Computer Weekly.com - 1 December 2006

Employees resistant to large-scale shared service projects

Local authority IT directors agreed with a report from the Society of IT Management (Socitm) that cited employee resistance as the largest obstacle to starting large-scale shared service projects.

So far, this year Barnsley, Birmingham, Rochdale and Swansea councils have all transferred employees to external shared services centres, but the employees have mostly been moved to locations close to their old places of work.

The Socitm report also advised that central government was not giving local authorities enough leadership on shared services. ‘Central government is committed to the large scale economies of scale argument , but to date seems to lack leadership, advice about implementation and ideas to take sharing forward in a pragmatic way, ’ it said.

To read the full article, click here.

Retail Week - 1 December 2006

Mosaic builds links with concessions

Retail Week reports on Mosaic Fashions’ use of a managed polling service provided by Retail Assist to transfer sales data between its own system and that of host retailers. Mosaic Fashions IT development manager Mike Padfield is quoted as saying "It was critical for us to establish a resilient polling model that can be extended to any concession or Mosaic brand store. Retail Assist has a proven track record in managing polling services to support both own-fascia and concession operations, which gives us a real sense of confidence."

Computer Weekly - 28 November 2006

Staff block to shared service initiatives

Will Hadfield writes that employee resistance to change will be the greatest obstacle for local authorities to overcome when they set up shared services centres. This is the belief of the Society of IT Management (Socitm) which issued the warning, according to Computer Weekly, just weeks before the Cabinet Office publishes its plan to encourage councils to share. In addition, a lack of central government incentivisation for sharing was cited by Sicitm as a key issue for local authorities.

Somerset Standard & Somerset Guardian - 23 November 2006

'Makes perfect sense' as councils join forces

In an article covering the decision by Mendip District Council and South Somerset District Council to work more closely together, Wayne Cornish writes that both councils have approved a report about bringing the two management boards together to form a joint transformation board. This new body will examine how services can be improved by using modern technology.

The two councils had previously collaborated in the country's first joint Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnership and this latest partnership will see the management boards coming together, according to Mendip chief executive David Thomson, to "work through practical ways of assisting each other with any capacity issues, to see where shared services could be achieved and to see where we can work together on initiatives".

IT Week - 20 November 2006

Outsourcer aims to raise its game

IT Week reports on the news that Computacenter has launched a best-practice framework to lower the cost and improve the consistency of its IT infrastructure services in a continued push into the outsourcing market. The IT reseller and services provider says its ITIL-based guidelines - the Shared Services Factory - can be used to create a flexible set of standards for all infrastructure services projects. The article quotes Compuacenter's director of managed services Neil Muller as saying: "The more we can systematise our delivery the more we can drive down unit costs and deliver consistent processes."

Accountancy Age - 16 November 2006

Shared Options

Capgemini's head of UK Shared Services Cliff Evans writes about the need to view the adoption of shared services as a journey, rather than a "magic bullet to suddenly get the cost saving". He adds that while back office shared services can deliver efficiency and greater quality of data, they demand "the right spend scope as a business, and the right mindset to get the value out of implementing them."

His article discusses the different values that other parts of the business might strive for from shared services delivery, such as "better customer response, more improved responsiveness or even compliance". He also cautions that shared services will only reduce total costs when they address the "whole problem".

Accountancy Age - 26 October 2006

Opportunity knocks

Neveling discusses the challenges faced by organisations as a result of Sarbanes Oxley (Sarbox). He writes that "implementing and managing the requirements of Sarbox through a disparate, geographically diverse finance network is difficult, time-consuming and risky, which is why several companies have pulled together their finance teams into a single location".

The article continues: "Over the course of 2006, companies have spent $6bn (£3.2bn) on Sarbanes-Oxley compliance, according to data compiled by AMR Research. The bulk of this sum has been allocated to external and internal auditing costs, but at least a quarter of the spending has gone towards the new systems and technology required to implement Sarbanes-Oxley. This is why the shared service option has become so appealing for companies that have to comply."

