Government Technology Magazine Volume 10.3

www.governmenttechnology.co.uk | VOLUME 10.3

CLOUD COMPUTING

GCA 2011

IT CONSULTANCY

DATA CENTRES

Improve efficiency and sustainability

ACCESSIBILITY Support for those with hidden disabilities

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GOVERNMENT TECHNOLOGY MAGAZINE www.governmenttechnology.co.uk | VOLUME 10.3

CLOUD COMPUTING

GCA 2011

IT CONSULTANCY

DATA CENTRES

Improve efficiency and sustainability

ACCESSIBILITY Support for those with hidden disabilities

CUSTOMER CONTACT – Explore opportunities for savings PLUS MORE

Comment

THE BUSINESS MAGAZINE FOR GOVERNMENT TECHNOLOGY – www.governmenttechnology.co.uk

WELCOME The Equality Act 2010 aims to protect disabled people and prevent disability discrimination, which means (amongst many other things) government must provide information that is accessible to the people it serves. The British Assistive Technology Association reviews assistive technology in the public sector and advices on further improvements that local and central government can make to enhance accessibility for employees and the general public on page 27.

Are you, like many others, trying to do more for less? The ‘Better served’ report by Socitm argues that there is significant potential for savings by local authorities through reducing the volumes of phone and face to face contacts they get, and shifting more contacts to the web. Read more about how this can be done without sacrificing customer satisfaction on page 31.

It’s that time of year again – time to enter the Good Communication Awards. This event recognises excellence in public sector communications, and it is taking place at Arsenal’s Emirates Stadium on 14 July (see preview on page 11). To enter, all you have to do is complete the online form and submit a 500-word entry statement before 3 June. Good luck!

Enjoy the issue.

Sofie Lidefjard, Editor editorial@psigroupltd.co.uk

P ONLINE P IN PRINT P MOBILE P FACE TO FACE If you would like to receive 6 issues of Government Technology magazine for £45 a year, please contact Public Sector Information Limited, 226 High Road, Loughton, Essex IG10 1ET. Tel: 020 8532 0055, Fax: 020 8532 0066, or visit the Government Technology website at:

www.governmenttechnology.co.uk PUBLISHED BY PUBLIC SECTOR INFORMATION LIMITED

226 High Rd, Loughton, Essex IG10 1ET. Tel: 020 8532 0055 Fax: 020 8532 0066 Web: www.psi-media.co.uk EDITOR Sofie Lidefjard ASSISTANT EDITOR Angela Pisanu PRODUCTION EDITOR Karl O’Sullivan PRODUCTION DESIGN Jacqueline Grist PRODUCTION CONTROLLER Reiss Malone ADVERTISEMENT SALES Justine James, Kylie Glover PUBLISHER John O’Leary SALES ADMINISTRATION Jackie Carnochan, Martine Carnochan ADMINISTRATION Victoria Leftwich, Joanne Mackerness GROUP PUBLISHER Barry Doyle REPRODUCTION & PRINT Argent Media

© 2011 Public Sector Information Limited. No part of this publication can be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any other means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise) without the prior written permission of the publisher. Whilst every care has been taken to ensure the accuracy of the editorial content the publisher cannot be held responsible for errors or omissions. The views expressed are not necessarily those of the publisher. ISSN 1362 - 2541

Volume 10.3 | GOVERNMENT TECHNOLOGY MAGAZINE

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CONTENTS 07 NEWS

31 CUSTOMER CONTACT

53 CONTENT MANAGEMENT

11 COMMUNICATIONS

Socitm’s Vicky Sargent explains how councils can achieve substantial savings from better contact management

At the AIIM Roadshow you will learn about the latest innovations and best practice in Enterprise Content Management

35 DATA CENTRES

57 SECURITY

The Green Grid explains what tools it has launched to help government organisations improve the efficiency of their data centres.

Security professionals and solution providers recently came together for Infosecurity Europe

The 2011 Good Communication Awards will recognise the public sector’s efforts towards effective communication with its citizens and workforce We find out how Bedfordshire Police kept shoppers, residents and businesses in Luton updated during a protest COMMS EXPO is the new international conference and exhibition for the network and data communications industry

20 SOFTWARE COMPLIANCE The Software Industry Research Board argues the case for the proper management of software assets

23 ONLINE SOLUTIONS Over 300 solution providers and 12,000 visitors are looking forward to Internet World – Europe’s leading event for digital marketing and online business

27 ACCESSIBILITY The British Assistive Technology Association suggests ways in which local and central government can enhance accessibility for employees and the general public

60 DIGITAL SIGNS

37 HUMAN RESOURCES HRD 2011 closed a success. We find out why The free HR Software Show on 15-16 June is the foremost software event in Europe

45 IT CONSULTANCY The Management Consultancies Association looks at how the consulting industry is helping organisations stay ahead of the technology and innovation curve

48 CLOUD COMPUTING Andy Burton, chairman of Cloud Industry Forum, outlines the benefits cloud computing can bring to government Why are government departments across the country starting to commit to cloud computing?

Government Technology

Contents

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Digital Signage Expo is Europe’s leading showcase for digital signage solutions

61 IT STRATEGIES SmartGov Live will give visitors an insight into the new technology developments that are transforming the way public services are delivered IT Decisions 2011 will identify the most significant trends currently shaping corporate and public sector IT systems

64 MOBILE WORKING We preview the 9th annual Field Service & Mobile Workforce Management, 28-29 June

www.governmenttechnology.co.uk Volume 10.3 | GOVERNMENT TECHNOLOGY MAGAZINE

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Efficiency. Visibility. Control.

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SHARED SERVICES

Blaby District Council enters shared service agreement worth £1.3m

News

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NEWS IN BRIEF BCS highlights successful public sector IT projects The NHS, school dinners and the railways are some of the areas where award-winning IT programmes are being showcased as examples of successful public sector IT projects in a new online booklet. ‘Success - Public Sector IT Projects’ has been compiled and published by BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT. TO READ MORE PLEASE VISIT...

www.governmenttechnology.co.uk/n/001

Blaby District Council will be joining neighbouring councils Hinckley and Bosworth Borough Council and Oadby and Wigston Borough Council in a shared services agreement worth £1.3m over five years. The three councils are forecast to save more than £200,000 over the duration of the contract.

IT company Steria has been providing ICT services to Hinckley and Bosworth Borough Council since 2006. The shared service between Hinckley and Bosworth and Oadby and Wigston was set up in 2009 and has already saved Hinckley and Bosworth an initial £33,000 and further ten per cent of the original contract value per annum. Blaby Council will join the ICT shared services centre to benefit from more efficient IT service delivery enabled a robust and scalable IT infrastructure.

Sandra Whiles, chief executive, Blaby District Council, commented: “Efficiency is the word

MOBILE PHONE APPS Environment Agency introduces country’s first ever free mobile phone app to warn and prepare for impacts of floods The country’s first ever mobile phone application that provides the public with flood warnings has been launched.

‘Flood Alert’ uses live data from the Environment Agency to provide users with real time updates on nearby flood warnings, as well as up to two extra chosen locations in England and Wales. Developed by Halcrow, the application also displays an overview for specific geographical regions.

The new, free service will help people, communities and businesses make informed decisions about how to respond to potential flooding. The application also provides users with information on what they should do to help reduce flood risk.

It follows on from Environment Agency’s free flood warning service, which has almost one million people at risk from rivers and coastal flooding registered.

on everybody’s lips as councils are tasked with delivering better outcomes for local people at less cost across the whole spectrum of services that we provide. The beauty of the shared service agreement is that we will be joining a well-established partnership arrangement which is already generating cost efficiencies and benefitting the local community at the same time as offering opportunities for our former ICT colleagues.”

Steve Atkinson, chief executive at Hinckley and Bosworth Borough Council, added: “Not only has our partnership enabled us to achieve significant ongoing savings, but our services have also been upgraded. The partnership has enabled us to make strategic improvements, such as introducing flexible and remote access to ICT systems, which better suits the needs of council staff and enables the council to provide a better service to our customers.”

New technician qualifications database launches The Engineering Council has developed a public database of approved qualifications and programmes that contribute to professional registration as Engineering Technician (EngTech) or ICT Technician (ICTTech).

The database, found on the Engineering Council’s website, can be used to search for apprenticeships, other employer schemes, NVQs/SVQs or vocational qualifications.

Providers and employers who are aligned with particular qualifications and schemes can also be identified.

Jon Prichard, CEO of the Engineering Council, the UK regulatory body for the engineering profession, said: “The addition of this database of technician qualifications and programmes is proving invaluable for those looking to register professionally as technicians.”

Each qualification and scheme listed will have been through a rigorous approval process by one or more of the 32 professional engineering institutions that are licensed to do so by the Engineering Council.

IT security professionals fearful of organised cyber crime, poll suggests 31 per cent of IT security professionals polled have revealed they suffered one or more organised cyber attacks in the last 12 months resulting in theft of data or money. 45 per cent of respondents to the IronKey survey, believed their organisation is a target of organised cyber crime that could result in sabotage or data or theft of money.

Make public services digital by default, urges Socitm in new publication Socitm Insigt has published a new guide called ‘Digital by default - why and how: a guide for local public service management teams’. It draws on two recent reports from Socitm that focus on customer management in local authorities, the quality of their websites, and their readiness to make significant efficiencies by shifting customer enquiries to the web.

School in Oldham breaches Data Protection Act Freehold Community School in Oldham has been found in breach of the Data Protection Act after the theft of an unencrypted laptop from a teacher’s car. The school was unaware of the need to encrypt portable storage devices, but had a policy in place informing staff that storage devices should not be kept in cars when away from school premises.

TO READ MORE PLEASE VISIT...

www.governmenttechnology.co.uk/n/002

Volume 10.3 | GOVERNMENT TECHNOLOGY MAGAZINE

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News

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SYSTEMS UPGRADE

New streamlined business system to save Cornwall Council £20 million over the next five years Cornwall Council has signed a contract for a new business system that is intended to save £20m over the next five years by streamlining internal services such as finance, purchasing and human resources.

The Capgemini Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system, based on Oracle software, will replace the largely paper-based processes that Cornwall Council inherited from the old county and district councils with a single integrated online system that will cut duplication, bureaucracy and costs. At the same time the council will introduce new and more efficient industry standard business processes to further streamline its operations.

The award of the £7 million fixed-price contract follows a rigorous competitive procurement process. The contract will be delivered over the next 15 months and includes implementing hundreds of industryleading best practice business processes. The costs of ERP will be offset by the anticipated £20m in savings that are intended to be generated over the next five years and the potential to generate income by taking on finance and human resources services for other public sector organisations.

Michael Crich, Cornwall Council’s corporate director of resources, said: “The ERP system and new business processes will make an

enormous difference to the way we work. At present we have staff across the organisation processing the same types of paperwork in different ways using the various systems that belonged to the old councils. Because many processes are manual, there can be double or even triple handling.

“Things are overly complex and time consuming. The old systems weren’t designed for an organisation the size of Cornwall Council, are very out of date and were scheduled for replacement several years ago.

DATA SECURITY Data security moves up the public sector agenda, research suggests New research shows there has been a significant change in attitudes to data security in the public sector, with 92 per cent of those questioned now having specific policies for dealing with sensitive data. The survey also found that remote and home working has increased almost across the board, with 85 per cent of organisations saying in had increased and 15 per cent saying it had stayed the same.

Marc Hocking, chief technology officer at Becrypt, who published the research, said: “As the government continues to drive cost cutting measures in the coming years, we believe that we will see more and more public sector staff working from home and hot desking. As local authorities look to save money while maintaining front line services, secure remote working ticks a lot of boxes.”

ONLINE SERVICES

Self service channels will save costs and improve quality, says new study A successful self service model will genuinely allow public bodies to deliver more for less, and to sustain this year after year without costs creeping back up in the future, according to a new study. By driving citizens towards ever cheaper and more efficient ways of doing business, public sector organisations will be able to tackle the financial pressures currently felt.

Joel Bellman, public sector director at Deloitte who published the report, said: “While there are a number of notable successes of the public sector making use of technology to deliver services more effectively and efficiently (such as HMRC’s online self assessment and the DVLA’s car tax applications), the impact of new self service channels has been limited.

“Over the last decade the public sector has often treated

“The ERP system will modernise our processes, bringing us in line with other large councils across the country and make us much more efficient. It will also help us to make considerable savings that will reduce the overall running costs of the council, leaving more money for frontline services.”

Council leader Alec Robertson said: “The ERP system will mean that in the longer term we could run finance and human resources services for other public sector partners in Cornwall or even public sector organisations further afield.”

digital services as an add-on to traditional paper, telephone or face-to-face contact rather than a replacement for it. Only a fraction of the potential cost savings have been achieved. Public bodies must launch new digital services with the intention of permanently cutting the demand citizens make of them, and shifting many citizens away from expensive assisted channels towards cheaper self service ones.”

The report outlines a strategy for public bodies to use when considering their customer interactions, whereby citizens are empowered to serve themselves, with the most expensive channels reserved for those customers who are in the most need. New services will prevent vulnerable citizens from being crowded out of the support they need by citizens who are better able to serve themselves online.

EDUCATION

Intellect calls for ICT lessons overhaul Intellect, the trade body for the UK’s technology sector, has called on the government to drop ICT lessons in their current form from the national curriculum as it believes the subject is failing both pupils and employers. In its response to the Department for Education review of the national curriculum Intellect calls on the government to replace ICT with lessons that focus on higher value computer science skills and to

teach ICT by embedding its use across every other subject.

John Hoggard, Intellect’s education programme manager said the current ICT curriculum is too focused on teaching pupils how to use a limited number of software packages: “Our member companies tell us that they often have to spend considerable time up-skilling employees as a result of the current ICT teaching,” added Hoggard.

Volume 10.3 | GOVERNMENT TECHNOLOGY MAGAZINE

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Communications

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GOOD COMMUNICATION AWARDS

RECOGNISING COMMUNICATION EXCELLENCE

The Strategic Communications Campaign Award is presented to the local authority or government organisation that can demonstrate how its communications strategy has delivered measurable changes in public perception or customer behaviour and stands out as an example of best practice.

The City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council’s ‘b someone’ education campaign was last year’s winner for its effective use of social marketing and active engagement to promote education as something that should be held in high esteem.

The 2011 Good Communication Awards will recognise the public sector’s efforts towards effective and diverse communication with its citizens and workforce In both central and local government, communication departments are facing huge challenges over the coming years.

Budgetary restrictions mean that the value of communications will be under more scrutiny than ever before.

It has been demonstrated that social media has a huge part to play in helping to achieve these savings. The development of tools such as blogs, podcasts, wikis, image and video sharing services are being utilised by both local and central government as a low cost way to reach their audiences. Facebook and Twitter are now considered vital parts of the communications arsenal, and used as effective broadcast channels that help to build relationships.

Social media, however, is still not a replacement for traditional communications methods, such as print, and contact by telephone.

The Good Communication Awards, taking place on 14 July at the Emirates Stadium, is now in its seventh consecutive year and will recognise all areas including public relations, IT (websites, communication by computer, e-mail), print (council newspapers, publications, A-Z of services) and telecoms (contact centres, mobile communications).

To enter visit www.gcawards.co.uk.

Entries close on Friday 3 June.

THE AWARDS Local Authority of the Year Award is presented to the local authority that is judged to have delivered the most successful all round communications strategy, incorporating print, public relations, IT and telecommunications.

Last year’s winner was Westminster City Council which recognised that PR could help drive public satisfaction,

and trust, in local services.

The Government Communicator of the Year Award recognises an individual in local or central government who has demonstrated outstanding achievements in communications, both internally and externally.

Amanda Aviss from West Sussex County Council scooped the award last year for her excellent work in managing and developing a dynamic team fit to meet the challenges of the 21st century.

The Good Communication Awards, taking place on 14 July at the Emirates Stadium, is now in its seventh consecutive year.

Communications

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PUBLIC RELATIONS The Internal Communications Award recognises successful practices that assist in building a culture to support strategy execution and effective communication with other core functions within the authority.

Last year’s winner was the Ministry of Justice’s Insight Staff Magazine which provides clear, crisp copy that cuts to the chase and helps all employees develop a sense of belonging within the organisation.

The Government to Citizen Communication Award recognises a specific campaign which has successfully connected with its target audience at a local or national level.

Last year’s winner was City of Edinburgh Council for its successful campaign to increase the number of people standing as candidates in the Scottish Youth Parliament and voting in the elections.

The Mixed Media Campaign Award will recognise successful mixed media information campaigns, where print, television, radio and internet media have combined to achieve the campaigns objectives successfully and cost-effectively.

Lambeth Council scooped the award last year as they proactively engaged with residents to find out how they should spend £250,000.

The Local Authority PR Team of the Year Award recognises the local authority that has demonstrated all round excellence and outstanding communications skills to engage with its citizens and its workforce.

