BT billing onto a single bill. This has resulted in financialsavings because fewer invoices are being passed for payment and alsoallowed the team to proactively manage the network by identifying areasfor cost saving for example zero usage lines, premium rate calls.

Consolidating all mobile and blackberry accounts from the six formercouncils.

During the summer the team were involved in the primary schoolreorganisation ensuring that each school had operational voice servicesfor the start of the new academic year.

The Telecoms Team have been heavily involved in the Elected Memberequipment roll out, providing Blackberry devices and co-ordinating theinstallation of landlines and broadband where necessary.

37. Major current projects include:




Re-procurement of the core data network (wide area network), fixed voiceconnectivity (landlines), mobile voice and data services, telephone systemmaintenance

Implementing voice and video conferencing solutions at Shirehall and AreaHQ offices to encourage smarter working and a reduction in carbonemissions by reducing employee travel to meetings.

The team are working on various mobile working initiatives – for example.Environmental Health digital pen trial. The environmental health trial willdigitise the data collection form so information can be sent back to theadministration team via a blackberry to reduce the time taken to processwork requests.

Complete the migration of larger remote sites onto the voice network.Many of these sites require improvements to connectivity and siteinfrastructure. For example the CCTV centre, Nettles Lane, Quarryswimming pool all required improvements to both power and infrastructure.

Ability for home workers and small sites (for example Shrewsbury GolfCourse) to be connected to the core voice network by low bandwidthconnections yet receiving as full functionality as possible.

38. Major forthcoming projects for the team include:

Delivery of the new core data network and fixed landline contract. Implementation of a virtual contact centre for Housing repairs and housing

management. Advisors will be based at Castle View, Oswestry andWestgate, Bridgnorth.

Implementing a central ordering portal for ICT equipment and services When the new mobile voice and data contract has been awarded the team

will be working on a Mobile and Blackberry technology refresh. The aim ofthis is to provide users with a device that best meets their needs so theyare able to work more smartly whilst in the field.

Procuring and installing a corporate SMS solution. This technology willallow customers to contact the Council by sending a text message and thecouncil will also be able to send text messages to groups that prefer usingthis form of technology for example young people.

39. Current issues experienced by the team include. Managing customer expectations on what is technically achievable within

available budgets. Ensuring that when third parties (for example BT and Siemens) are used

they deliver to the agreed dates and budget.

ICT Development Services

40. Shropshire County Council has a well established Service Review programmethat was introduced as a result of the Best Value Review of AccessibleServices. As part of this review customers told us that services were not asaccessible as they should be. This has led to a series of comprehensiveservice reviews and the establishment of an approach within ICT to analyse,build and deliver services.




Service Development Framework

41. The service review process, using the Lean Business Processing Modellingapproach, is now being applied on services previously delivered as a districtonly functions.

42. Service reviews identify services for delivery by Customer Access channels,and opportunities for process improvements within the service area underreview.

43. The outcomes from service reviews, i.e. process maps and associatedmetrics, represent business requirements which are then further refined intoimplementation specifications in order to identify integration points and anyshared, re-usable services. Increased re-use of shared components improvesdelivery times and the quality of delivered services.

44. The implementation approach for the rollout of a service to Customer Accesschannels has been to separate the workflow and detailed data requirementsof the service from the Customer Relationship Management system. Thisapproach has improved the efficiency throughout the development processbecause it does not require changes to the CRM in order to rollout a service.

45. A register of online services, i.e., services to be delivered via CustomerAccess channels, has been built up from existing services and the LocalGovernment Service List (LGSL), and represents the potential scope of allservices that the authority may have to deliver to customers. This is a workingdocument owned by the Customer Access Group, and is used to strategicallyplan service migrations across the authority.

Service Delivery Framework

46. The service delivery framework is a term used within ICT to describe thestructure of integrating corporate and service area applications used in thedelivery of services via the customer access channels – e.g. website,customer first points, and customer service centre.

47. The website, email, CRM, document management, Geographic InformationSystem, Local Land & Property Gazetteer, Complaints, Income Collection,and Finance systems are examples of corporate applications, whereasPlanning, Public Protection, Licensing, Revenues & Benefits are examples ofservice area applications.