Personnel Today - 24 October 2006

Size

In an article looking at the general dynamics for HR teams in both small and large organisations, Kubicek quotes John Maxted, managing director of Digby Morgan HR Search and Selection, as saying that "large organisations will embrace the strategic partner model and have a team of highly specialised, commoditised positions, such as resourcing, reward and talent management".

Her report suggests shared services are increasingly the preferred option for large employers because this "makes the transactional aspect of HR more efficient, freeing up HR staff to focus on more strategic issues". Leeds City Council is cited as a case in point, where according to Helena Phillips, head of HR and service development, they are "looking at shared services and have started a programme around that to make HR even more efficient".

Computer Weekly- 24 October 2006

North East councils show shared IT services don't have to be monolithic

In an article looking at the decision by councils in Northumberland and Durham to share a single installation of Oracle E-Business Suite, Hadfield declares that central government "has been seeking to duplicate in the public sector the efficiencies created in parts of the private sector through shared back-office functions."

He writes that the Cabinet Office is due to increase the pressure on all parts of the public sector in its forthcoming proposals for sharing services and that nine sector plans will set targets for the number of public sector shared services centres to be created within three to seven years. Northumberland and Durham's partnership is just one of the delivery models considered in this article, which continues: "As well as finance and procurement functions, the North East councils will benefit from a reciprocal mirroring of their datacentres to provide business continuity."

South Wales Echo - 23 October 2006

Protesters ready as thousands face axe

Phillip Nifield reports on impending protest by members of the Public and Commercial Services Union outside the Senedd in Cardiff Bay over the loss of 6,000 government jobs across Wales. The union's job loss figures, writes Nifield, "will challenge First Minister Rhodri Morgan's contention that Wales was set to experience a net gain of civil service posts in the wake of the relocation from south-east England". Countering this, the article quotes Rhodri Morgan as saying that the union had "accounted for the possible loss of jobs, but not some of the gains, such as the Prison Service shared services centre in Newport and the Department of Transport in Swansea. They seem to be looking at all the negatives".

Wales Evening Post - 21 October 2006

Takeover 'has secured jobs'

The "significant benefits" of shared services are highlighted by a Corus company spokesman in a news report on the result of the multi-billion Corus takeover. The deal would save hundreds of Llanelli jobs and, according to Annanya Sarin of Corus, was "not about job cuts" but was about "growth and the strengthening of both companies' positions".

Daily Post (Liverpool)- 22 September 2006

Pledge on job security in council pay revamp

"We want to maximise shared services because big savings can be made there." The Daily Post quotes Cheshire's Labour leader Cllr Derek Bateman in its report on proposals for a radical revamp of public sector payroll provision in Cheshire that could see all police, fire and health workers receiving their wages through a centralised payroll system.

The proposal put forward by Cheshire County Council has, says the newspaper, "the backing of the councils executive". Derek Bateman said that the move could become a much wider reform, taking in all public services in the county. "This plan is to re-engineer across the whole council, and change the culture of the way of working to modernise the authority and reduce the demands on council tax."

Government News Network - 19 September 2006

Government gateway selects ATOS Origin to provide IT managed services

A £46.7 million contract has been awarded by the Cabinet Office to Atos Origin, an international IT services company, for the provision of IT managed services for the Government Gateway, a key element of the transformational government strategy.

The Government Gateway, reports Government News Network, "is an enterprise facility, enabling services delivered by a number of public sector organisations including HMRC, DWP and local authorities". The transfer of responsibility for design, build and operation of the service and development of the Government Gateway application is due to be completed by the end of 2006 and the contract will run for an initial period up to 31 March 2011.

The Times - 12 September 2006

ICT in most councils is used mainly to improve ways of working, not to enable systemic change

The local authority “spend-fest” known as the Local e-Government Programme has failed to deliver very much in the way of tangible benefits, writes Ian Dunmore, editorial director of PSF, www.publicsectorforums.co.uk. He is critical of the programme that was “devised to transform town-hall services and make available an array of electronic customer access channels” but that has instead been used to improve existing processes rather than enabling systemic change.