The 2010 winner was West Sussex County Council whose nine-strong press office responds to over 2,000 enquiries from the media each year along with producing nearly 900 press releases.

PRINT The Council Publication of the Year Award will recognise what is judged to be the best council publication, produced either in magazine or newspaper format and distributed to residents on a regular basis. E

Volume 10.3 | GOVERNMENT TECHNOLOGY MAGAZINE

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Communications

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GOVERNMENT TECHNOLOGY MAGAZINE Volume | 10.3

GOOD COMMUNICATION AWARDS

E Westminster City Council’s Westminster Reporter scooped the Award in 2010 and has driven up resident ‘informed’ and ‘satisfaction’ ratings to record levels in spite of fewer editions being published.

Meanwhile, the Council Publication Design Award recognises the local authority that produces the most visually appealing publication.

West Sussex County Council’s Taste West Sussex magazine scooped last year’s Award. It was created in support of a major campaign to encourage consumers to use their local farmers, growers and producers.

The Council Publication Journalism Award will recognise the local authority publication that demonstrates a commitment to quality journalism and content that reflects the information needs of the target audience.

East Riding of Yorkshire Council’s publication East Riding News took home the award last year. It includes human interest stories, real people’s experiences and views, and acts as a vehicle for the council to inform residents.

The Print Innovation Award recognises the local authority or government department that has demonstrated the most innovative use of print in communicating with citizens or the workforce.

The 2010 winner was Harrow Council’s tax booklet ‘Have you heard’? Harrow took a publication which is usually executed in a traditional and often boring manner and instead produced a creative, informative and useful guide to council services.

IT AND E-GOVERNMENT The IT Infrastructure Award recognises a local or central government department that has improved processes by investing in its IT infrastructure (hardware/ cabling/thin client/mobile devices).

The Government Website of the Year Award is taken home by the government website project that can demonstrate a high degree of innovation and usability in providing its

website service to citizens and/or local authorities and businesses.

Last year’s winner was Salford City Council’s website which provides a simplified, informative and interactive service for residents. Unique visitor numbers for the website increased in 2009 by 17 per cent over the previous calendar year.

The award for IT Project Innovation is taken home by the local authority or central government department that has delivered an IT project within budget and to specification that furthers the progress of e-government and improves communication channels between government and the citizen.

North Yorkshire County Council’s NYnet Broadband project scooped the award in 2010 for its £42.4 million high-speed broadband rollout.

The Website Accessibility Award will be presented to the organisation that has made outstanding progress in using technologies to extend the delivery of information and services to include traditionally hard-toreach groups such as users who are disabled or who have particular access needs.

The 2010 winner was Hillingdon Council.

The council’s website pages have been structured to allow quick access to important content for website visitors using audio or Braille internet browsers. To assist those whose first language is British Sign Language, Hillingdon has provided videos about its disability equality scheme.

The IT Partnership Award will be awarded to the local authority that can demonstrate an effective partnership approach to delivering IT related services, and in turn better value to citizens.

Hertfordshire County Council won the award last year for its Online School Admissions, a collaborative project between the Department for Education, lead authority Hertfordshire County Council (HCC) and 152 local authorities and suppliers.

TELECOMS The Mobile Technology Award is presented to the local authority or central government department that has implemented a mobile strategy that can demonstrate either: benefits to citizens through increased access to services; or benefits to the organisation through increased efficiencies.

The 2010 winner was Aylesbury Vale District Council who implemented sms text messaging to communicate with residents and has over 3000 subscribers.

The Telecoms Innovation Award is taken home to the local authority or central government department that can demonstrate an effective use of a new or emerging communication technology (eg VoiceoverIP, RFID, SMS).

Last year Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council won the award for using mobile technology to improve service levels and change the way that inspectors carry out their roles.

The Contact Centre of the Year Award is given to the local authority contact centre that can demonstrate an effective increase in call handling, complaints management, staff training and staff support.

Last year London Borough of Richmondupon-Thames scooped the award. The council’s customer service programme ‘Putting Our Customers First’ focused on providing more customer ‘touch points’ (phone, web, e-mail, face-to-face), improving call centre standards and delivering greater value for money.

The Contact Centre Training Award will be presented to the local authority or central government department that can demonstrate improvements in call handling, customer complaints management, staff training and staff retention.

Last year Kent County Council scooped the award for its six month training programme for its Contact Kent operation.

The Award for Contact Centre Technology recognises the local authority that can present the most innovative use of technology in order to increase call handling levels and improve conditions for the workforce.

Hillingdon Council won the Award last year. The delivery, implementation and management of the ‘HillingdonFirst Card’ was channelled through the contact centre.

The card offers residents preferential rates at council parking facilities, access to libraries and the council’s waste centre, and discounts at participating businesses. Through SmartConnect integrating with the contact centre CRM, 151,000 smart cards were issued to residents on time and to budget. L

Communications

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FOR MORE INFORMATION To enter the Good Communication Awards, please visit www.gcawards.co.uk Entries close Friday 3 June 2011.

Volume 10.3 | GOVERNMENT TECHNOLOGY MAGAZINE

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Communications

THE BUSINESS MAGAZINE FOR GOVERNMENT TECHNOLOGY – www.governmenttechnology.co.uk

An SMS text message service from Bedfordshire Police during a recent protest has been hailed as a great success by shoppers, residents and businesses in Luton Faced with policing a demonstration by the English Defence League and a counter protest

by Unite Against Fascism, Bedfordshire Police mounted the biggest operation in the force’s history. Among the many challenges facing the force was how to communicate with and reassure the many communities who would be affected by the events of Saturday 5 February.

Research and the force’s own experience showed that SMS text would be a key communication channel, particularly in the predominately Muslim area of Bury Park, situated less than a mile from the site of the main protests. Initially, SMS was seen as a way of communicating information to teams of community mediators working alongside officers and staff in the affected communities.

Very quickly though, Bedfordshire saw the benefits of opening up their text message service to the wider community.

Using a web based package from text experts txttools, the force set up a short code (88020) text message sign up service with an easy to remember keyword (police). In the three weeks leading up to the protest, this short code number and keyword was publicised in every communication associated with the event.

As well as promoting the service in leaflets and press releases, the force also advertised the number on its popular Facebook site and through Bluetooth proximity marketing units, deployed in key locations around the town.

KEEPING INFORMED At its peak, the service attracted 1,691 individual subscribers, with over 1,000 signing up in the 24 hours before the protest. 34 messages were sent in the lead up to and on the day itself, accounting for over 41,000 individual texts.

Messages ranged from information about road closures and bus diversions, through to news updates as the day unfolded and quelling inaccurate rumours about shops and a mosque being attacked.

An added benefit for the force was how the messages were used in social media.

The force was posting updates to its website and Facebook page, but does not have a Twitter account. Nevertheless, the corporate communications team were monitoring Twitter and were able to see that within just a few seconds, the text messages were being tweeted and re-tweeted by news organisations, journalists and private individuals.

Bedfordshire Police marketing manager Andy Jones said: “In terms of numbers, what we achieved with the text message service was impressive. Its true value though, can be seen

The regular updates were most appreciated and helped keep me informed on how our town was being protected by the police forces of Bedfordshire and those drafted in to help. in the reaction we had from the users of the service. I was staggered by the range of people who wrote in after the protest to thank us for our updates and to tell us what a difference it made to them.”

THE RESPONSE Below are extracts from messages received by the force in the days after the event.

“A friend had advised me that I could receive text updates throughout the day, and I signed up for these, so I could keep abreast of the situation. What a fantastic service that was, to be aware of the true facts of the situation, as they happened. I’m not sure if you offer this service ordinarily, but I think it’s great, and reassured me greatly that the Police were in control,” commented a Luton resident.

A BBC Radio reporter said: “Loved the text messages” and another Luton resident said:“Just a quick word of thanks for your constant updates on the demonstrations in Luton yesterday. Thanks to you I was still able to keep in touch with what happened.”

A tenant representative said: “The regular updates were most appreciated and helped keep me informed on how our town was being protected by the police forces of Bedfordshire and those drafted in to help.”

POSITIVE FEEDBACK A shopping centre marketing manager said: “Everyone I’ve spoken to has said how excellent the text message service was – it really helped to quash rumours and just give succinct timely updates.”

Meanwhile a police staff member said: “One thing that everybody mentioned was the text service which kept people informed throughout the day about the latest situation.

It helped to kill the rumours at the root and also helped to alleviate any fear or anxiety.”

Another Luton resident said: “I signed up to your text messaging service and although I did not leave my house until late in the afternoon, I felt very safe having these regular updates.”

A message from a Bangladeshi Youth League member via a PCSO went as follows: “The text messaging idea was fantastic. It allowed any rumours that were circulated in the community to be discounted and kept people up to date with events. He felt this service was very important to the success in the Bury Park area on the day.”

Meanwhile a PCSO working with a team of community mediators said: “The feedback from people who used the messaging service has been a positive one and felt it was an essential piece of communication.” L

Volume 10.3 | GOVERNMENT TECHNOLOGY MAGAZINE

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COMMS THE NETWORK AND DATA COMMUNICATIONS CONFERENCE AND EXHIBITION

28th - 29th June 2011 I Barbican Centre I London COMMS EXPO will offer a seminar programme of unrivalled quality, designed to deliver information with outcome-changing consequences. All presentations are completely free to attend. Keynote speakers already confirmed include: Andrew Jones, Alquist Consulting Beyond the CRC Energy Efficiency Scheme – Why Energy Reduction Will Become Critical for Data Centres The new UK Government has made drastic changes to the UK’s CRC Energy Efficiency legislation forcing data centres to monitor and reduce their energy consumption. Andrew’s presentation will look at the current energy legislation, show the ‘Energy Generation Gap’ that will occur in 2015 and share techniques that can be used to monitor and reduce energy consumption.

John Berney, CIO + Demonstrating Value from IT All too often IT departments are questioned by the Board to prove that they are providing a value for money service. It’s all about acting like a businessman and John will demonstrate, with plenty of examples, exactly what that means and especially how it applies to IT. If you are looking to take the next step up, don’t miss it.

Ed Gibson, Global Cyber Security Chief, Price Waterhouse Coopers Who Do You Call When You Receive the Extortion E-Mail? - What you Need to Know, Now! Ed’s focus is on helping organisations address serious issues involving the prevention, investigation, and mitigation of, and recovery from, economic or eEspionage, insider fraud, complex money laundering, cyber attacks, and intellectual property theft. His wide range of domestic and international experience is complemented by his prior corporate and federal legal experience, career as an FBI Agent both, and subsequent senior role with Microsoft Ltd in the United Kingdom. He understands the interplay of technology and business priorities when it comes to overall business risk management strategies.

If you require further information, please call Ian Titchener on +44 (0)1223 350515

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Brand new event for the data communications industry Taking place 28-29 June in the Barbican Centre in the heart of the city of London, COMMS EXPO 2011 is the essential event for anyone involved in the network and data communications industry.

At COMMS EXPO 2011, the most important players in the industry will be exhibiting their latest products and solutions. Interest in this new event has been astounding and exhibition space has now sold out.

Exhibitors include Commscope, APC by Schneider, Panduit, Brand-Rex, Mills, Raritan and Riello UPS, and many more.

MUST-ATTEND EVENT The event is set to be the essential meeting point for data centre managers, IT directors and managers, network managers, consultants, installers, project managers, facilities managers and anyone else who needs to be in the know when it comes to data communications.

Running concurrently with the exhibition, COMMS EXPO will also offer a two day seminar programme. This will be a one stop shop offering the most up-to-date and insightful information on the most

important issues facing the industry. It will feature speakers from companies such as Panduit, CIO+, AssetGen and PricewaterhouseCoopers. Subjects to be covered include data centre designs for a green environment, demonstrating value from IT, the future of cabling, and cyber security.

OPPORTUNITY FOR LEARNING Event organiser Ian Titchener comments: “We recognised the need for an industry event that delivered real and useful information to delegates, instead of some of the sales presentations you sometimes receive at trade conferences. We want our visitors to leave knowing that they have learnt something new, something of value.

We are overwhelmed with the level of excitement the event has generated.

“One of the overriding themes which has emerged is the interplay between technology and business priorities. The topics to be covered go well beyond the technicalities of the data centre and explore issues which IT professionals can’t afford to ignore. The everpresent question of green and sustainable IT

is as popular as always, and I am particularly looking forward to the presentation on investigating and preventing e-Espionage and the modified CRC legisltation. This promises to be truly fascinating discussion.”

Only at COMMS EXPO will you have the unique opportunity to see, experience and discuss all the very latest advances in network and data communications from top suppliers and innovators across Europe.

AT THE HEART OF THE IT INDUSTRY COMMS EXPO takes place over two days in June, at the Barbican Centre in London, which is easily accessible by rail, underground and road. “Situated right in the centre of the City of London, at the heart of the UK IT industry, the Barbican was the ideal venue for the event,” explains Titchener.

The free of charge event is open to all industry professionals who pre-register at www.commsexpo.com. This includes admittance to all the presentations at the conference. Doors are open from 9.00 to 17.00, 28-29 June. All visitors to the show will also receive a year’s free subscription to NETCOMMS Europe. L

Communications

THE BUSINESS MAGAZINE FOR GOVERNMENT TECHNOLOGY – www.governmenttechnology.co.uk

FOR MORE INFORMATION You can register online for COMMS EXPO at www.commsexpo.com Tel: 01223 350515 Fax: 01223 351725

“We recognised the need for an industry event that delivered real and useful information to delegates, instead of some of the sales presentations you sometimes receive at trade conferences. We want our visitors to leave knowing that they have learnt something new, something of value”.

Volume 10.3 | GOVERNMENT TECHNOLOGY MAGAZINE

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LANDMARK PROMAP

THE PUBLIC SECTOR MAPPING AGREEMENT The new Public Sector Mapping Agreement will bring clarity to public data access 1 April marked the launch of the Public Sector Mapping Agreement (PSMA), an initiative brought about following an agreement between Ordnance Survey (OS) and the government to provide geographic information to around 800 public sector organisations.

The agreement means that public sector bodies including local and central government departments, NHS bodies, and parish and community councils throughout England and Wales will now be able to access OS mapping data under a single, unified agreement.

Organisations will need to apply to be eligible for PSMA but once they become a member they will be able to access a free range of OS products, including OS Mastermap and 1:25,000 scale mapping, which is something that has not been freely available before now.

The PSMA follows a number of recent key industry changes to impact the provision of and access to mapping and data across the UK. One of the first came last year with the announcement that OS had changed its licensing agreement to allow mapping providers to offer larger areas of mapping to its customers at more competitive prices. In addition, the recent news of the creation of a Public Data Corporation (the merging of a part of OS, the Met Office and the Land Registry), as well as the development of a national addressing database, known as National Address Gazetteer (NAG), have all been introduced with the aim of providing easily accessible public information and to drive efficiency in public service delivery.

All of which has ensured that industry providers are kept firmly on their toes. For users of mapping and data the changes should be a reason for optimism, as in most cases it is competition that advances changes and innovation the quickest, and 2011 will be a real test of this. Digital mapping provider Landmark Promap is a company that has responded to these changes with gusto and in particular has recently launched a number of services and products to help public sector bodies get the most from the data that they require.

THE PSMA In particular response to the PSMA, Landmark Promap has launched a new service to provide mapping to the public sector. Through using Landmark Promap public sector organisations can access a range of free OS products. The data can be accessed in three easy steps.

Organisations need to check their eligibility and apply for PSMA membership, complete

the registration form for PSMA member access via Promap, and they will then be sent a unique login and simple user guide.

Once organisations have signed up to the agreement they will be licensed to use the maps and associated data as part of their business, and this information can also be shared amongst the public, private and voluntary service.

KEY BENEFITS The key benefits of accessing the free data through Promap is that organisations can utilise the full range of OS data, view, save, manipulate and personalise the data from any PC with an internet connection, as well as being able to print, e-mail and publicise the data as required. In addition, local councils will have the extra benefit of being able to access and purchase historical maps of their local areas, which is unique to Promap. It will also provide a number of other benefits to local organisations in planning processes, including plotting local walks, indicating rubbish collection routes and planning road closures or possible areas for community gardens.

It is hoped that the scheme will deliver a number of benefits. Crucially, it will allow organisations to access the same data pool, which will ensure that there is no disparity between data sourced by one public body to data sourced by another, which should help to improve public service delivery.

It will also greatly simplify the sharing

of data between these organisations.

David Dixon, managing director at Landmark Promap, commented: “The Public Sector Mapping Agreement is a great step in the right direction in terms of significantly widening the use of geospatial data.

“We are committed to providing our customers with a service that truly meets their needs, and in response to this new agreement have developed a service to ensure that both new and existing customers in the public sector can access this free information in the easiest and best way possible.”

James Brayshaw, director at Ordnance Survey said: “Our premier partner, Landmark Promap, provides a fast and efficient service, enabling customers to benefit from our up to date and reliable mapping data.”