48. Collaborations between different applications have been facilitated andenhanced by the in-house development of a messaging hub (ARIS) and acontent indexing and retrieval engine (RICE) using open source, licence freetechnologies. Commercial products performing similar functions do exist buthave significant costs to acquire and configure, whereas these are licencefree, and can be extended by Shropshire Council ICT Services to meetongoing and ever-changing requirements.




49. An example of this approach can be seen in the ICT integration of theCustomer Service Centre with an external partner (Veolia) for the delivery ofwaste services. This integration has been achieved using the ARIS messagehub and secure web services technologies, and represents a business-to-business exemplar for the authority. Appendices C and D of this reportillustrate.

50. Major projects delivered to date include:

GIS & LLPG Consolidation to single corporate GIS product across the authority. Consolidation of mapping layers into a corporate resource for re-use

across all applications requiring GIS services. Consolidation to single corporate LLPG across the authority for re-use

across all applications requiring access to LLPG address details. Positional Accuracy Improvement for former NSDC data. Positional Accuracy Improvement for former SSDC data. Imagery (aerial photography) implementation. Localview (internet GIS) implemented. iGIS service (intranet GIS) launched.

Income Consolidation to single corporate income collection system across the

authority. Consolidation of service delivery process for services requiring income

collection. Consolidation of integrations between income collection and line of

business applications. Integration between income collection and financial systems across the

authority.

Website Consolidation to single corporate Intranet and Internet sites across the

authority. Consolidation of web authoring process across the authority. Consolidation of web content with delivery of online services. Schoolsnet (schools intranet) enhancements.

eForms Consolidation to single corporate electronic forms product across the

authority. Consolidation of service delivery process for services requiring electronic

forms. Consolidation of integrations between electronic forms and line of

business applications. Integration between electronic forms and income collection. Shropshire Waste Partnership.

Message Hub (Asynchronous Routing Integration Server – ARIS)




In-house developed message hub built and deployed using open source,licence free technologies.

Manages the wider workflow and transformations required whenintegrating disparate line of business applications.

Designed to be extensible and currently supports HTTP, File and WebServices interfaces, with other interfaces able to be built and plugged inwhen needed.

Full logging for audit and support purposes. Communicates via a secure gateway to partner and 3rd party

organisations. Single point of address lookup encapsulating access to LLPG and other

address products.

Retrieval & Indexing of Content Engine (RICE) In-house developed message hub built and deployed using open source,

licence free technologies. Provides search capability on the corporate intranet. Will replace 3rd party search engine provider currently used to index the

authority’s external Website. Built using open source, licence free technologies. High level of re-use of existing in-house components across design,

source code. Designed to be extensible and highly configurable to minimise future

extension effort. Full logging for audit, support, and optimisation purposes. Designed to be highly performing, resilient, scalable, and clustered to use

several servers thereby minimising downtime and maintainingperformance.

Transition to Unitary Delivery of corporate Revenues and Benefits solution. Delivery of unified Land Charges, Building Control and Development

Control solution for Development Services. Delivery of unified licensing solution for Development Services. Delivery of unified Environmental Health, Trading Standards and private

sector Housing solution for Development Services. Delivery of Customer Services migration plan. Consolidation of 5 Homelessness databases into a single system. Delivery of corporate Complaints Management system. NSDC data conversion for Planning and Environmental Health. Access to NSDC Pensions and Benefits data for corporate HR. Housing Rents Import and Export for BDC (Bridgnorth) Housing Rents Import and Export for OBC (Oswestry) Parkright Payments Export. Council Tax & NNDR District payments automate import and Export (5

districts). Council Tax & NNDR automated import and export of old databases. Delivery of new Elections system for Democratic Services.




Support Upgrade of Reporting tool used for Payroll and HR Reporting (Impromptu)

to 7.4. Arcview (GIS) upgrade. SAMIS email facility to replace postal and unsupported BACS FAX

machine. Service Reviews e.g. Service Review for 14-19 Agenda.

Programme & Project Management Consolidation of Land Charges, Building Control and Development Control

system for Development Services. Consolidation of Environmental Health, Trading Standards, private sector

Housing for Development Services. Consolidation of Licensing solution for Development Services.

Other Developments Development of a project management framework for ICT Services (a

consistent approach to project management based on the PRINCE2methodology).