Dunmore acknowledges some successes and cites Derby’s corporate-wide strategic ICT infrastructure that has “enabled that council to revolutionise the way it does business”, but he suggests that these are few and far between. As government bodies begin to acknowledge that interdepartmental sharing of facilities and costs of service provision might be the way forward, he says: “Only by integrating technically and organisationally will public bodies be in a position to share the cost and facilities required to deliver services”. He adds: “It is to be hoped that those with responsibility are now waking up to this fact and readying themselves for the genuinely radical transformation so desperately needed across the UK's public sector.”

Personnel Today - 12 September 2006

Council saves £9m with 90% cut in HR

Georgina Fuller reports on the significant savings achieved by Surrey County Council over the past four years by “dramatically slashing the number of jobs in its HR department from 400 to just 40”.

She explains that the reduction in headcount was part of a wider organisational restructuring that saw the council’s general HR administration being transferred to an internal shared services centre and most of the HR support service for education being outsourced. The council’s head of HR Graham White is quoted: "We wanted to raise the game of HR, to move beyond being a large bureaucracy into a dynamic, strategic player in the organisation."

Computer Weekly - 12 September 2006

Don’t overlook the dark side of shared services

Computer Weekly reader Robin Wilson responds to the “fantastically rosy picture of shared services” painted by John McKinlay in an article published on 29 August. He notes: “While there are many examples of good implementation in the private sector, there are just as many that have increased costs, delivered poorer quality and alienated users of the service.”

He points out that organisations must consider the downsides of adopting shared services as well as the benefits, for example, he writes: “Harmonisation of delivery can mean moving to best practice, equally it can mean needing to develop a single process that covers the most complicated situation, or a one-size-fits-all solution.”

Computer Weekly: 29 August 2006

Why shared services

John McKinlay advocates a shared services operating model for maintaining first-class public services at a time when budgets are being frozen or cut, and for simultaneously increasing staff motivation and job satisfaction.

He writes: “The advantages of shared services are clear. Different ways of delivering services, which have arisen purely as a matter of chance, can be harmonised, helping remove the problem of the ‘postcode lottery’ and he adds that the adoption of a shared services model doesn't have the result in the feared job cuts - a controversial aspect of new operating practices. “Sharing services does not necessarily mean that fewer staff are required overall - simply that these staff can be freed up to do other things, of greater benefit to the public,” he claims.

The Guardian: 24 August 2006

Ministers plan to overturn key data protection principle

The Guardian reports on a forthcoming ministerial announcement concerning the overturning of a key data protection principle that prevents information on individual citizens held by one government department from being passed to another public agency. The new policy, write Michael Cross and Alan Travis, has been developed by John Suffolk, the newly appointed government chief information officer who is tasked with leading the drive to transform public services using technology, including the development of Shared Services. Ministers are expected to announce that "information will normally be shared in the public sector, provided it is in the public interest".

The article continues: “It is believed that a cabinet committee, MISC 31, set up by Tony Blair to examine data sharing and chaired by Hilary Armstrong, the chief whip, decided last month to overturn the principle that personal information provided to a government department for one purpose should in general not be used for another”.

Computing: 24 August 2006

£50m deal to help health authority slash printing costs

James Brown reports on a £50 million five-year deal between South Yorkshire Strategic Health Authority and Xerox Global Services that will see 18 NHS organisations using a central print office to help them reduce printing and paper spending. The authority expects to save £15m through the deal, which it claims is the first of its kind in the UK.

Gartner analyst Jonathan Edwards is quoted as saying that the deal is likely to be watched closely by other NHS authorities. “It is another example of the NHS outsourcing a business process,” he said. “A lot of other authorities have used Shared Services for things such as payroll and finance, so this kind of thing is definitely part of a bigger trend.”

Silicon: 10 August 2006

Lloyds TSB banks on Xansa for HR; More offshore

Jo Best reports that IT services company Xansa has signed a multi-million pound, five-year deal to provide human resources outsourcing services to Lloyds TSB.

She quotes Ovum analyst Phil Codling saying that it had marked Xansa’s entry into human resources outsourcing. He said: “Previously, the company's human resources' interests had encompassed payroll (which has been a natural extension of its finance and accounting BPO engagements on accounts such as BT, MyTravel and the NHS Shared Services initiative) and its small IT staffing operation. But the company has made clear its intentions to seek out opportunities that encompass a broader range of human resources functions, using its usual emphasis on offshore delivery where possible".