Promap is the UK’s number one desktop mapping tool for property professionals, providing a wide range of mapping, in a variety of layers, which are supplied in many different levels of accuracy and scales. With over 27,000 users made up of surveyors, architects, developers, house builders, utilities, engineers, environmental consultants and property professionals, Promap allows users quick and easy access to OS mapping data and geospatial services. L FOR MORE INFORMATION For more information on Landmark Promap please visit www.promap.co.uk

Volume 10.3 | GOVERNMENT TECHNOLOGY MAGAZINE

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Software Compliance

THE BUSINESS MAGAZINE FOR GOVERNMENT TECHNOLOGY – www.governmenttechnology.co.uk

ASSET MANAGEMENT

MAKING SAVINGS THROUGH BETTER SOFTWARE MANAGEMENT Matt Fisher, chairman of the Software Industry Research Board and director at FrontRange Solutions, argues the case for the proper management of software assets The £18 billion annual public sector IT budget is one of those areas earmarked for cuts as the government plans to cut 20-40 per cent from departmental budgets. The austerity plans are forcing every government department to look at alternative ways of delivering services and new technologies that can provide cost savings.

Budget reductions in the public sector are nothing new. Socitm, the Society of IT Management in the public sector, recently published a report revealing the real-term reduction in the amount local government has spent on IT since 2006, equating to 19.3 per cent. The difference this time is that budget reductions will affect every level of government and they will be very real and arguably the hardest to manage in recent history.

ACHIEVING EFFICIENCIES Slashing services is not the only method of curbing costs: kinder cuts can also be made by achieving efficiencies in government processes, procurement and management; a fact highlighted in successive reviews by Sir Peter Gershon and Sir Philip Green.

One of the simplest, quickest and most effective methods for achieving efficiency savings: the proper management of software assets.

Software alone accounts for around 35 per cent of all public sector IT spend, so it’s vital that software is effectively acquired, deployed, used, managed and retired. If organisations do this, they can achieve immediate efficiencies, as well as realising significant cost savings over the software lifecycle. By the same token, those that fail to manage their software effectively will inevitably incur significant and unnecessary overspend which, in the current belt-tightening climate, is simply unacceptable.

Any one government department may be using thousands of computers, based across the country in a mixture of centralised and

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GOVERNMENT TECHNOLOGY MAGAZINE Volume | 10.3

remote locations, running numerous versions of operating systems and applications residing in datacenters and distributed environments alike. Given the highly dispersed nature of many government departments there is an additional reason to manage software – control and compliance.

SOFTWARE ASSET MANAGEMENT Software Asset Management (SAM) should not be viewed as an optional administrative process but a key mechanism for transforming software from a cost centre to a strategic asset. For the public sector struggling with budget cuts it can deliver a number of benefits including controlling costs associated with software assets, improving the performance of those assets as well as the organisation and its employees and compliance with the law.

Software can represent anywhere between 30-35 per cent of an organisation’s total IT budget so it makes good sense to keep a detailed view on how, where and which licenses you buy. That, in a nutshell, is Software Asset Management (SAM).

LEGAL COMPLIANCE Over the last ten years, the main drivers for Software Asset Management have been compliance. Yet as more and more organisations recognise their legal obligation, or are reminded of it by the software industry enforcement groups or publishers, many have been driven simply to complete a license compliance review.

While ensuring compliance saves organisations from fines, it has little return and in most cases has been seen as a costly exercise.

It’s important that public sector organisations don’t breach their licence terms, and SAM is a vital tool for ensuring compliance. But there are other, much more positive reasons to ensure that software is managed effectively.

What is driving the challenge for those in the public sector now more than ever, is the need not only to contain costs, but reduce them while keeping control of the organisation’s processes. Managing software estates is essential to deliver three core outcomes: cost reduction and control, performance optimisation, and compliance management.

A critical benefit of software asset management is cost control and in this era of tightened government budgets, nowhere will this be more important.

Broadly speaking there are four core areas where cost savings can be found: control of software acquisition costs; control of hardware costs; control of software support costs; and risk mitigation of legal costs.

SOFTWARE ACQUISITION Procurement practices need to be clearly defined so that effective management processes are in place to minimise software acquisition costs. This can be achieved by identifying and communicating existing and future software needs, budgeting for acquisition and buying only what is needed and not for storing as “shelf-ware”.

A Software Asset Management programme will identify redundant software assets where project-based demand has expired. This software that can be redeployed to meet new demands, thus reducing both ad-hoc purchase requirements and mis-licensing whilst supporting accurate project budgeting.

Within the IT budget planned software spend needs to be a separate line item and an effective tracking mechanism is needed E

support and maintenance requirement should be renewed for.

In some organisations where new project requirements are limited and the environment is largely static support and maintenance software, costs may represent almost the entire software budget and can only be effectively reduced with accurate usage and demand detail.

RISK MITIGATION Managing your estate through a software asset management process will reduce your exposure to the risk of legal challenges, fines and reputational damage. The process will create a record of all the documentation you will need to avoid this risk, including: • a written statement of your organisation’s software policy • evidence of communication with employees • a total inventory of your estate • all documentation of actions undertaken in support of management processes PERFORMANCE OPTIMISATION Cost control is not the only benefit associated with software asset management.

Performance improvements across an organisation can also be delivered through efficiencies or soft benefits. For example, the process an organisation goes through in adopting a software asset management programme will ensure the quality and reliability of the software estate itself due to constant review of software relative to the business requirements.

Illegal software will be flushed out and with it the inherent threat of viruses. Licensed

Software can represent anywhere between 30-35 per cent of an organisation’s total IT budget so it makes good sense to keep a detailed view on how, where and which licenses you buy. That, in a nutshell, is Software Asset Management (SAM).

E to monitor planned versus actual purchasing.

What’s more, the removal, or retirement, of software programs that are no longer in use, or supported, frees space and system demands on hardware platforms which means organisations can avoid the cost of expensive hardware upgrades caused by memory being taken up unnecessarily.

SOFTWARE SUPPORT AND MAINTENANCE COSTS By identifying what software you have, what you intend to have and when you will cease to support legacy programs, you can control your software support and maintenance costs. As a key output of Software Asset Management information any organisation with effective processes can identify the degree to which any

software on the other hand offers the assurance of product authentication and quality as well as the warranty of the software publisher, all documentation, manuals, tutorials, product support and upgrades.

RATIONALISATION AND COMPATIBILITY Given the sheer number of software applications on the market today, one of the biggest issues confronting IT departments is that of compatibility. By managing the lifecycle of all your software assets an organisation can generate the information it needs to address this issue effectively ensuring that employees in one arm of an organisation can access and use documentation from another.

Integral to the software asset management process is the stated objective of anticipating

About SIRB

Software Compliance

THE BUSINESS MAGAZINE FOR GOVERNMENT TECHNOLOGY – www.governmenttechnology.co.uk

The Software Industry Research Board (SIRB) is a separate arm which sits under the FAST IiS umbrella. It’s comprised of leaders from across the software vendor, software management tools and licensing consultancy communities. SIRB has the single aim of promoting Software Asset Management (SAM) excellence across all organisations.

the organisation’s future software needs. By undertaking a comprehensive review you will be in a far stronger position to anticipate your future software requirements enabling cost efficiency of projects and accurate decisions on risk within the current environment and compelling reasons for change.

In addition this process will also help you avoid the acquisition of software on the verge of becoming discontinued or unsupported by the vendor or publisher.

COMPLIANCE MANAGEMENT Software is not sold to a user – it is licensed.

That therefore limits your right to use, reproduce and even distribute that program to the terms of the software licence agreement.

This, it must be remembered, is a valid legal contract between the licensee and the software publisher. Furthermore, copyright law protects the publisher from infringements such as the unauthorised distribution and copying of the program itself. UK law is clear – violations are punishable with a maximum jail sentence of ten years and the potential for substantial financial penalties, let alone the damage to reputation from being found to infringe copyright law.

CONCLUSION It’s clear that SAM is much more than a tool to ensure compliance. Rather than being seen as a “nice to have”, it’s actually a key mechanism for transforming software from a cost centre to a strategic asset. Of course, an effective SAM programme requires that staff understand and adhere to all processes, policies and procedures; yet the small investment needed to educate employees is repaid many times over by increased efficiencies, lowered costs and avoided risks.

Far from being a drain on resources, a software asset management programme has the potential to reduce IT costs by more than 20 per cent, while a typical return on investment can be reaped back within the first year. For once, cutting costs actually goes handin-hand with better operational performance: a rare piece of good news for increasingly embattled public sector organisations, and one they cannot afford to turn down. L FOR MORE INFORMATION www.sirb.co.uk

Volume 10.3 | GOVERNMENT TECHNOLOGY MAGAZINE

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In addition to this we’ve got more than 20 Keynote sessions from the biggest brand names, as Facebook, Google, LinkedIn, Ericsson, Ogilvy, Yahoo!, Blue State Digital, Cisco and many more! These sessions will be popular, so registering in advance is key to make sure you’re at the forefront of digital innovation.

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To make it even easier we’ve picked out a defining session covering the most pressing topics for business today in our Plenary Sessions: On Day 1, Facebook’s UK commercial director Stephen Haines looks at The Future of the Social Web: Facebook’s vision for brands being social.

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Exhibitors include: Advansys Alterian Applied Language Solutions Appshed Barclaycard Blue State Digital Brandbank Ciao from Bing Complete Commerce Gomez cPanel DMA

Direct Traffic eibDigital Emailmovers Emarsys Experian Hitwise Experian Cheetahmail Facebook Inbox Warriors Just Search Lyris Marko Media MotionPoint

age doesn’t stop. Stop in one of the wireless lounges to check in with the office.

Digital Marketing Solutions Theatre: Get practical digital marketing tips and tools to accelerate your digital strategy.

Networking Bar: Located conveniently in the centre of the show, you’ll have the opportunity to network with the industry’s finest.

Business Start-Up and Innovation Village: Truly the cutting edge will be showcased in this area of the show. Sponsored by Duncan Bannatyne’s Bannatyne Digital this is an area

Integrating eLearning with your content management system What do the Financial Times, CNBC, Energy Saving Trust, Interpol, EMI Music, the US Department of Defense and Random House Publishing have in common? They all use the same content management system – eZ Publish.

Imagine what eZ Publish could do for your website.

Vision with Technology are experts in content management including eZ Publish – the world’s number 1 Open Source, web content management platform. eZ Publish is currently powering over 200,000 websites across 160 countries, allowing you to publish content from anywhere, at anytime.

The Energy Saving Trust required an online content and training solution to help serve a demand from public and private clients, in advising and accelerating action taken by employees in the reduction of

Online solutions

THE BUSINESS MAGAZINE FOR GOVERNMENT TECHNOLOGY – www.governmenttechnology.co.uk

their energy consumption both at home and in the office.

Vision Discover, an eZ Publish extension, was used which met the needs identified by the Energy Saving Trust for their online content and training solution. Along with the Energy Saving Trust, BT and the Civil Service South East are now using this solution.

Visit us at stand E8045 during Internet World to learn more.

See us talk about eLearning solutions at 16:30pm on Tuesday 10 May at the Content Management theatre.

FOR MORE INFORMATION Tel: 020 73544300 info@VisionWT.com www.VisionWT.com

MS Internet netbiscuits Peer1 Hosting Rackspace Real Story Group Sajan SEO Positive BCS The Chartered Institute of IT Webspiders Yespay Zfort Group

that should be marked on your show plan.

Social Media Gurus: Get expert insight into your social media campaign from the gurus.

With practical hints and tips from the people with the insight into what’s next for social media you’ll be ahead of the game! L FOR MORE INFORMATION Register for Internet World for free entry at www.internetworld.co.uk using code GT and save yourself £30 on the door.

Tel: 020 79553953

Achieving efficiencies in public sector IT Many public sector organisations are facing budget cuts and and need to achieve more for less. This is coupled with challenging legislation such as the CRC Energy Efficiency Scheme.

Eduserv specialises in web development and web hosting for large organisations to help them achieve efficiencies. They have partnered with the public sector on a number of cutting edge projects including website rationalisation, multi-surfacing web content and a virtualised hosting platform dedicated to the public sector. They also led the development on the NHS Direct’s online Health and Symptom Checker, which won an E-Government Award.

Eduserv’s work with the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) will help BIS save more than £4 million over four years. Their virtualised hosting platform can also reduce carbon emissions by 39 per cent.

Other Eduserv customers include NHS Direct, the Department for Education, the DLVA and the RFU. Eduserv owns its own data centre enabling them to provide secure and resilient hosting with high-end service level agreements. They also partner with CMS providers Sitecore and Umbraco to provide efficient content management for public sector web presence.

Eduserv is a not-for-profit organisation dedicated to helping the public and education sectors save money through web technology.

FOR MORE INFORMATION Tel: 01225 474300 Fax: 01225 474301 contact@eduserv.org.uk www.eduserv.org.uk

Volume 10.3 | GOVERNMENT TECHNOLOGY MAGAZINE

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Contact Associates Ltd are a young, ambitious company with an excellent operational record and an enviable database of skilled professional staff across England.

The company is co-owned by Emma Shelton, MA (Educational Psychology) and Una Lynch RSA Dip SpLD.

• Needs Assessments • Individual Dyslexic Support • Disability Awareness • Training Workplace Mentors • Study Skills Tutors • Assistive Technology

Contact Associates Ltd offers Needs Assessments, Individual Dyslexic Support and Disability Awareness Training to both the educational and employment sectors.

We match highly-trained Workplace Mentors and Study Skills Tutors with each individual referral.

Using tried and tested techniques as well as the latest assistive technology, we work with each individual to design strategies which overcome barriers they experience in the workplace or educational institution.

Our Tutors and Mentors work with an individual’s strengths to incorporate these effective strategies into their normal work processes.

Improved time management and organisation ensures that work deadlines are met and individuals operate as effectively as possible.

This reduces the stress levels and costs caused by wasted time.

Our targeted support helps individuals to stay focussed, plan their time effectively and reduce anxiety.

Individualised strategies and tips will enable employees and students to achieve their potential.

We are the market leaders in our current field and outperform our competitors on all KPIs. We are annually audited by DSA QAG which is appointed by the Department of Business to provide a framework within which we are measured in order to deliver excellent service to our disabled customers.

Contact Associates Ltd have invested in 8 fully equipped and accredited Assistive Technology Centres across England and NI, they are ideally located for disabled customers to be trained, assessed or individually supported as needed.

Call us on:

01823 352749 Contact Associates Viney Court, Viney Street, Taunton TA1 3FB admin@contact-associates.co.uk www.contact-associates.co.uk

Accessibility

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ASSISTIVE TECHNOLOGY

SUPPORT FOR THOSE WITH HIDDEN DISABILITIES Ian Litterick, spokesperson for the British Assistive Technology Association, advises on improvements that government can make to enhance accessibility for employees and the general public Since the Disability Discrimination Act was first introduced in 1995, and its successor the Equality Act in 2010, support for both citizens with special needs and employees within local and central government has improved significantly.

Both Acts have undoubtedly helped drive changes but there is still a lot more to be done to conform to the legislation, not to mention to improve it. There is also a great need to raise awareness about the range of assistive technology solutions available today, their benefits, how they work and for whom they are most appropriate.

Good progress has been made with regard to meeting the ‘reasonable adjustments’ outlined in the legislation that address visible disabilities such as cerebral palsy, visual impairments or other physical disabilities.

However, we cannot yet say job done. There is still much to do in integrating assistive technology tools with older, legacy computer systems and overcoming security and deployment issues.

CATERING FOR HIDDEN DISABILITIES At both a local and national level, however, government adoption of assistive technology (AT) has been inconsistent. It is in the area of hidden disabilities where we believe the greatest improvements are yet to be made.

Hidden disabilities refer to conditions that have no physical signs to the outside world but are still disabilities under the Equality Act. They include, but are not limited to, dyslexia, dyspraxia, dyscalculia and mental health.

(Very broadly and imprecisely the three ‘dys’ words imply, respectively, problems with written words, problems with coordination and problems with numbers.)

Because they are invisible it is easy to overlook these conditions. Adopting the dyslexia-friendly workplace will help ensure that dyslexia and other learning difficulties are recognised and dealt with such that the dyslexic employee can give 100 per cent and dyslexic customers are not disadvantaged.

As both an employer and a public servant, all public sector organisations need to realise the

importance of understanding these conditions, how to recognise the signs and understand how making basic, reasonable adjustments can help improve the productivity of their employees and the lives of the public they serve.

SERVING THE PUBLIC Local government must provide information that is accessible to the people it serves and progress has been made in this area. Most public bodies at least now pay lip service to making their websites accessible. However, it is a cop out – and arguably not an adequate reasonable adjustment to comply with the legislation – to just have an accessibility page which provides links which tell people how they can adapt their web browser to change colours or font sizes. We must appreciate that some internet users are still very unskilled, particularly the elderly and those who do not use computers in their work.