Event Management Booking system (e.g. music hall, museums). Legal Index File System. EMS – conversion of AP (Address Point) to LLPG. Waste collection integration with corporate complaints. Rollout NLPG as corporate address lookup function. HR/Payroll/Finance process review. Delivery of a corporate procurement register. Delivery of Estates Management Ordering System (EMOS) for Property

Services. Delivery of Voluntary and Community Sector (VCS) system for Shropshire

Partnership. Delivery of corporate booking systems for Respite Care and for Registrars. Elections result mapping for Democratic Services. Govmetric implementation for customer feedback on council services.

Major Forthcoming Projects Change Management Framework. Service Delivery Framework. Channel Delivery Framework. Team/collaborative working Framework. Implementation of single Housing system. Implementation of a single Leisure system. Implementation of new system for Shire Services. Assist with Transformation programme for Land Charges, Building Control

and Development Control system for Development Services. Assist with Transformation programme for Environmental Health, Trading

Standards, private sector Housing and licensing solution for DevelopmentServices

Flexible working covering remote and mobile approaches. Document Management developments (e.g. Morse, W2, and IDOX).




Delivery of a corporate tender vault. HR/Payroll/Finance process implementation. Transport Planning (mileage, pool car/bike recording system). Accident Reporting. SITSS Integrated System. ARCGIS server development framework. CSC / Confirm GIS integration. Shropmap replacement. INSPIRE spatial data project (European directive for spatial data

interchange). External search engine implementation (RICE). Website redevelopment. Domino 8.5 Upgrade. Quickr (Online discussion forum) Upgrade. Transparent access for staff, members and public to web-based

applications.

Schools ICT Support Team (SITSS)

51. SITSS has worked closely with the Advisory Service on the roll-out of theShropshire Learning Gateway (SLG). All Shropshire schools (staff and pupils)now have access to this managed learning environment. The SLG providesteachers and pupils with access to a wide (and growing) range of educationalresources from anywhere where they have internet access. The SITSS teamtake first line support calls for the SLG and manages the creation of useraccounts.

52. Many service teams supporting schools, including SITSS, now use the SLG toshare information with schools.

53. This summer, the team have been heavily involved in the primary schoolreorganisation - which has seen 14 primary schools reduce to 7, all withdifferent ICT solutions – to ensure that the ICT functions were optional at thestart of the new academic year.

54. Capita SIMS is the Management Information System used by Shropshireschools and is supported by the SITSS team. In May, the team successfullyrenewed its SIMS accreditation, which is a review process designed tobenchmark the quality of support being provided. The team have alsoassisted Capita in piloting their Local Authority Self Evaluation Review(LASER) scheme which will eventually replace the current accreditationprocess.

55. SIMS has traditionally been an administrative tool but its use by teachers inthe classroom is developing, providing teachers with access to valuableinformation, eg attendance, assessment and behaviour statistics, to aidteaching and learning. The team provide support to schools wishing toextend the use of SIMS into the classroom and this is a continuing area ofactivity.




56. The SIMS database will also be used to provide some of the informationrequired for the new DCFS School Workforce Census return.

57. The team have also been heavily involved in the provision of a videoconferencing solution for schools initially, but which has potential to be usedby other directorates. This is enabling schools to video conference with eachother and is currently being piloted by Oldbury Wells and Bridgnorth Endowedfor lesson delivery as part of the new 14-19 diploma. It is envisaged that thiswill reduce transport needs for students.

58. Schools are now totally dependent on their broadband connections and theteam have recently completed a project to install a device in each schoolwhich will help to optimise bandwidth use and improve respond times forlearners.

59. Earlier this year, the team also played a major role in the containment of twoseparate virus infections at two secondary schools. Also, the team havecompleted an anti virus server refresh in every school this year.

60. Finally, in May, the team moved from Radbrook to The Guildhall. This hasbeen a great success and was completed without any break in the supportservice provided to schools.

Major current projects

61. Improved access for 14-19 year olds to a range of activities and support thathelps them prepare for further education, employment or training is a priorityfor Shropshire. SITSS is providing support to the 14-19 advisers who arecurrently developing an area prospectus of available courses/training and acommon application process.