Computing: 10 August 2006

The key to ID card success

In an article looking at the government’s proposals for biometric identity cards, Sarah Arnott reports that the ID cards plan joins an already formidable list of public sector IT programmes: NHS modernisation, eBorders, joined-up justice, Shared Services across the entire public sector, and the Defence Information Infrastructure, to name only the largest. She writes that “One of the most arresting lessons from past debacles is that public sector IT programmes succeed or fail on their people as much as their technology”.

Computer Weekly: 8 August 2006

London gets Shared Services centre

“The London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham has signed a £120m, 10-year deal to set up London's first local government Shared Services centre from 1 October,” writes Will Hadfield. He reports that the centre will be run by a joint venture company owned by the local authority and systems integrator Agilisys and aims to run IT and other back-office functions for a number of London boroughs.

Hammersmith & Fulham's head of IT strategy Jackie Hudson is quoted in the article: “We are creating a centre of IT excellence in London. We have strong partnerships and links across local government in London and we would see ourselves delivering services to councils through the Shared Services centre.”

Finance, human resources and e-procurement systems will be operated by the joint venture, as well as electronic document management. Jackie Hudson said: “It is about improving the way that online transactions work and it is about transforming the back office.”

Computing: 27 July 2006

Guide sets out Shared Services tips

Sarah Arnott looks at a recent report from best practice firm BuyIT that provides advice for successful Shared Services. She writes that the report advocates: “Greater collaboration with suppliers and improved business case development” for the success of government Shared Services programmes.

The report lists eight ‘golden rules’ for developing a strategic business case, including ensuring board level support, the allocation of sufficient resources and the separation of benefits realisation from programme delivery.

BuyIT chief executive Frits Janssen is quoted as saying: “When, as part of the public sector reform agenda, policymakers are looking at the business case they should ensure that they address those eight golden rules. What normally happens is they are not addressed at the beginning and the implementation goes forward in the wrong way and fails.”

Personnel Today: 25 July 2006

Civil service staff cuts: Home Office 'directors cut' fails to materialise

In an article looking at director level job cuts Personnel Today describes the Home Office as being in “the latter stages of recruiting a director of HR services to implement the move to a national Shared Service model”.

This follows a “damning review” of the department’s capability after which an action plan launched by Home Secretary John Reid recommended "fifteen immediate changes at director level… to strengthen leadership in the most important areas". These job cuts, writes Personnel Today, “have not been met”.

Retail Week: 21 July 2006

Tools of the Trade

Kingfisher’s IT director Jean-Jacques Van Oosten is a keen advocate of Shared Services, suggests James Thompson in an article looking at how Kingfisher’s global programme has delivered a 20% reduction in IT operating costs.

Van Oosten’s task on joining the group in February 2005 was to find a new and cost-effective model for delivering IT services globally, while retaining its local IT presence and expertise. He says: "A lot of decisions are made locally in terms of what needs to be delivered, but the delivery mechanism of that will be conducted in a shared way (globally)."

In a three-year global change programme, Kingfisher’s new structure will see local operating companies continuing to decide which projects to run, but the delivery will be handled by Kingfisher's new shared IT services organisation, Kingfisher Information Technology Services (KITS). The programme aims to simplify and standardise the group’s use of IT globally, including consolidating systems, procurement, training IT employees and sharing best practice about IT delivery.

The Times: 19 July 2006

Council services likely to be merged

Angus Macleod looks at how a potential overhaul of the way local council services are delivered in Scotland after next year's Scottish Parliament elections is part of the Scottish Executive’s determination to cut costs. Departments could be merged across councils and other Shared Services might include human resources, finance, information technology and other administrative functions. Ayrshire, for example, would have one education department across three councils, rather than the three individual departments it has at present.

The article makes reference to Tom McCabe, the Finance and Public Services Minister, who has “voiced misgivings at the amount of duplication of services and bureaucracy which exists in neighbouring local authorities”. McCabe believes that merging services is a more acceptable approach than the wholesale merger of councils themselves.

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