They are highly unlikely to know how to zoom or change font size in their browser, much less be inclined to chase down a page telling them how to do it and follow the instructions correctly. Most people don’t have the patience to do this. They want the information quickly and easily and will give up if they can’t get it. E

Volume 10.3 | GOVERNMENT TECHNOLOGY MAGAZINE

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Vision UK 2011 conference

Do you have clients who are unable to see numbers, remember numbers, press numbers?

featuring Techshare

With a Voice-Activated Telephone Dialler, they can still dial by voice!

16 June 2011, 9.30am – 4.30pm

They can ring their 60 most important numbers just by telling their phone whom they want to call, without recourse to a sighted helper, giving users the dignity of self-reliance.

Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre, Westminster “Techshare is a premier event for finding out about innovations in the accessibility of mobile technologies” Esa Eerola, Senior Accessibility Engineer, Nokia.

Visit www.vision2020uk.org.uk/ ukvisionstrategy

As long as they can activate “handsfree” or lift the receiver, remember and say the name of the person they want to ring, they can make a call.

The voice dialler simply plugs into the existing phone system. It works with normal, cordless and speaker phones, and alongside emergency call systems.

Units have been supplied to literally hundreds of visually impaired clients, as well as those who are quadriplegic, armless, suffering from Parkinsons etc. £120.00 including delivery.

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Commited to providing assistive technology solutions for DSA students & workers with disabilities via Access to Work.

UK wide trainers to deliver software and hardware training on products to assist with hearing impairment, visual impairment and learning difficulties.

iansyst delivers a range of leading software, computers, Assistive Technology, training, support and ergonomic equipment to enable disabled individuals in the workplace and education achieve their potential. Through our re-adjust services we provide bespoke consultancy and disability awareness solutions, as well as making recommendations and supplying computer systems, software applications and specialised gadgets. Find out how we can help through our consultancy, assessment and awareness services whilst discovering the latest assistive technology, training and Access to Work solutions.

www.re-adjust.co.uk www.iansyst.co.uk For further information please call us on: 01223 420101 or email: info@iansyst.co.uk

Full ergonomic assesment service available helping the workplace become more accessible to disabled workers.

sales@wbs.uk.com 01432 271233

Wyvern House Netherwood Rd Rotherwas Hereford HR2 6JJ T:01432 271233 F:01432 263550

ASSISTIVE TECHNOLOGY E MINIMUM ACCESSIBILITY LEVEL So I would suggest that the minimum acceptable level of accessibility is to make sure that websites work properly with screen readers used by blind people. Even when your web team have followed accessibility standards and have made sure that their sites have been validated to W3C standards, there is no alternative to live testing by users using the common assistive technology packages.

Users should be able to easily change text size – the three AAAs in the top right hand corner is now a standard way of doing this.

Users should also be able to change style so that, apart from the default appearance (which should be tested to ensure that the colour combinations conform to legibility standards), they can also choose a high contrast layout or one with muted colours which can be easier for those with visual stress.

Users should be able to select a text-tospeech service such as BrowseAloud, so that users with reading difficulties can listen to your web pages as well as read them visually.

This can be useful to those with English as a second language as well as those with reading impairments. Lastly, your website must conform to plain English standards throughout (see www.plainenglish.co.uk/free-guides).

Many websites link to Google translate as a means of providing a service to non-native speakers. Whilst this may be better than nothing it is probably not adequate for those with substantial difficulties, particularly ethnic minorities, as the quality of translation is still poor.

MEETING STANDARDS The recent BS 8878:2010 standard on web accessibility code of practice is essential reading for non-technical people who are commissioning web sites. For example, it can help with the business, ethical and legal case

for accessibility and with the text to use in your procurement statement. On the other hand, it is as employers that both local and central government have much further to go with regard to addressing the support needs of employees with hidden disabilities. It is important to recognise the signs, understand how it affects an individual and what steps or reasonable adjustments can be taken to provide the necessary support to help these employees succeed, both for their own wellbeing and the success of the organisation.

Many people who have hidden disabilities are very intelligent and are great problem solvers and managers need to be aware that staff who struggle with time-keeping, maths, spelling or reading may have a condition that does not reflect their intelligence.

AVAILABLE TECHNOLOGIES To address the specific support needs required by people with hidden disabilities, there are a number of basic and specialised technological products and strategies currently available.

For people who struggle with reading, writing, maths, concentration or short term memory these systems can prove invaluable. When these are used appropriately they can greatly improve the productivity of the individual and the efficiency of the organisation as a whole.

These may be simple strategies such as using voice mail for basic communications rather than e-mail or written memos, or using voice recorders for taking notes. More technological solutions include text-to-speech software to listen to text rather than needing to decode it in order to aid reading comprehension and speed. Programmes such as Texthelp Read & Write and ClaroRead are each actually a suite of tools to help support reading and writing.

Onscreen word banks and predictive writing programmes are available to help with spelling

Accessibility

THE BUSINESS MAGAZINE FOR GOVERNMENT TECHNOLOGY – www.governmenttechnology.co.uk

Accessibility check list Does the website work properly with screen readers used by blind people?

Can users easily change text size?

Can users change style, for example, a high contrast layout?

Does your website enable a text-to-speech service?

Does your content conform to plain English standards?

Does your website offer a translation service for non-native speakers?

and technical vocabulary.

Speech recognition software can convert ideas from the spoken word quickly into text for those who have difficulty writing, typing or spelling. Concept mapping software is particularly appropriate for people with organisational difficulties, such as dyslexia.

However, it is also used at a corporate level for visualising concepts, organising information and collaborative planning, so it doesn’t need to be thought of as assistive technology.

By the judicious inclusion of some standard tools on the deployed desktop, CIOs can ensure that a high proportion of assistive technology needs are met without having to make too many individual reasonable adjustments to the standard installed technology system. L FOR MORE INFORMATION www.bataonline.org

Showcasing innovations in mobile technology An increase in the use of tablets and smartphones is revolutionising the way we connect and communicate across the eye health and sight loss sector.

As an embedded strand of the Vision UK 2011 conference, Techshare will showcase innovations in mobile technology, exploring their potential from the perspectives of accessibility, sustainability, service development and more.

Techshare features high profile speakers from Nokia, Apple US and Research In Motion (RIM).

Please join us in London on 16 June 2011 to learn how you can use current mobile technology offerings to streamline your services and what’s planned for the future.

Voluntary sector £65 + VAT. Nonvoluntary sector £145 + VAT.

Speakers include: • Esa Eerola (Senior Accessibility Engineer, Nokia) • Sarah Herrlinger (Director of Special Markets, Apple US) • Greg Fields (Research in Motion - RIM) • Earl Howe (Parliamentary Under

Secretary of State for Quality) • David Behan (Director General of Social Care, Department of Health) • Gary O’Donoghue (Political Correspondent, BBC) • Professor Alistair Burns (National Clinical Director for Dementia) • Professor John Ashton (UK Public Health Association) • Paul Zollinger-Read (Chief Executive, Cambridgeshire PCT) Sponsorship and exhibition opportunities are available.

FOR MORE INFORMATION Tel: 020 73912157 ukvisionstrategy@rnib.org.uk www.vision2020uk.org. uk/ukvisionstrategy

Volume 10.3 | GOVERNMENT TECHNOLOGY MAGAZINE

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Rich, dynamic digital signage to keep your organisation up to date with all the latest news and information iMERGE Digital Signage

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08/04/2011 09:59

COUNCIL COMMUNICATION

A MAKE-OVER FOR COUNCILCITIZEN INTERACTION

Customer Contact

THE BUSINESS MAGAZINE FOR GOVERNMENT TECHNOLOGY – www.governmenttechnology.co.uk

Councils have the opportunity to achieve substantial savings by implementing better customer management practices. Vicky Sargent, author of Socitm’s Better Served report, explains how Like other public services, local authorities need to make more than just short term cuts – they need to be looking for all opportunities to change the way they do things in order to achieve long-term opportunities for savings. A prime area of opportunity is around customer management, the focus of a recent report from the research arm of the IT and digital management association, Socitm.

‘Better served: customer access, efficiency and channel shift’, published on 15 February opens with the comment: “It is hard to imagine a major customer facing business, public or private, trying to run its business without top management knowing how many customers it has, the volume of enquiries received through the main access channels, or its most popular services by volume and costto-serve. And yet this does appear to still be the case with most local authorities today.”

COST SAVINGS The Better Served report goes on to argue that there is significant potential for savings by local authorities through reducing the volumes of phone and face-to-face contacts they get, and shifting more contacts to the web. This can be done without sacrificing customer satisfaction – in fact the reverse is likely to be true, as part of the trick is to resolve the same number or issues, but with fewer contacts involved in each issue.

The scope for savings lies in the unit high cost of handling phone and face-to-face contacts – estimated from Socitm’s own data at £7.40 and £2.90 – and the fact that few councils have yet exploited opportunities to reduce the high levels of avoidable and unnecessary contacts most of them continue to receive into these channels.

Added to this, few councils have adopted determined, corporate-wide initiatives to shift incoming enquiries to the web channel. Not only is the cost to serve significantly cheaper, the marginal cost of additional web enquiries is virtually zero. This contrasts with other channels, where servicing more enquiries essentially means taking on more people to handle them.

BARRIERS TO SUCCESS There are two key reasons why councils have not made more progress in this area. The first lies in the fact that in most councils, no one ‘owns’ the customer. Traditionally, service

departments (planning, social services, environment) have managed their own customers. Even where councils have made moves to reap efficiencies by setting up corporate customer service functions, key service areas have often been allowed to remain outside of these arrangements. In addition, the corporate website – the major source of potential savings on customer enquiry handling – is often managed in communications or IT, and remains separate from other customer channels.

The second reason customer management is not more efficient in most councils comes down to lack of management information. In order to manage customer enquiries efficiently and effect changes that will lead to savings, decision-makers need easy access to comprehensive customer enquiry data from all services and channels. The fact that his is not currently the case in most councils, as evidence laid out in the report shows, is in part due to the problem outlined above, namely that customer contact continues to be handled through a range of separate pockets and silos, including service departments, customer services, and web teams.

THE ROAD TO BETTER CONTACT The report provides ten conclusions for councils that wish to sieze this key area for improvement. Firstly, it is pointed out that councils can make significant cost savings through better management of customer access.

Birmingham City Council’s business case for its Customer First Programme anticipates

Council has reduced the cost of phone and web contacts from 79p to 49p per enquiry and since 2007 has saved £175,000 in its contact centre and an additional £150,000 elsewhere by reducing avoidable contact.

REDUCING VOLUMES The report highlights that cost reduction comes from reducing volumes of phone and face-to-face enquiries.

The focus in volume reduction needs to be on the phone and face-to-face channels.

If volumes fall, fewer people are needed to

Surrey County Council has reduced the cost of phone and web contacts from 79p to 49p per enquiry and since 2007 has saved £175,000 in its contact centre and an additional £150,000 elsewhere by reducing avoidable contact. £197.4m of cashable benefits over ten years, while Tameside, a much smaller metropolitan district, is looking at savings of £1m over the next four years, just from better management of the front office. Since 2007, Surrey County

service them and staff can be redeployed or reduced. However, if web enquiries rise because of channel shift or just because the web is easy and available 24/7, the cost of these additional enquiries is almost zero. E

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Customer Contact

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COUNCIL COMMUNICATION

E All the case studies featured in Better Served have seen or anticipate falling phone and faceto-face and rising web contacts.

The report suggests that there are three main ways of reducing call and face-to-face volumes without reducing customer satisfaction.

Firstly, more enquiries should be resolved at the first point of contact. Professional customer service approaches and common standards can make a difference here. Secondly, avoidable contacts should be reduced by providing more and better information at appropriate points in the customer journey, setting service delivery expectations and delivering to these expectations. Thirdly, people should be strongly encouraged to self-service their enquiries via the web (this should include complex transactions as much as simple information requests).

BETTER CHANNEL MANAGEMENT Customer channels must be managed together to reduce volumes, the report suggests.

Reducing phone and face-to-face enquiries can be most readily achieved where all customer channels are managed together. This works because a shift in channel is actively encouraged, for example, customer advisers on phone and f2f channels can play a key role in making customers aware of self-service options. What’s more, problems in one channel that might become avoidable contacts in another can be dealt with quickly, for example, customer advisers can advise the web team and service departments about failures of web content and usability that create avoidable contact and inhibit channel shift.

This approach also makes it clear who ‘owns’ the customer. It is advised that full data from all channels is needed to manage customers efficiently: it is unlikely to be available where channels are managed separately.

Socitm’s research suggests that few councils can easily say how many enquiries are coming in through each access channel, which service/ channel combinations generate the most contacts and avoidable contacts, and which high volume phone and face-to-face might be the best candidates for volume reduction and channel shift. This sort of data is much more likely to be available where customer handling

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GOVERNMENT TECHNOLOGY MAGAZINE Volume | 10.3

is centralised. Data about outsourced services may be difficult to obtain unless this is made explicit in the contract.

CUSTOMER DATA Collecting customer data for analysis to identify improvement is difficult, but not impossible, the report says.

Our research shows that few authorities are capturing anywhere near comprehensive data on customer contacts, except where this is easily automated, as with web and interactive voice recording (IVR) channels. Even with a professional contact centre in place, many councils have allowed some services to run their own customer contact independently, and that these contacts may not be available for analysis. Some calls will continue to go direct into the back office. However, robust customer data can be captured, providing that there is the will to do it and the technology is in place.

The report says that benchmarking highlights variations in management of customer access and opportunities for improvement.

Our investigations for Better Served show a wide range of practice in the way that councils handle customer contact through the main channels of face-to-face, phone and websites.

This is most easily seen in the results from Socitm’s channel value benchmarking cohorts.

Volumes of enquiries vary widely too, as can be seen in the CVB data but also in the call volumes data from the Cabinet Office’s Performance Management Framework. Not surprisingly, there is also huge variation in cost-to-serve. Data analysis is valuable as it reveals opportunities for front and back-office collaboration in costsaving process improvement.

As well as identifying simple solutions to avoidable contacts, like improving information around a service, analysis of data from the front office can identify services where process improvement might reduce enquiry volumes or lead to a self-service solution. Better Served

describes process improvements in a range of services where a process involving several steps or paper forms has been simplified and enabled for self-service.

MULTI CHANNEL INTEGRATION Maximising customer access efficiency requires an excellent website integrated with all other customer channels.

It is no good setting out to reduce avoidable contact or effect a major shift to self-service if the website itself is not up to the job. If a customer cannot do what they set out to do on the website, they will lose confidence and revert to traditional channels. Data from the website take-up service shows that on average, between 8 per cent and 35 per cent of web enquiries to council websites currently fail. All the case studies featured in Better Served have improved their website as a precursor to, or in tandem with, efforts to channel shift and reduce avoidable contact.

Finally customers need to be made aware of services on the web and be encouraged to use them. There is an ongoing shift to online information and services as more and more people use the internet at work and at home. The rise of the mobile web means more and more people with constant access to the web. However, this natural migration to the web, helped by the 24/7 convenience factor, will not do it all, and particularly in the short term, local authorities will need to make customers aware they can do things online and maybe encourage them to break ingrained habits, particularly among longterm, heavy users of council services.

The report is free of charge to subscribers to Socitm Insight (most councils are). The report is available at www.socitm.net. Others can buy the report for £295 (£275 to Socitm members). L

THE BUSINESS MAGAZINE FOR GOVERNMENT TECHNOLOGY – www.governmenttechnology.co.uk

A MEASURED WAY TO SAVE ENERGY

PowerStudio® saves energy, reduces CO2 and quickly lowers electricity bills for PCs, laptops and thin clients In light of public sector budget cuts, those who believe if you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it, are probably wondering what steps public sector organisations will implement to measure the effectiveness of their strategies to help them make the savings demanded by their diminishing budget.

Forward thinking public sector organisations that have faced up to the inevitable changes forced by the budget restrictions, are well aware of the role that technology can play in helping them to make tangible cost savings by reducing their energy consumption.

SHRINKING YOUR CARBON FOOTPRINT In the case of Blackpool Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, it investigated new ways of saving energy in order to lower its carbon footprint so as to meet the government’s target of the NHS achieving a 10 per cent reduction in carbon emissions

developed to make it easy to power down idle PCs. Following a trial to assess the savings that could be realised with PowerStudio, the trust subsequently implemented power management policies designed to help them save energy, and – importantly – money.

ARRESTING WAYS TO SAVE MONEY The trust was quick to realise considerable savings. For the four months from October 2010 to January 2011, its cost savings equated to £9,243.59. Extrapolated to a full year, this gives a projected saving in the first year of use of £27,730.77. While the cost savings are impressive, so too are the energy savings.

PowerStudio helped Blackpool Teaching Hospitals halve its monthly energy bills and it estimates that it has prevented 211 tons of CO2 annually from entering the atmosphere.

