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Success Story

NICS: improving efficiency in government department

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Replacing manual paper-based document handling to give employees centralised access to records

Transforming ways of working for 16,000 civil servants with the roll out of an

Electronic Document and Records Management (EDRM) system,

Challenge summary

Northern Ireland Civil Service (NICS) embarked on an

ambitious reform programme, known as Records NI

that included new, electronic ways of working across

eleven departments.

Key points

Migration to fully functioning Electronic Document

and Records Management regime completed in just

fourteen months

Successful implementation with 16,000 civil servants

trained within ten months

Largest document and records management project

in northern Europe at the time

The challenge

Northern Ireland Civil Service (NICS) launched a high

profile programme of transformation aimed at driving

the delivery of more efficient and cost effective public

services. The reform programme included complete

business process re-engineering and change

management. It was designed to change the way that

staff worked.

With no existing Electronic Document and Record

Management (EDRM) system, a new electronic

approach to document and records management was

identified as the route to replace the existing paper-

based regime.

With 16,000 civil servants, across 400 governmental

buildings, producing 2.2 million documents per year,

the scale of the task was immense. A complete lack of

standardisation (file plan, naming convention, and

processes) across NICS departments and an over-

reliance on paper and printing resources only served

to magnify the problem.

Our solution

Steria’s remit was clear: to centralise records

management across eleven geographically dispersed,

culturally diverse departments and provide NICS staff

with tailored and quick access to records and

documents.

While the task was straightforward in terms of the

desired outcome, the solution itself was complex.

It comprised:

Implementation of an EDRM solution incorporating a

primary and secondary data centre

Full end user training for 16,000 staff working in

multiple business units based at over 400

governmental buildings

A seven-year managed service, extendable to ten

years.

A series of proofs of concept, design workshops and

detailed workshops for both Steria and NICS.

How we worked together

Close partnership working between Steria and NICS

was essential. The first task was to gather information

and agree a single definition of what was needed to

embrace the differing requirements of the separate

departments.

Steria provided all the required infrastructure, including

hardware integration across multiple sites, followed by

the configuration, installation and migration of all the

software. Finally, course materials and training for

users was developed and delivered using a “train

today, use tomorrow” approach.

Strong foundations were laid as Steria carried out a

series of proofs of concept, design workshops and

detailed workshops with the customer and partners.

These ensured that all the NICS requirements for file

plan design were included in the solution

Training was essential to the programme’s success. It

was prioritised and rolled out to 3,000 users a month.

This hectic schedule meant that more than over

14,000 staff were trained by the end of 2007 – a

Northern Ireland training record.

Steria also worked closely with key stakeholders from

each of the government departments throughout this

process, fostering a corporate approach by forming an

Interdepartmental Working Group made up of

information managers from each area.

Results and Benefits

Steria’s expertise in handling long-term complex

government programmes of this type was central to

the success of the NICS project. Underpinned by a

strong governance structure it has provided

independent and effective project evaluation from the

outset on key project aspects, such as financial risk

and audit management.

Key achievements included:

The NICS project was the largest document and

records management installation in northern Europe

and took just 14 months to complete.

The EDRM system now manages over 11.5 million

documents, offering greater efficiency in handling

and sharing information.

Its success is further demonstrated by training

surveys, which have achieved an 88.9% satisfaction

rate against an SLA of 70%.

Today Steria is managing the service in line with NICS

governance policies. These ensure that information is

always available when needed, and conforms to the

latest assurance standards.

Steria UK Three Cherry Trees Lane, Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire, HP2 7AH Tel: +44 (0)845 601 8877 For more information please contact information@steria.co.uk ss051uk

Contact

www.steria.com

About Steria

Steria delivers IT enabled business services and is the Trusted Transformation Partner for private

and public sector organisations across the globe. Founded in 1969, Steria has offices in Europe,

India, North Africa and SE Asia and a 2012 revenue of €1.83 billion. Over 20%(*) of Steria's capital

is owned by its employees. Headquartered in Paris, Steria is listed on the Euronext Paris market.

(*): including “SET Trust” and “XEBT Trust” (4.15% of capital)

“Steria demonstrated their commitment at all levels, from senior management to operational staff. Their expertise, effort and willingness to work with the NICS has played a major part in producing the success the project has experienced to date.”

Mark Beare, Records NI Programme Manager