62. Another priority is for remote access by teachers to the SIMS database. Twosolutions are being investigated: one using a secure network (VPN)connection and one using a “web part” which would provide access via aninternet browser session.

63. Additionally, all secondary schools have to provide online reporting to parentsby September 2010. Again, the team are providing support to the AdvisoryService on this project.

64. At the moment, each school has a server for its own SIMS database. SITSSis currently investigating whether this is the best solution or whether, for someschools, a centralised hosting option is viable. This alternative solution isbeing piloted by the new Oakmeadow School. It is anticipated that acentralised solution would provide benefits in terms of hardware cost savingsand enhanced security of the SIMS database as well as other cost andefficiency savings.

65. SITSS have been providing remote ICT support to administrative users inschools for a number of years, but, because of licence/cost constraints, have




been unable to provide this same level of support for classroom users inschools. A new support package has been purchased which will provide thisfunctionality and this will be implemented this term.

Major forthcoming projects

66. The Advisory Service is procuring software which will monitor use of ICT inschools against Acceptable Use Policies and report on any infringements. Itis anticipated that this will help to identify and reduce problems such as “cyberbullying”. SITSS will provide technical support for the rollout of this software.

67. As use of the SLG increases, teachers are asking for Smartphone access toemail. A solution to this is required, anticipated to be during this academicyear.

68. Another area of activity will be a review of the team’s helpline and technicalsupport service under a scheme known as NaaceMark accreditation. Thisaccreditation has recently been completed revamped by Naace (NationalAssociation of Advisors for Computing in Education) and will be a very usefulbenchmark for team’s services.

69. The team also continues to be involved with the One School Pathfinderproject at the William Brookes School and expects to be involved in work atother Shropshire secondary schools as the Building Schools for the Futureproject commences. Additionally, the ongoing work with primary schoolreorganisation will impact on the team.

70. Another ongoing project for the team is the work towards Shibbolethauthentication which is a system whereby users logon once and are thengranted access to services – which also use Shibboleth – without the need foruser names and passwords to be entered again. This is a large project whichhas a number of dependencies, one of which was the creation of a centralactive directory for the schools’ network, which is now in place.

Current Issues for the team

71. The team is self financing and is acutely aware of the budget pressures onschools. At the same time, however, there is an increasing need and rangeof ICT support required/expected by schools and balance between servicecost and need is always an issue for the SITSS team.

Conclusion

72. It is hoped that the detail contained within this report gives an illustration ofthe contribution that ICT Services have made to Shropshire Council prior toand since Vesting Day.

73. It is also hoped that the report provides an insight into some of the majorissues that the service has faced and will continue to face in the coming 1-2years.




74. For many services, local government reorganisation work is over – for ICTServices the legacy of reorganisation is still very real and current, and willremain so for some time to come.

75. ICT Services staff work closely with colleagues from service areas to helpthem plan for and deliver their services, and to resolve issues that affect suchservice delivery. A good example of this is the significant ICT resource thatcontinues to support the Planning service in relation to their new ICT systemand the changes to business processes associated with it.




List of Background Papers (This MUST be completed for all reports, but doesnot include items containing exempt or confidential information)N/A

Human Rights Act AppraisalThe recommendations contained in this report are compatible with the provisions ofthe Human Rights Act 1998.

Environmental AppraisalThe eventual provision of voice and video conferencing and mobile working mayreduce the need to travel to meetings and to Shropshire Council offices. However,any such savings will need to be offset against the increased consumption ofelectricity resulting from the increased usage of technology.

Risk Management AppraisalThere are none arising directly from this report

Community / Consultations AppraisalN/A

Cabinet MemberKeith Barrow, Leader of the Council

Martin Taylor Smith, Portfolio Holder

Local MemberAll Local Members

AppendicesAppendix A – Shropshire Council Data Network Diagram

Appendix B – Shropshire Council Voice Network Diagram

Appendix C – Service Delivery Framework

Appendix D – Example of Online Service Delivery & Interdependencies

Appendix AShropshire Council Data Network

Appendix B

Appendix CService Delivery Framework




Appendix D

Example of Online Service Provision & Interdependencies

Documents

ICT Services Update report - Shropshire€¦ · h:\democratic services\committees\cabinet\reports\2009\4 november\ict services update report.doc 14. We have recently introduced a