This has been achieved by reducing the number of PCs being left on overnight from

PowerStudio helped Blackpool Teaching Hospitals halve its monthly energy bills and it estimates that it has prevented 211 tons of CO2 annually from entering the atmosphere. This has been achieved by reducing the number of PCs being left on overnight from 23 per cent to 2.7 per cent. by 2015. The trust required a PC power management solution that would power down PCs when not in use to achieve real carbon dioxide savings. With the goal of reducing power consumption while increasing energy efficiency, the power management solution had to be flexible and easy to deploy on the trust’s 1,943 desktop PCs and laptops across the Fylde Coast domain.

The trust established that only a power management solution would enable it to manage power consumption for user groups in A&E, and across the business function with no negative impact on productivity.

Critically, the solution had to meet the needs of the business and organisational policies, comfortably accommodating different work patterns and behaviour with no detrimental impact on productivity.

To realise its objectives, the team deployed PowerStudio, the PC power management solution from Certero, which has been

23 per cent to 2.7 per cent. Shaun Bucknill, ICT manager, Blackpool Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, has no doubts about the role PowerStudio has played in driving energy efficiency at the trust. “We required a solution with a low cost set up that was easy to manage once installed, and PowerStudio ticked all the boxes. The free 30 day trial highlighted the software as easy to implement and manage power consumption whilst providing a return on investment within months. The solution outweighed other products in terms of competitive pricing and strong reporting features, resulting in a quick and easy decision. PowerStudio is a great product, it works well and is generating substantial savings by powering down PCs.” The Blackpool Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust is not alone in realising tangible cost and energy savings by using PowerStudio to power down idle PCs. Deploying PowerStudio allowed Surrey Police

Authority to set policies that automatically switch off monitors and place PCs into standby or hibernation. Surrey Police Authority deployed PowerStudio to 2,960 desktops, and it was able to half the computer idle time across its entire PC estate, resulting in savings of over £44,000 and provide a return on investment in six months.

IMPRESSIVE RESULTS PowerStudio achieves measurable cost and energy savings because it has been designed from the ground up as a backward compatible web-based management application to enable organisations to easily apply power policies and profiles across all their desktops.

These include setting alerts to place all office PCs into hibernation, standby and shutdown as well as automatic start-up for maintenance during out of office hours.

Critically, PowerStudio saves documents before running the automatic policies to prevent the frustrating loss of work many organisations fall victim to. It also has the ability to wake up remote PCs via web browser, mobile device and e-mail. The most recent version, PowerStudio 3.0, also features a flexible new reporting module, which can be configured according to the information needs of each report recipient.

For instance, a trust’s IT director requires information about reductions achieved in energy consumption, while the trust’s financial director might require information about the difference in costs savings achieved on the day tariff or night time tariff.

The reports are also useful for evaluating the success of initiatives taken to reduce energy consumption, and to establish what – and where – measures need to be taken to reduce energy consumption or costs further.

PowerStudio simplifies this task dramatically with location-based tariff costs. To hone the precision of energy costs and usage rate information even further, PowerStudio also features an information bank prepopulated with data about the energy consumption rates of the most popular business PCs. This enables organisations to refine the parameters of their energy consumption queries, according to the type and make of PCs used within those locations and in conjunction with local tariffs.

Public sector organisations accept that they will have to show where they have made cost savings, and the value of the initiatives they have implemented to lower costs and energy consumption.

PowerStudio has already proven its ability to help reduce carbon emissions and energy costs, while making it easier to quantify and measure the cost and energy savings that have been accomplished. L

FOR MORE INFORMATION Tel: 01925 868 970 info@certero.co.uk www.certero.co.uk

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Offices in Manchester & London

Innovative Data Centres at the core of your business We are leading experts in the design, installation and commissioning of energy efficient, sustainable and innovative data centre environments.

Find out how we can maximise your data centre performance, minimise your energy consumption and deliver a fully integrated solution by calling 0870 278 2787 or visiting www.sudlows.com

innovation Pod Visit the UK’s most pioneering live mini data centre facility and see the latest technologies in action.

INSyour Sudlows Ltd Ducietour.

Works, 107 Hulme Hall Lane, Manchester M40 8HH Call 0870 278 2787 to arrange guided T. 0870 278 2787 F. 0161 205 0295 E. info@sudlows.com

www.sudlows.com

ENERGY EFFICIENCY

DATA CENTRES: 2011 AND BEYOND

The Green Grid’s goal is for data centres around the world to be able to do more with less, minimise their environmental impact, and take advantage of each other’s insights. Mark Monroe, Green Grid’s executive director, explains how this will be achieved Data centres have fundamentally changed the way organisations work, communicate and live in the global economy. Government organisations of all sizes have the opportunity to transform their facilities from an operational burden to a source of economic prosperity and sustainability, something which is more important than ever for them to grasp in the current economic climate.

TOOLS AND RESOURCES Over the past year, the Green Grid has continued to work towards its mission to empower organisations such as government departments and local authorities in improving the efficiency of their data centres. Historically, our focus has been solely on the energy efficiency of the data centre. In 2011, we reset and enhanced our focus to the broader environmental sustainability of data centres.

At this year’s annual Technical Forum and Members Meeting, the Green Grid launched a range of new tools and resources designed to make it easier for operators to optimise their facilities. These tools bolster the library of resources that have been created over the past three years and have been widely adopted by data centre operators across the globe.

A key recent milestone for us has been the widespread adoption of our Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE) metric, which was established by a cross-regional global task force, as the recommended metric for consistently determining energy efficiency in data centre facilities.

We are now part of an ongoing collaborative effort, known as Harmonising Global Metrics for Data Centre Energy Efficiency, focused on improving data centre energy efficiency and greenhouse gas (GHG) emission efficiencies across the globe. Other participating organisations include the US Department of Energy’s Save Energy Now and Federal Energy Management Programs, US Environmental Protection Agency’s ENERGY STAR Program, European Commission Joint Research Center Data Centers Code of Conduct, Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, and Japan’s Green IT Promotion Council.

The task force will continue to collaborate to ensure that data centre resource efficiency and productivity is delivered. That means data centre operators in the public sector across Europe, the US and Japan can move forward

confident in the knowledge they have a consistent way to calculate and communicate their energy efficiency.

MEASURING ENERGY To deliver our expanded work towards environmental sustainability, earlier this year we launched several new metrics to complement and build on PUE. These include Carbon Usage Effectiveness (CUE) and Water Usage Effectiveness (WUE), designed to help data centre operators assess how efficiently these two key resources are managed. We have also released Energy Reuse Effectiveness (ERE), which is a metric for measuring the benefit of reusing energy released from a data centre. This provides operators with greater visibility into opportunities for recovering energy from facilities, such as using the waste heat from a local authority data centre to help warm a neighbouring public swimming pool.

The Green Grid has also recently widened its focus to start to look at the IT which sits in the data centre. Sustainability, facilities and IT are all covered in another landmark tool recently created by The Green Grid, the ‘Data Centre Maturity Model’ (DCMM).

The DCMM helps end users outline and understand the journey and opportunities for improving the energy efficiency and sustainability of their data centre. In the model, all aspects of the data centre (including power, cooling, compute, storage and network) are assessed and are plotted along a continuum of levels from zero (minimal) to five (visionary). The DCMM outlines the different opportunities to improve energy efficiency and sustainability within the data centre and provides a five-year roadmap for the industry.

HOW IT WORKS Within the DCMM, the levels initially chart progress of a data centre with no efficiency improvement measures in place, through to level two, which is current best practices and three to five, which represent future capabilities that all data centres should be aiming for. We hope to see public sector data centres match or lead those in the private sector by assessing and moving their existing data centres through the levels of the maturity model and aim for the higher levels of the model as part of new designs and sites.

The DCMM looks at numerous elements of

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the data centre, including: energy efficiency, energy demand, energy supply, utilisation of assets, as well as different issues relating to sustainability (water, waste heat, materials management, waste).

By assessing their data centres, operators can benchmark their facilities using the Data Center Maturity Model Equalizer to determine their level of maturity and identify ongoing steps required to achieve improved efficiency and sustainability. This model and each initiative within it allows managers to better evaluate which parts of the data centre are performing well and which need improvement.

This helps focus time and resources towards areas with the most potential and inspires departments to take steps towards attaining higher levels of the DCMM whilst crucially using the higher levels of the model to inform the data centre and IT strategy.

A key aspect of the model is that, unlike some others, DCMM does not promote particular technologies or methods for attaining the goals of each level. The model provides a framework and benchmarks, as opposed to specifics, to promote individuals and teams to innovate and collaborate to achieve higher levels of efficiency not seen today. That said, like PUE, DCMM should not be used to compare facilities from different organisations – the best use of the DCMM is for continuous improvement and for the higher levels of the DCMM to motivate data centre designers and the industry to innovate.

FLEXIBILITY We fully intend the model to be organic – constantly changing and evolving as the whole industry advances. We see it as a living document, stimulating innovation in markets across the world, continually being updated and growing whilst data centres share, learn and progress. As such, we welcome active participation and feedback to help us evolve and update the model according to their need and changes in the industry.

The DCMM promotes collaboration, innovation, and change, pushing the industry forward without constrained thinking because it emphasises resulting efficiencies rather than prescriptive steps. Our goal is for data centers around the world to be able to do more with less, minimise their environmental impact, and take advantage of each others’ insights to reach efficiencies faster using the common language of the Data Center Maturity Model. L FOR MORE INFORMATION To find out more about the Green Grid visit www.thegreengrid.org

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LEARNING & DEVELOPMENT

SHAPE THE FUTURE OF YOUR ORGANISATION THROUGH YOUR VALUED STAFF

Human Resources

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Delegates joined the HRD 2011 conference and visitors attended the free exhibition at Olympia to get practical tips and advice to improve individual and organisational performance

The success of the recent HRD 2011 Conference and Exhibition reflects the importance of keeping abreast of learning and organisational development trends and practice, networking with fellow professionals, sharing organisation insights and building effective links with L&D suppliers.

Technology is playing an increasing role in the day-to-day activities of learning and development professionals and was much in evidence at the recent HRD exhibition, running alongside the two-day HRD conference, organised by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD).

Leading suppliers showcased e-learning developments, online assessment tools, new mobile technology and web-based communications, alongside experiential and face-to-face L&D solutions.

The show provided a one-stop-shop where visitors assessed a wide span of resources and services in learning and development and made informed decisions on the best solution to help shape the future of their organisations.

LEARNING AND NETWORKING As well as on-stand activities and demonstrations, the exhibition featured a packed free programme of learning sessions, with Topic Tasters, an interactive Learning Arena and a Professional Development Zone.

Mobile learning technology specialists Skill Pill M-Learning held a half-hour Topic Taster session on ‘Learning 2.0’. Using a blend of research and case studies, it took a practical look at the impact of mobile learning, particularly in the area of informal learning. It looked at the barriers to success and adoption and the real return on investment that can be achieved.

Learning supplier, Sponge UK revealed seven top tips to make e-learning more inspirational, while Bite Size Ltd showed how e-learning delivers ‘Eureka moments’. Other technology technology-focused Topic Tasters included the ‘Essentials of building an online learning community’, delivered by Good Practice and E

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New qualifications in HR and L&D offers flexibility

The Centre – for all your training needs

cHRysos HR Solutions Ltd. who has supported a number of government personnel in achieving qualifications in HR, has launched a range of new qualifications, accredited by the CIPD, in HR and Learning and Development.

The qualifications, at Level 3 Foundation; Level 5 Intermediate and Level 7 Postgraduate, provide opportunities for personnel at all levels in the HR or L&D professions.

Each qualification has Core and Optional modules covering a range of subjects. With our support, individuals plan their own customised programme, reflecting their areas of expertise or development needs.

Flexible assessment methods cater for those wishing to use evidence of their experience to meet the assessment criteria, as well as those wishing to expand their knowledge and skills by a classroom-based programme.

Flexibility also extends to

The Centre is a training organisation based in central London and this was our fifth year exhibiting at HRD. We specialise in management, communication, personal effectiveness, writing and administration courses. HRD was a great opportunity to showcase one of our new courses, Managing a Restructure, and to catch up with old clients and friends.

We found that many organisations wanted to talk to us about building confidence in their staff and challenges faced by the recession. It’s always been our mission to supply affordable, relevant training that provides people with the skills and confidence they need to succeed at work. In the

the duration of programmes; level 3 learners have up to 12 months to complete; level 5 up to 18 months and level 7 up to 2 years. Individuals work at their own pace within this timescale; meaning that a programme can be intensive or studied over a longer duration.

Programmes include assessment for membership of the CIPD at Associate, Chartered Member or Chartered Fellow level, where appropriate.

FOR MORE INFORMATION Contact: Julie Gordon Tel: 07939 518451 julie@chrysos.org.uk

Human Resource and Learning and Development Specialists

Let us recognise your experience in the field of Human Resource Management or Development Use your experience in HR/HRD to achieve one of the CIPD’s new qualifications using work-based learning with one-to-one support and coaching: Foundation Level 3 • Certificate or Diploma in Human Resource Practice • Certificate or Diploma in Learning and Development Practice For those who are aspiring to work or already working in a HR or L&D support role.

Provides a professionally-recognised qualification, covering a wide range of relevant, practical skills. Support with assessment for Associate membership of the CIPD. A taught option is also available with monthly one day or two day workshops.

Intermediate Level 5 • Certificate or Diploma in Human Resource Management • Certificate or Diploma in Human Resource Development For those aspiring to work or already working in a HR/HRD support role and wishing to progress their career by developing knowledge and skills at a higher level.

Build expertise in your chosen HR/HRD specialist subjects and develop your planning, analytical and problem solving skills. Support for assessment for Associate level membership of the CIPD. Postgraduate Level 7 • Certificate or Diploma in Human Resource Management • Diploma in Human Resource Development Aimed at HR/HRD Managers wishing to use their experience to achieve a recognised qualification, as well as enhancing effectiveness by further developing knowledge and skills.

Workshops or one- to-one coaching to provide support for exam based modules – 2 modules.

Support for assessment for membership of the CIPD at Associate, Chartered Member or Chartered Fellow level.

Tel: 07939 518451 Email: julie@chrysos.org.uk

www.chrysos.org.uk

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GOVERNMENT TECHNOLOGY MAGAZINE Volume | 10.3

APPROVED BY MoD IN SUPPORT OF THE ELC SCHEME

E LC PROVIDER NUMBER

3069

current changeable climate this has never been more true.

We launched our new course in delegation skills – a one day management course that focuses on how to effectively share work within a team (and how to keep everyone on track).

We all found the two days very enjoyable and it’s always great to hear positive feedback from returning clients and hear about the new challenges managers are facing in 2011.

If you’d like to find out more about the Centre and the training we deliver then visit our website to see the full course catalogue.

FOR MORE INFORMATION Tel: 020 7490 3030 info@the-centre.co.uk www.the-centre.co.uk

LEARNING & DEVELOPMENT E ‘Delivering challenging leadership and soft skills in the online learning environment’, from Willow Learning.

INNOVATIVE TOOLS The exhibition also reflected the current challenges facing organisations in the public and private sector, with suppliers focusing on cost-effective solutions that demonstrate return on investment. And learning and developments tools to support the management of change were much in evidence, as well as resources to build employee engagement.

Suppliers showcased plenty of innovative ‘bread and butter’ resources to support learning and development practitioners in their day-to-day activities.

The Professional Development Zone provided visitors with an opportunity to focus on their own career development, such as supporting others through change and developing coaching skills. Visitors also found out more about the ways the CIPD can support them in their professional development.

HRD INTERACTIVE Online networking experience, CIPD HRD Interactive, enabled people to join in HRDrelated discussions in the lead up to, during

and after the show – and join the CIPD’s Linked In and Facebook groups. There was also the opportunity to read the latest exhibition news and engage in a series of dedicated HRD-linked blogs.

HRD Interactive continued during the event, with a dedicated area in the exhibition hall where delegates and visitors could network and join in a free programme of activities over the two days of the show. It featured lively, interactive sessions including: how to network; the L&D Solutions space, where participants discussed and debated some of the biggest L&D challenges currently being faced; speed networking and career coaching.

HRD Interactive also launched the Big Learning Auction where learning professionals were able to bid for the learning products and services they need by pledging their own skills and expertise in exchange.

CONFERENCE FOCUS Leading speakers at this year’s HRD conference included Anand Pillai, senior vice president of HCL Technologies, who as global leader of its award-winning team, shared his insights into developing people for organisational success.

Masterclass speaker Veronica Hope Hailey, associate dean of MBA Programmes, Cass Business School, spoke on ‘Leading Through

Online language courses for the public sector dexway is a complete online language learning solution that teaches students through the use of live tutors, interactive multimedia exercises, games, videos and virtual classes.

Our approach streamlines the learning process through customisation, flexibility and personalisation. We use the most innovative technology to enable interactive language learning within an online community that’s supported by native speaking language coaches, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

The dexway method’s structure was studied and developed by language specialists and has been successfully applied for over two decades. dexway’s goal is to teach language the same way native language is learned; through association, repetition and contextualisation.

Our structure complies with all requirements of the CEFR

and TOEFL, with assessment of progression in pronunciation, oral comprehension, grammar, reading, writing and vocabulary, including personalised evaluations of the students’ voice recordings and dialogues by language experts. dexway, winners of the e-learning product of the year in Spain, offers business and specific content to be worked through at your own pace.

Languages available: British English, American English, French, German and Spanish.

FOR MORE INFORMATION Tel: 020 34323444 info@dexway.com www.dexway.com/ en-us/corporate

Complexity’. She discussed how to develop leaders who have the agility and creativity to retain their customer focus and long term vision in a constantly changing world.

Case study based presentations included wing commander Martin Horton of the Defence Academy of the UK speaking on ‘Creating a unified Leadership Team’. In a lively final session on lessons from the front line, CEOs David Clarke of Best Western Hotels GB, and Kevan Collins of the London Borough of Tower Hamlets shared their experiences of appearing on national television in ‘Undercover Boss’ and the lessons they learned from being on the front line.

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EXHIBITION HIGHLIGHTS Skill Pill Mobile Learning and Pearson Education teamed up to deliver a groundbreaking MobileMBA, featuring text by leading business authors alongside leading-edge videos produced by Skill-Pill. The content will be produced as a hard copy book as well as an application or widget for the iPad, iPhone and other mobile phone devices.

Another mobile technology development in the spotlight at HRD 2011 came from Good Practice Ltd who launched a Smartphone app for leaders and managers to give them instant access to essential leadership and E

XpertHR – the UK’s leading HR resource for the public sector XpertHR is the UK’s leading online HR resource for the public sector.

Customised versions for local authorities, health organisations and the Police contain content tailored to the sector’s different legal requirements. XpertHR is the most comprehensive and accurate source of compliance, good practice and benchmarking information available.

XpertHR’s unrivalled coverage of HR topics is combined with a powerful search to get you straight to the resources you need, such as surveys, case studies, good practice guides, line manager briefings, best practice examples and compliant policies, contracts, letters and forms that can be tailored to your organisation.

XpertHR Liveflo is our ground breaking new compliance workflow tool providing interactive flowcharts that set out the steps in each HR

process along with calculators and document templates.

At the click of a button you’ll gain access to the widest range of HR intelligence, produced by the UK’s largest online information team. Having all these resources in one place will save time, money and reduce risk.

If you should ever need help with more complex issues, use the Legal Advice Line to put your questions to qualified employment lawyers.

FOR MORE INFORMATION Tel: 020 86524653 enquiries@xperthr.co.uk www.xperthr.co.uk

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LEARNING & DEVELOPMENT E management information on the go.

BusinessCoaching.co.uk - Notion launched its innovative CPD for Coaches programme ‘Maintaining Coaching Excellence’. This new programme for coaches is a revolutionary step by BusinessCoaching.co.uk, as not only does it give both internal coaches new tools to help them tackle the most critical issues their internal clients face, but the programme can also be used as continuing professional development by professional coaches running their own businesses.

HANDLING RESISTANCE Dr Mike Clayton, author of Management Pocketbook’s latest pocketbook, ‘Handling Resistance’, were on stand signing copies, following his presentation in the Learning Arena on ‘How to understand resistance and handle it effectively’.

Clayton helped participants develop the skills to assess it quickly, diagnose the cause and handle it confidently. Management Pocketbooks also had special show offer prices on all their latest print and e-pocketbooks including ‘Cognitive Behavioural Coaching’ and ‘Discipline and Grievance’.

Upside Learning launched its revolutionary mobile learning solution Upside2Go into to the UK market at the event.

It also showcased its award-winning custom e-learning solutions and learning

management systems (LMS). Visitors to their stand learned how the company’s solutions are already helping organisations across the globe maintain continuous learning and development within the constraints of the current economy.

Upside Learning also demonstrated the value of new components (like social and informal learning) and how they can be integrated into a well-developed learning programme for training that is future focused and effective.

Hugh Murray FCIPD, author of new Scott Bradbury DVD resource ‘Absenteeism: Getting a Grip’ discussed his work on stand where visitors were able to view the new sixminute video on Return-to-Work Interviews and discuss Hugh’s latest research on this perennial HR topic.

“Managers are the best placed people to deal with absenteeism,” commented Murray, “yet they often feel too busy or too wary of legal issues to deal with it. This programme shows simple, quick and very effective steps to deal with absence each and every time.”

XPERIENTIAL LEARNING Whittlebury Hall and Scalford Hall Management Training Centres and Hotels offered show visitors the chance to win a complimentary day meeting and Xperiential learning activity for up to eight people.

The Xperiential Learning facilities at Scalford

Hall are a recent addition to the training centre’s services, and incorporate a range of activities that can be used individually or as part of a course. They feature a choice of over 30 pieces of equipment and activities, designed to be used within the centre’s landscaped gardens.

“The introduction of the new service reflects customers demand and market research,” said director of sales and marketing, Michael Stott.

“It complements classroom-based training and meetings, supporting the objectives of clients, trainers and delegates.”

The potential of linking corporate social responsibility and creativity to the development and motivation of staff provides a cost-effective solution to employee engagement in current economic climate.

Nutmeg Communications launched this new approach, along with a new employee engagement DVD, at the event.

Over £60 billion a year is currently lost in the UK due to employee disengagement, it says.

Surveys of UK employees consistently find that less than half are actively engaged. By bridging the gap between HR communications and CSR, Nutmeg turns a traditional cost centres into a department that provides real value to the organisation. L FOR MORE INFORMATION www.cipd.co.uk/hrd

The home of continuing PRISM behavioural professional development mapping – the appliance CCL is a leading provider of of Neuroscience benchmark qualifications, as well as training and coaching towards membership of professional organisations. Our aim is to help the busy professional to develop their knowledge and career. Our style is personal, professional, flexible and friendly, tailored to the needs of individual candidates and corporate clients alike. We recognise the pressures that full-time professionals are under and aim to help you to fulfill the demands of our programmes whilst maintaining a work-life balance.

When you contact CCL, you will receive professional advice from the outset. We will ensure that we understand your aspirations and we will recommend a qualification or development programme that matches your ambition.

You will receive a professional quality driven programme with full administrative support.

We deliver our qualifications

40

through a combination of workshops and one-to-one coaching, assessment and support depending upon your need, circumstances and experience. All our programmes are delivered by highly qualified and experienced practitioner associates throughout the UK and Europe.

Working with awarding bodies and chartered institutions like the CIPD and CMI we will enable you to achieve qualifications and professional recognition that will enhance your continuing professional development.

FOR MORE INFORMATION Tel: 08450 708007 nicola@ccl-hr.com www.ccl-hr.com

GOVERNMENT TECHNOLOGY MAGAZINE Volume | 10.3

PRISM Brain Mapping is a unique, highly cost effective behavioural mapping instrument based on neuroscience. It is specifically designed to be used throughout the whole people management cycle from recruitment to performance management, to enhance organisational effectiveness.

PRISM is not a psychometric test and unlike many tools it does not categorise a person into a single type. Instead PRISM identifies subtle, yet crucial differences between people and the reason why they prefer to work and behave in certain ways.

The core of the PRISM Model is an easy to use online inventory that can be completed in approximately 20 minutes.

Training to use the instrument takes two days and thereafter Practitioners have free support

and are equipped to send out links and manage reports in a wide range of formats.

PRISM is used in some of the world’s leading commercial organisations such as Siemens, HSBC, Maersk and Control Risks, and public bodies such as the NHS and the Vehicle and Operators Services Agency.

It is available throughout the world in a variety of languages including Chinese, Arabic and Russian.

FOR MORE INFORMATION Tel: 08452 417552 info@prismbrainmapping.com www.prismbrainmapping.com

Save time and money with XpertHR XpertHR is the UK’s leading provider of online HR Information for the public sector. are Professional R H rt e p X f o ersions tailored Customised v with content , rs to c se st li ecia e: available to sp . These includ ts n e m e ir u q re gal to different le Scotland >> Police >> Health

>> Health ority >> Local Auth

lace convenient p e n o in ll a d ou nee Everything y y! me and mone ti u o y g in v a s

You said it My team find this a valuable resource both to help with the resolution of everyday issues and also to inform longer term decision making and policy development. I would certainly recommend XpertHR to potential users.

Monica Green, HR Director, East Sussex Hospitals NHS Trust

I regard XpertHR very highly and consider it to be my one stop shop of choice.

Richard Osborne, Equality & Diversity Assurance Officer, Ministry of Defence

You said it

, NPIA have found XpertHR invaluable in providing up-to-date quick and easy access to reference, policies and guidance.

It is an excellent resource.

Elizabeth Jones, HR Strategy & Reward Manager, National Policing Improvement Agency (NPIA)

XpertHR Salary Surveys provide you with a cost effective way to manage your organisation’s pay and reward strategy. Enabling you to set salary budgets and reviews, whilst comparing your reward packages against others in your sector.

Surveys available include: >> IT >> Human Resources >> Sales and Marketing

>> Finance >> Administration and General Management

Request a demo today Call 020 8652 4653 or Email enquiries@xperthr.co.uk quoting GT01 www.xperthr.co.uk

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HR SOFTWARE

DRIVE ORGANISATIONAL PERFORMANCE WITH THE LATEST TECHNOLOGY

If you are considering making a software purchase, the HR Software Show – the foremost software event in Europe – is the place to be. Let’s find out what’s in store at Olympia, London, 15-16 June The right technology can ensure that an organisation runs smoother, faster and more efficiently. It can transform organisational effectiveness and capability, optimising the performance of people and processes.

The CIPD’s forthcoming HR Software Show 2011 at Olympia, London will give HR and development professionals a valuable opportunity to explore and assess how technology can be used to deliver and support their HR activities and the needs of the business. Leading suppliers will be showing how technology can transform organisations, streamline processes and improve efficiency.

RESOURCES AND SERVICES A well-integrated HR information system can play a fundamental role in enabling HR professionals to help drive business performance.

But people management practitioners need to work in partnership with their IT team and all those involved in the decision-making process to ensure they are making the right technology-based choices for their organisation.

The HR Software Show will provide a one-stop shop where the whole team can assess the wide span of resources and services in this sector and make informed decisions on the best solutions for their organisations.

Leading suppliers will be showcasing their latest innovations and offering practical tips and advice. They will also be focusing their efforts on demonstrating costeffective solutions, as organisations assess their buying decisions against a competitive business environment.

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GOVERNMENT TECHNOLOGY MAGAZINE Volume | 10.3

Leading suppliers will be showcasing their latest innovations and offering practical tips and advice. They will also be focusing their efforts on demonstrating cost-effective solutions, as organisations assess their buying decisions against a competitive business environment.

HR information systems, payroll, talent management, employee benefits, online testing, Web 2.0, outsourcing and shared services are just some of the areas that are represented at the event.

EXHIBITION FEATURES As well as demonstrations and on-stand activities, the exhibition features a free programme of 30-minute learning sessions and updates on topical themes, where visitors can learn about different technology-based approaches, hear client case-studies and pick up on the latest technology trends.

For example, Sage HR and Payroll will be showing how to improve process management and employee engagement with HR software, while Advanced Business Solutions will be looking at using cloud technology to drive innovation in HR. Ceridian will be highlighting the savings that can be made on the annual salary bill through the effective use of technology.

PRESENTATIONS Case study-based presentations include using technology to manage talent in a downturn, from Stepstone Solutions; Cascade HR’s ‘steps to success’ in a multi-site rollout and Cezanne Software’s session, ‘Why Software as a Service (SaaS) makes HR business sense’. The CIPD will also be sharing the findings of its latest e-learning in practice research, taken from its 2011 Learning and Talent Development survey.

Other topics include payroll changes, using automated systems to help reduce absenteeism, and online performance management. A new development at this year’s show is the Business Lounge, where HR professionals can make an appointment to meet an exhibitor, and, over a coffee, have an in-depth conversation about their specific needs in a private area of the exhibition.

DEMONSTRATING EFFICIENCY Exhibitors with new launches or updated software and systems will be demonstrating how they are responding to the changing

needs of HR professionals and their organisations and will be inviting visitors to try out the latest software and web-enabled HR applications for themselves.

With increasing pressures to improve performance and efficiency through costeffective solutions, technology plays a fundamental role. But organisations also recognise that their success depends on the effective management and development of their people within this technological environment.

The show aims to give HR professionals plenty of practical solutions and innovative ideas to take back to their organisations, whatever their level of experience or area of expertise, and whether their need is for a bespoke integrated HR information system or an off-the-shelf software tool or web-based resource. E

E RECRUITMENT EXHIBITION The HR Software Show is co-located with the CIPD Recruitment Exhibition, and reflects the growing use of web-based resources in the recruitment and talent management process.

Registering for either event means fast-track entry to both exhibitions.

The exhibition is a hub of information for recruitment and resourcing professionals.

Visitors will be able to discover new ideas, get practical advice and try out new technology to ensurey their recruitment is as cost-effective as possible. As leading recruitment suppliers at this year’s show will demonstrate, HR technology

is being used across the whole recruitment, retention and talent management cycle to balance cost-effectiveness with developing, retaining and motivating top talent.

This exhibition also features free learning sessions and updates, including highlights from the CIPD’s annual resourcing and talent planning survey, produced in partnership with Hays.

Other sessions will look at the way online recruitment is transforming the recruitment industry, from Recruitment Genius; Recruitment and Talent Management 3.0 from monster.co.uk and advice on how recruiters and jobseekers can optimise their LinkedIn

CIPD

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The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) is Europe’s largest HR and development professional body with over 135,000 members, supporting and developing those responsible for the management and development of people within organisations. Its members represent over 120 countries throughout the world and are supported by a network of 48 branches, led by volunteers, in the UK and Ireland.

Exhibition opening times Wednesday 15 June 09:30-17:00 Thursday 16 June 09:30-16:30

profile, from Easy Web recruitment.

Both events also provide a good opportunity to network with fellow professionals and suppliers, making new connections and sharing knowledge and experiences. For the suppliers, it is also provides valuable insights into the key challenges facing HR professionals in the current organisational climate and beyond. L FOR MORE INFORMATION For more information on the HR Software Show, including fast-track pre-registration, showcase timetable and exhibitor details, visit www.cipd.co.uk/hrss For more information on the co-located Recruitment Exhibition, visit www.cipd.co.uk/recex

emPerform – employee performance and talent management software emPerform is a flexible, all-in-one performance management software solution. The emPerform software enables automated appraisals, talent management, succession planning, compensation management, 360 multi-rater reviews, employee surveys and a powerful reporting function.

The cost-effective, user-friendly system adds real value to your business through the effective management of talent and the alignment of company and employee goals. emPerform has thousands of users

territories: UK & Europe, Canada, USA, South Africa and India.

Visit the website to view a short product tour or to request a personalised demonstration.

across the globe spanning large and small organisations in both the public and private sectors. emPerform is sold through its worldwide partners in the following

FOR MORE INFORMATION Address: Sherwood House, Coxmoor Road, Sutton In Ashfield, Notts NG17 5LA Tel: 01623 444555 enquiries@emPerform.co.uk www.emPerform.co.uk

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MANAGEMENT CONSULTANCY

GENERATING GROWTH WITH TECHNOLOGY

Alan Leaman, chief executive of the Management Consultancies Association, looks at how the consulting industry is helping organisations stay ahead of the technology and innovation curve Technology and the ability to innovate can determine whether a modern business succeeds or fails. During uncertain economic times, business leaders have to be canny about extracting maximum value from every part of their business. The quality of a firm’s technology systems and freedom to innovate can be the factors that make or break them.

On a macro-economic level too, the ability and willingness of governments to enable innovation to flourish in their economy will be key to ensuring long-term competitiveness.

As the UK emerges from its deepest recession since the 1930s, a race is on to find new ingredients of growth. The Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne, recently pointed out that 6 per cent of high-growth firms generated over half of net employment growth in the UK between 2005 and 2008.

The public sector cuts will now begin to bite and the private sector is expected to employ those who find themselves out of work.

Innovation will play a key role to in creating these new jobs.

LOOK TO THE FUTURE The difficulty with recessions is that while they focus the business brain on the essentials for survival, responses to straitened times can often be short-termist – rightly businesses focus on immediate survival and may not have the capacity or inclination to think too much further ahead. And planning for the future in such uncertain times is difficult, if not impossible. But taking the short-term view can store up significant problems for the future.

While it may seem sensible to cut expensive innovations that may not yield value in the short term, competitors are sometimes playing the longer game, ensuring a competitive advantage for many years to come.

New technologies such as cloud computing are changing the way that organisations are approaching their IT systems. IT never stands still and after decades of investment in IT infrastructure, organisations can be reluctant to change existing ways of working. But just as enabling companies to conduct business online has been at the forefront of IT policies over the last 10 to 20 years, ensuring IT security will be a key driver of change over the

coming decade.

These are some of the conclusions set out in a recent Management Consultancies Association (MCA) report and set of essays by MCA member firms, ‘Servant not master: How technology will generate growth’, which can can be downloaded from www.mca.org.uk TECHNOLOGY AND INNOVATION What do businesses need to do to stay ahead of the technology and innovation curve?

You should identify what cloud computing opportunities exist for your organisation and ensure there is a clear business case before committing to such a move. Also, you need to be clear about the role of technology in your organisation and then employ an appropriate operating model that fits your needs.

Ensure cyber-security is at the heart of your business’s IT infrastructure, and that mobile technology devices can connect into your organisation without posing a security risk.

You should identify your organisation’s blockers of innovation and foster an environment where innovation can flourish.

Furthermore, you should identify whether using product development methodologies such as Product Lifecycle Management can benefit your organisation, for example, helping it to adapt to new regulatory frameworks or minimise development costs.

Take a leaf out of Google’s book and ensure change plans exist well before implementation dates and that there is clear accountability for delivery of change within the organisation.

Finally, don’t throw away best practices but use the next practices to inform their use, and don’t allow process to drown innovation; use process to drive innovation.

ADD VALUE Management consultants add value to organisations in many ways. Pioneering research by the MCA has identified three critical ways in which consultants add value.

Firstly, they provide specialist knowledge that helps clients take better decisions.

This may take several forms, from bringing know-how from other sectors or countries, to technical skills in specific areas. Knowledge from elsewhere and new sources of

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information provide clients with a more informed perspective; evidence gives them the confidence to act in difficult situations.

Secondly, their experience in project delivery helps clients execute their plans more effectively and efficiently. Consulting firms can field teams of people at very short notice to help with new initiatives, giving projects momentum and internal credibility in their crucial early stages. They bring tried-andtested methods of working that represent the collective experience gained from working on similar projects elsewhere and that help reduce the risk of failure.

And thirdly, the skills of individual consultants improve the capability and teamwork of managers in client organisations.

The skills of individual consultants to act as agents of change or to challenge longstanding assumptions may be crucial, but so too is their ability to offer unbiased advice and to handle sensitive organisational issues with tact and diplomacy.

The following case study is a practical example of how the consulting industry is assisting companies across all sectors to stay ahead of the technology and innovation curve.

OLYMPIC SUCCESS Staging the London 2012 Olympic Games requires completion of one of Europe’s biggest ever and most innovative construction projects. A consortium of three industryleading construction companies called CLM was contracted by the Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) as delivery partner for construction of the 202-hectare Olympic Park.

From zero IT capability on day one, CLM and the ODA needed to rapidly develop technology structures and systems that usually take years to evolve.

After an intense mobilisation phase CLM needed consulting expertise to help establish a more strategic framework for joint delivery of the programme with the ODA. IT had to improve performance and rapidly meet the needs of the business.

Any lack of cohesion would seriously threaten construction of the Olympic Park. In very high-pressured and intense conditions, Atos Consulting helped CLM work with the ODA to create an accelerated high-performing, robust and agile IT function. The scale of the challenge was to establish all the IT infrastructure and systems for a FTSE 250sized company – from a standing start. All this was achieved in a uniquely complex and demanding stakeholder environment, with an immovable deadline and against a backdrop of the UK’s highest-profile project.

IT made an inestimable contribution to the success of the construction programme and continues to be an invisible enabler. Integrated systems contributed to the construction of the Olympic stadium starting three months ahead of schedule and at a forecast saving of £30m, and to the construction of the aquatics centre starting two months ahead of schedule. L

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SECURITY INTEGRATION COMPLEXITY, SIMPLIFIED

How can physical security take more from the success of the ICT model to improve system integration?

Over the last ten years we have seen that the ICT sector has played an increasingly significant role in the physical security sector.

ICT involvement and influence has introduced possibilities for major benefits for end-users and also installers, designers and other stakeholders.

The expectation now is for better integrated security systems to improve management efficiency and drive business value.

An obvious benefit from ICT is the utilisation of the network that reduces the need for dedicated security infrastructure and the resulting savings from installation, support and future flexibility. Security manufacturers launched IP (or IP enabled) solutions, so that devices, and their control systems, can communicate with each other across the network and rarely these days would a new security solution exist without the need for IP. But does this alone improve systems integration?

INTEGRATED SECURITY SOLUTION The challenge is to provide a truly integrated security solution and meet expectations to improve operational efficiency, provide management information and add value to the business, while considering costs and future-proofing for the inevitable changes that will occur. But this remains complex since the physical security industry is overloaded with diverse hardware technology; each security solution (cameras, intrusion, access, etc) still requires dedicated controller hardware and host system. Highly skilled, specialist security integrators have flourished and security integration management software may even be deployed to make sense of this complexity...but it still remains.

Perhaps a change of security system architecture based on an accepted

ICT concept could make it possible to simplify integration, future-proof and better meet business expectations?

The personal computer concept of a generic hardware device and operating system able to run multiple software applications has stood the test of time. Faster processors and cheaper memory are enabling us to achieve ever more from with our hardware and as software is developed independently it is unrestricted by hardware development. This model is replicated on (and has made possible) laptops, tablets and smart phones which have all improved our user experience. In our everyday lives ICT defines expectations for control, connectivity, integration and availability and we buy our software applications without concern for how we will integrate them, or if compatible, with our operating devices.

By comparing these diagrams we consider an alternative approach based on a concept of generic hardware and separate software that simplifies physical security integration.

On the left schematic, we look simply at how most current security systems are deployed, consisting of sensor devices (cameras, readers, inputs, etc) dependent on dedicated hardware (panel or controller) which is in turn connected to their respective dedicated host server system, directly or via the network.

System integration is achieved at the server level making it complex and specialised.

There are multiple interfaces, protocols, databases, operating systems and updates to be managed. And what about the future? How is new technology change managed and how responsive to client driven adaptations is this legacy scenario? How does one ‘system silo’ affect the functional capability of another?

On the right schematic we see an obviously simplified scenario. The security controller is

a generic hardware device – fast processor, large memory, able to run multiple software applications. From this single controller it is possible to manage multiple physical security solutions such as cameras, intrusion, and access control etc, either connected directly or by peer to peer network communication.

Configuration of the software to manage and integrate the security systems is now at controller level. By creating integration in this way we remove the complexity of inter-host integration, multiple databases, driver updates and multiple system event time stamps. Future change, updates and adaptations can be made simple by reconfiguration and new sensors and devices can be added and integrated easily.

The security host environment is now only single server architecture with a single database which can be designed to fit with the ICT department’s standard managed environment. Deployment and lifetime support costs are reduced compared to multiple servers and information can be accessed and updated from a single database.

INTEGRATION COMPLEXITY MADE SIMPLE Nedap NV manufactures the advanced security management system AEOS. Based in the UK, Netherlands and worldwide, Nedap has been in business for 80 years with over 30 years of security experience, specialising in electronics and RFID. Nedap solutions are used in diverse sectors to protect some of the world’s most well known organisations.

For a hardback copy of Nedap’s Security Management Business Journal, which contains white papers on a range of current security management challenges and ideas or for more information about this article e-mail daryn.flynn@nedap.com L

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Cloud Computing

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DATA CENTRES

OPEN THE DOOR FOR CLOUD COMPUTING

The flexibility, scalability and cost savings that cloud computing offers means it is a real contender for improving government ICT systems and public services as laid out in the government ICT strategy, writes Andy Burton, chairman, Cloud Industry Forum The onset of the global financial crisis that began in 2007, the effects of which are still being experienced today, has given rise to a fundamental shift in thinking on how governments invest their annual budgets.

Since the coalition between the Conservative and Liberal Democrat parties took the reigns of power in the UK in 2010 the reduction of the nation’s unsustainable budget deficit has been the core policy. This has cultivated an environment for intelligent dialogue on viable techniques that can be implemented to achieve this aim and has given new perspective and fresh impetus to the work of the Cabinet Office on what had been colloquially termed the G-Cloud.

As a result, we have seen the government’s recent ICT strategy taking a stance towards improving public services for less cost. The objective is to improve productivity and efficiency, reduce waste and the likelihood of project failure through reuse and sharing of our ICT assets.

By opening up public service delivery through online transactional services for citizens and businesses, and creating channels for collaboration and policy debate, we can expect to see a more flexible and scalable government ICT system that can be maintained efficiently and cost effectively.

CHALLENGES When it comes to ICT, there are a number of challenges confronting the government. One of the main challenges is coping with the ballooning labour, capital, energy and outsourcing costs associated with running government data centres that are often artificially silo’d by departmental specific services.

According to independent analyst house.

IDC, IT budgets are increasingly strained by the rising cost of personnel required to maintain and manage the data centre.

Administration costs for servers have spiked by 400 per cent since 1996 and shockingly now comprise the single largest cost within the data centre. Equally, by nature of their design, implementation and loading, legacy servers are expensive, capital intensive and

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severely inefficient and under-utilised.

Of course, driving the need for costly data centres is our on-demand society, which assumes nearly universal access to realtime data and analytics in a resilient, secure environment. These demands are being further driven by a proliferation of data sources, mobile devices, radio frequency identification systems, unified communications, Web 2.0 services and technologies such as mashups. These rising expectations are also creating demands of data centres that IT administrators are challenged to satisfy.

ALONG CAME CLOUD COMPUTING This is why cloud computing has now properly re-entered the debate on how government can improve its ICT system – cost effectively.

Cloud computing is at its heart a new delivery model for IT based upon shared infrastructure in which large pools of systems are linked together in private or public networks to provide IT services.

This means that government can benefit from having the flexibility of scaling up when additional ICT services are needed (e.g. the tax return deadline) and scaling down when possible to meet periods of demand while avoiding extended periods of under-utilised IT capacity.

With the click of a mouse, services can be quickly expanded or contracted without requiring overhauls to the core data centre.

This ‘elastic’ model enables government to dramatically reduce costs currently being spent on maintaining multiple data centres which are not necessarily operating at capacity, and at the same time maintaining quality public services. In order to achieve this government must become adept at the principles of agile delivery and subscribe to open standards that providers can be held to account to both in the procurement and subsequent delivery of solutions.

SOARING COSTS The increasing strain on government ICT spending is expected to soar. With the vast increase of portable devices and limited storage capacity, cloud computing

is undoubtedly going to become central to government ICT, as traditional methods for storing data will simply not be feasible, especially cost wise. Access to clouds will enable government to transcend the limitations currently experienced with its data centres and provide a level of functionality, which would normally be associated with much larger and costly machines.

Cloud computing presents a pay-as-you-go payment model, known as an operational expenditure system. Unlike a traditional capital expenditure payment system, this payment model will enable government to dramatically lower its ICT costs and balance cash flow over the life of a contract. As a result, having predictable costs means that budgeting can be more effective and realistic. The issue of ballooning labouring costs is also eliminated as reduced IT management overheads allow costs to be kept to a minimum.

Overall, cloud computing can offer an extremely low cost of ownership, which is an essential prerequisite of the age of austerity, enabling government to more easily reinvest in its infrastructure and answer the question, “how do I do more with fewer resources?”

NEW PROJECTS Government is continuously faced with having to implement new projects and services, and these often rely heavily on its ICT system which must be updated quickly in order to cope with the influx of new data and individual project demands.

Updating the government ICT system is usually a very timely, tedious and expensive E

computing infrastructure and delivery models.

Arguably cloud computing also helps government to take control and positively reinforce efforts for customer and voter satisfaction by being able to provide a faster time to market, good information management and effective service management initiatives, which also support service delivery initiatives. Debates over poor government ICT could soon become a thing of the past, with cloud computing promoting IT optimisation and ensuring that IT resources are configured for maximum cost-benefit.

Not only does cloud computing deliver a lower cost base and greater return on IT spending, but it also promotes more efficient and effective use of technical staff. IT labour costs alone represent as much as 70 per cent of an IT operating budget. With its highly autonomic character, cloud computing eliminates much of the time traditionally required to requisition, provision and maintain IT infrastructure.

E process. Due to the government only dealing with a handful of contracted vendors, upgrades and new software implementations are automatically limited, meaning that the best solution for the project is not always selected – leading to timeframes which are in some cases twice as long as they should be.

Cloud computing fosters public sector innovation by enabling organisations to explore quickly and cost effectively the potential of new, IT-enabled business enhancements that can grow with

costs and managing growing risks in an ever-connected world.

With cloud computing, government can benefit from instant deployments as well as having higher reliability and greater fault tolerance with its ICT system. As a direct impact, the public can begin reaping the benefits of the cloud as new public services are delivered on time and greater flexibility of services is achieved, providing overall enhanced service levels. As cloud computing liberates organisations to deliver IT services

One of the main challenges is coping with the ballooning labour, capital, energy and outsourcing costs associated with running government data centres that are often artificially silo’d by departmental specific services. unprecedented scale. Again though, to realise this and transition away from the departmental silos government must first establish clear guidelines on the practice of agile delivery and the use of open standards to change both buying and delivery behaviours.

To move forward, one must begin to look differently at how the delivery of cloud can help drive innovation. As the first step, government IT executives must reposition themselves as leaders who can bring their organisations to new levels of performance and efficiency through IT, while also focusing on improving service, reducing

as never before, government can achieve IT services previously thought impossible and to the real benefit of the nation, who will have access to a host of new services.

IMPROVING SERVICE DELIVERY In adopting cloud based services, the government could potentially benefit from rapid service delivery results. This is due to having the ability to orchestrate tasks to create, configure, provision and add computing power in support of IT and business services much more quickly than would be possible with today’s public sector

Cloud Computing

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FURTHER SAVINGS Cloud computing also yields significant cost savings in the real estate required for the data centre as well as power and cooling costs.

Thanks to virtualisation and the cloud’s capability of tapping resources (either through a private cloud or tapping publicly available cloud resources), data centres can rein in the relentless pressure to expand their physical footprint. This space saving translates into reduced energy consumption, an important consideration in light of the fact that power and cooling costs for data centres have risen eight-fold over the past 12 years, and are now in the spotlight for the reduction in carbon through the CRC taxes.

Cloud services by nature can be delivered as a service and do not need to be implemented in the government’s current data centres, whilst still leaving full management, control and security assurances with the public sector IT executives.

Studies have documented that cloud computing can save 80 per cent on floor space and 60 per cent on power, while tripling asset utilisation. Taking this statistic into consideration, it is needless to argue the benefits of cloud computing and the desire for it to be adopted by government.

Putting cost aside for one moment, the flexibility and scalability that cloud computing offers alone, make it a real contender for substantially improving the government’s current ICT system and public services overall, as laid out in the new government ICT strategy.

As an independent observer, a target reduction in government IT spend on data centres of £2 billion per annum is a realistic target to achieve within five years and provides the priority for further investigation of the government procurement changes necessary to achieve this, thus protecting more investment in real front line services. L

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CLOUD COMPUTING WORLD FORUM

If February was the month for people to come to terms with cloud computing, then March was the month for everyone to get down to work. Why has the haze surrounding the cloud been lifted, and why has the public sector now officially woken up to its possibilities?

A week may feel like a long time in the world of politics, but a month feels like a heck of a long time in the world of cloud computing.

It doesn’t seem that long ago we were dismissing the idea of the cloud as something abstract no one would ever understand. But now we’re not only embracing it in the UK, we’re actively moving ourselves into a position to utilise it.

Introduced in 2010 by the Labour Government, it took until 10 February 2011 for the current government to commit its future to the G-Cloud. However, things have been ramped up a notch since then, with government departments across the land starting to commit their future to this alternative IT infrastructure.

THE BIG GUNS Perhaps the biggest news was in the form of a statement made by IT giants Savvis, when they officially confirmed their cloud computing platform, known as Government Wide Service (GWS), was ready and available for use.

It didn’t take long for the government to confirm its intentions to use the GWS platform. First came the news that the Home Office had already signed up. Then Deputy Government CIO, Bill McCluggage, said that further departments would also be making the move: “The inputs are starting to grow, almost on a weekly basis.”

The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) was the next on the bandwagon, announcing they had signed a five-year deal with Savvis worth £14m, and allowing the department to host its new ERP system on the GWS. The MoJ’s ERP system will deliver transactional and professional services to more than 80,000 users, and is scheduled to be fully operational within two years. The Oracle-run ERP system is being implemented as part of a shared-services programme at the MoJ, which will consolidate multiple legacy data systems and is expected to deliver £28m savings a year from 2013.

SLOW ADOPTION With such positive steps being made by some of the biggest public sector departments, it seems almost inconceivable that at the beginning of March, news was circulating that the government was being lambasted by its previous CIO, John Suffolk, for being “too slow” in its cloud computing adoption strategy.

Suffolk, who resigned his CIO position last November to avoid working under the framework of the new coalition government, had stated in an online debate that the public sector was making unnecessary redundancies and missing out on the possibility of saving up to £4 billion a year, because of its reluctance to change its current IT infrastructure.

Despite the comments, Suffolk’s analysis of the current government didn’t lead senior IT officials into spending the rest of the month on the defensive, as you might assume. Far from it, in fact, because the middle of the month saw an updated government IT strategy paper released, and with it news that the coalition planned to cut its current data centre estate by 35 per cent over the next five years.

A SERIOUS COMMITMENT The cut to the government data centre spread was a direct confirmation that Whitehall was taking the idea of shared IT infrastructure and cloud computing seriously, and Cabinet Office minister Francis Maude confirmed as much: “For too long, government has wasted vast amounts of money on ineffective and duplicate IT systems.”

Aside from the plans to scale back the 8,000 or so data centres used by the public sector and reduce their running costs, the government IT Strategy paper also confirmed the continuous development of the Government App Store, which will allow applications and components to be shared across the public sector, and be created in the next 12 to 24 months.

The first public sector networks will be created in the next 6 to 12 months.

Open-source software was also prioritised within the paper, chosen by government over proprietary alternatives “where appropriate”.

The government’s commitment to moving away from large IT contracts was confirmed as a priority too, with the report stating there will be a “presumption” against IT contracts worth more than £100m.

“We will end the oligopoly of big business supplying government IT by breaking down contracts into smaller, more flexible projects.

This will open up the market to SMEs and new providers,” Maude said within his statement.

If the government’s plans of incorporating open source software provision from SME providers seemed like a breath of fresh air, it didn’t derail the world’s

biggest IT companies in their push for important public sector contracts.

While some news forecasters saw the appointment as a kick in the teeth to fellow IT giants also competing for contracts, others worried about its effect on the future of the open source market and the example it set of the influence big companies’ could have in swaying governmental contracts.

Written by Chris Ward, editor, Business Cloud News

HOW CLOUD CHANGED THE LANDSCAPE IN 31 DAYS

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WHAT NEXT? With March seeing such a hive of activity – what will happen next with cloud computing in the public sector?

Research released by British software supplier Unit4 during the month suggested that despite the number of deals being done across the sector and the building of cloud hype, most public sector departments were still in need of sorting out their back-office IT functions, with only a small percentage declaring a 100 per cent cloud-based back office, and the research even suggesting it cloud take some organisations up to 10 years to shift even 25 per cent of their back-office applications into the cloud. With timeframes like that, the 31 days of March 2011 may seem less momentous than they do right now, five years down the line.

CLOUD COMPUTING WORLD FORUM Perhaps the next couple of months will be quiet following March’s succession of announcements. If this is the case, then the industry may look towards 20-21 June, and the Cloud Computing World Forum in London, for some of the next important moves in the public sector cloud.

With the biggest organisations in IT and the cloud exhibiting alongside a plethora of up-and-coming SME providers, and some of the most important decision-makers in both the private and public sector such as Chris Chant, director of the Cabinet Office’s Cloud Programme, set to speak, we could yet be looking to the Forum as the catalyst for the next batch of public sector announcements.

If that ends up being the case, could the 30 days of June provide even more talking points than the 31 days of March? Analysts in the industry wait with baited breath. L FOR MORE INFORMATION www.cloudwf.com www.businesscloudnews.com

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13-16 June Edinburgh

Bolton

Birmingham London

People and Information Working Together

AIIM ROADSHOW 2011

The UK’s FREE Independent Forum for Information Management

The race is on!

In today’s competitive environment, the race will always be won by the team with the best information on their side. To mobilise information within your organisation, you need strong document and records management coupled with enterprise-strength search, web-friendly collaboration tools and agile business processes.

At the AIIM Roadshow 2011 you can learn how best practice in scanning, document management, records management, ECM and SharePoint can help your organisation improve services, optimise business processes, get to grips with compliance, ease restructuring, and, last but not least, save money.

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SAVE MONEY AND IMPROVE SERVICES WITH LATEST ECM Come along to the AIIM Roadshow 2011, 13-16 June, and learn how new innovations and best practice in Enterprise Content Management can help optimise business processes, ease restructuring and get to grips with compliance In today’s fiercely competitive environment, the race will always be won by the best informed team with the most efficient business processes. You need to connect colleagues, suppliers, partners and customers with the information they need, when they need it and where they need it – using strong document and records management coupled with enterprise-strength search, web-friendly collaboration and agile business process tools.

AIIM’s latest survey report1, run in advance of the AIIM Roadshow 13-16 June, is based on over 400 responses, and shows that only a third of organisations are taking advantage of the benefits of scan-to-process, and only a quarter are using automated recognition software to capture forms data to the process.

This is despite the fact that nearly 40 per cent of the user organisations surveyed reported investment payback within 12 months of implementing systems for scanning, capture, and business process management (BPM), rising to nearly 60 per cent within 18 months.

REDUCING PAPER Scanning paper documents and records is a great first step to organising the content chaos in most offices but the business case for a scanning project is often stuck in the “hard dollar” savings from getting rid of filing cabinets and cutting down photocopying costs.

The survey shows that we are finally turning the corner on reducing the amount of paper that we use. The consumption of paper and the number of photocopies is still growing in 27 per cent of organisations, but in 39 per cent, it is finally starting to fall. Amongst those organisations with more extensive document scanning and capture operations, 53 per cent are seeing a reduction.

However, the survey shows that mobilising documents for electronic access and information sharing is the single biggest driver for investment in scanning and capture. As a “soft dollar” benefit, this may not be the primary justification cited in most business cases, but once systems are installed, survey respondents

reported this to be the strongest long-term benefit. Customer service is another strong driver in this respect, as customers and citizens expect help desk operators to see and discuss their most recent correspondence, prompting the need for some organisations to undertake daily electronic conversion of all inbound mail.

The next step is to implement scanning-toprocess – launching the scanned document files into the business process, having already stripped off the order numbers and customer numbers, and matched them up in the finance system or the CRM system. The survey shows that around half of organisations have capture-enabled their main enterprise systems for store and retrieve of scanned documents, and a quarter have integrated document data capture with the process itself.

Improving technology has made recognition software more capable, easier to use, and cheaper. Higher bandwidth local networks allow distributed scanners to link to central capture servers over the network. Scanneragnostic capture servers can now service a mix of central production scanners and distributed MFPs. All of these developments are having a considerable effect on the balance between outsourced scanning, centralised in-house scanning and distributed scanning. Survey respondents showed a strategic preference for in-house scanning and capture rather than outsourcing. There is a growing interest scanon-entry, using digital-mailroom scanners.

What are the three strongest drivers for scanning and capture in your organisation?

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CAPTURE & PROCESS INTEGRATION Capture-enabling an application generally involves the ability to scan a document into an application and store it there (or more likely hold a link to it) for future reference against E

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AIIM ROADSHOW E an order or customer contact log. A processintegrated application might include an element of workflow that is initiated or dependent on the input of a document or form, and in many cases will involve capture of data from the form producing a reference link that is utilised as part of the process. In the simplest case, customer details are captured, and an acknowledgement is sent back to the customer that their application form, order or service request has been received and is in process. Details filled in by the customer on the form may also be fed back to them as a confirmation.

Accounts payable or invoice processing is a well-recognised example of a more sophisticated capture process, where customer account numbers and order numbers are recognised and matched against the order processing system, and as a further step, line items, quantities and invoiced amounts are matched against the original order and/or the delivery note (which may also be scanned in).

One of the likely reasons that so few organisations take advantage of the benefits of capture to business process and subsequent Business Process Management is that the decision making power for such investments lies in different hands. Capture is frequently seen as a front-end, physical handling task akin to the post room or the print room, whilst BPM is viewed as the province of process owners and line-ofbusiness (LOB) managers. Further confusion arises as the scanned documents may be part of an ECM or DM system, which is the realm of the records manager or compliance officer, or may be in the remit of the IT department – particularly if SharePoint is involved. Who are the decision makers in your organisation for capture, BPM, ECM and SharePoint?

Obviously, organisations need to make a joined-up decision on this. It may be that capture and BPM projects are worth implementing initially as a point solution to solve an urgent business process issue, but this should be done with foresight as to how other content management and collaboration requirements can be drawn together further downstream, perhaps by building out a scanning and capture solution into a full ECM suite.

RECOMMENDATIONS Scanning and capture to business process can produce rapid and significant return on investment in terms of both hard-dollar productivity savings and soft-dollar service improvement. We would make the following recommendations: • The business case for scanning and capture projects should include the benefits of information and knowledge sharing as well as reductions in office space and paper handling logistics.

• Scan-to-process as a manual workflow can achieve considerably more benefits than simply scanning-to-archive, and the extension to capture-to-process by the addition of automated data recognition will provide considerable productivity

Scanning paper documents and records is a great first step to organising the content chaos in most offices but the business case for a scanning project is often stuck in the “hard dollar” savings from getting rid of filing cabinets and cutting down photocopying costs.

benefits. This can be considered for both in-house and outsourced operations.

• For those organisations scanning-to-archive, manual addition of metadata can usefully be replaced by auto-indexing, with suitable recognition across different content types.

• It can make sense to implement a point solution for capture and BPM to solve an urgent line of business process issue, but this decision should be taken with a forward view of how it might be built out or integrated into a broader ECM system or suite in the future.

• Consider incorporating other types of electronic document such as e-mails, faxes and PDFs into the capture system in order to standardise the workflow process.

• Capture servers can now provide production level recognition services for both centralised and distributed scanners, or a mix of both, allowing local business units and remote offices to feed their own business processes.

• Consider a scan-on-entry strategy by utilising mailroom capture and electronic routing, either as an in-house resource or via outsourcing.

• Look across your enterprise systems for process data integration with captured documents, versus a single focus on storage and retrieval functionality.

• Strive to include decision makers across IT, Records Management and Line of Business to ensure that a comprehensive strategy is adopted, particularly with regard to SharePoint.

• Remember that BPM projects are likely to meet resistance to change, and ensure that potential users, and managers from

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other departments, are educated as regards the scope and potential benefits of BPM. • Before embarking on a BPM implementation, audit current processes to ensure there is agreement between users as to what the processes are now, what exceptions to the process can occur, and how exceptions are addressed.

• When selecting a capture and BPM product or supplier, whether in-house or outsourced, consider the implications for integration with your enterprise systems, particularly for longer-term support.

AIIM is the international community that provides education, research, and best practices to help organisations find, control, and optimise their information. AIIM offers training courses in ECM, Electronic Records Management, BPM, eMail Management, and E2.0, both online and as public classes.

The AIIM Roadshow is the UK’s leading event for document management and ECM, visiting Edinburgh, Bolton, Birmingham, and London on 13-16 June. This acclaimed roadshow provides free seminars on new developments and independent advice on implementing the latest technology solutions. L Notes 1. Research Paper: “AIIM Industry Watch Capture and BPM” Research free to download at: www.aiim.org.uk/research FOR MORE INFORMATION Contact Emma Higgs Tel: 01892 820942 emma@revolution-events.com www.aiimroadshow.org.uk

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TE2011

20th May 2011 The Grand Connaught Rooms, London

Trustmarque

Customer Event

EFFICIENCY THROUGH TECHNOLOGY

TE2011, Trustmarque’s annual customer event, specifically targets the leading technology issues faced by the UK IT community Working smarter has never been more important and keeping up-to-date on the latest technology is a crucial objective for many of our customers. That’s why we are delighted to announce our annual customer event, TE2011. This one day event is packed full with informative seminars, high quality industry speakers, demonstrations of new technologies, practical input and the chance to tailor the day to your organisation’s requirements.

Why attend? u High profile keynote speakers

u 25+ top software brands

u Cost savings clinic

u Networking with peers

u Get practical, professional technical advice

u Free gift for attendees*

u Updates on the latest software technology

u Solutions zone *Limited availability

For Further inFormation call trustmarque on 0845 2101 500 © Trustmarque Solutions 2011 or visit www.trustmarque.com

INFOSECURITY 2011

EUROPE’S NO.1 INFORMATION SECURITY EVENT

Held 19-21 April at Earl’s Court, London, Infosecurity Europe provided free access to an unrivalled free education programme, exhibitors showcasing new and emerging technologies and offered practical and professional expertise 2011 is set to be another challenging year – money is still tight so workforces are under increasing pressure to deliver more with less. Yet, for cyber-criminals, it would appear business is booming as they cost the UK economy an estimated £27bn per year, according to a recent report by the Office of Cyber Security & Information Assurance and Detica. The astonishing array of new security attack vectors – ranging from the WikiLeaks-inspired denial of service attacks, to the latest generation of compound attacks using spam, phishing and malware – means that visitors to Europe’s No. 1 Information Security Event scoured the aisles seeking new and innovative solutions combined with in-depth knowledge to combat these threats – and they didn’t leave disappointed.

WAYS OF WORKING The way people work is changing. There’s more collaboration amongst organisations, the general workforce is tech savvy with the consumerisation of IT. Virtualisation and mobile working is increasingly the norm with phones that have the processing power of a desktop PC. Cloud based applications and internet accessibility mean business is

no longer confined to within four walls.

It’s not all silver linings, however, as newspapers speculate of a double dip recession and warnings of an economic crisis. In the UK, government spending has been slashed by an average 19 per cent in departmental budgets. And it’s not just the public sector, businesses too are tightening their belts with redundancies and cost savings.

Combine these with the reality that cyber-criminals are increasingly organised and we’ve got a recipe for disaster. Over the last 12 months we’ve seen reports of state sponsored attacks, hactivisits and the increasing threat from those we trust.

INNOVATIVE PRODUCTS & SEMINARS Along with hundreds of exhibitors showcasing innovative products and services in the ever-changing IT security arena, there was a wealth of educational, as well as informative, sessions, all of which were – as in previous years – entirely free of charge.

In this year’s Keynote Theatre, visitors heard first hand end users’ experiences of the security issues and pressures they face in an increasingly mobile and global working environment. Leading experts were

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on hand to give their analysis, strategic advice and predictions to ensure that you have the information you need to protect the operations of your company. From cyberterrorism to the rise of the consumerisation of IT, the immediate threats that exist at the cutting-edge to the business community as a whole was expounded upon.

Day One kicked off with a session titled ‘The Effectiveness Of Information Security When Do You Stop Spending?!’ Chaired by the 451 Group it included presenters from Centrica PLC, Clifford Chance LLP and the SOK Corporation. This thought provoking seminar examined how the typical information security policy of an average business today is often complex, and can therefore become inflexible and expensive. It asked the questions: how much of what we do do we truly need or is it simply ‘cover your back security’? And, if so, is that actually OK if it’s managing the perceived potential risks? Or is it simply a case of seeing beyond all the noise that’s out there to what’s truly important. Can you ever put the genie back in the bottle?

KEYNOTE ADDRESS David Smith, deputy commissioner and director of Data Protection from the Information Commissioner’s Office, gave the Keynote Address on Wednesday. David summarised the developments over the last 12 months, providing an update on the increased powers of the information commissioner to assess organisations compliance with data protection laws and new powers to impose fines of up to £500,000 for significant breaches.

Furthermore, the commissioner’s new tools and guidance to help organisations ensure compliance in the first place will also be featured, as will the changing data protection landscape and, in particular the outlook for compulsory breach notification in the UK. Future compliance was covered in seminar titled ‘What Compliance Juggernauts are Coming Down the Road for Security?’

The panel – including representatives from the Steering Committee on Information Technology Crime, Interpol; GRBA, Capita Group; Field Fisher Waterhouse and Nottingham County Council – carefully assessed where to prioritise and also what’s coming down the road in terms of legislation and compliance that you need to be aware of.

FINANCE The financial aspect of security was a regular theme on this year’s agenda as another seminar, this time titled ‘The Economics of Security - Can You Cut Your Budget and Bolster Security?’ also took on the subject. Panellists NSPCC, Electronic Arts and The Oval Group posed the opening conundrum: ‘If you had to lose 30 of your security budget in the next 24 hours, what would you lose and why??’.

Mobile phones featured too with one session turning the debate on its head posing the question `Can You Turn Mobile Devices To E

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New high speed crypto from L-3 TRL – the latest 1 and 10Gbps solution launched at Infosecurity Europe 2011 High Grade crypto manufacturer L-3 TRL Technology launched its new high speed encryption solution at Infosecurity Europe 2011 in April earlier this year. The new Enterprise-CATAPAN is the latest addition to the CATAPAN family of encryption devices that protect the UK’s most sensitive networks.

With the industry-leading Mini-CATAPAN crypto already in service with a significant number of government agencies, EnterpriseCATAPAN is an interoperable, strategic solution that can be used alongside tactical systems to protect secure data centres or other environments that call for a high bandwidth solution.

Catering for restricted to top secret requirements, Enterprise-CATAPAN provides both a 1 and 10 Gbps capability, offering the highest levels of security from a unit that is able to support the network speeds of today and the future. The system benefits from a dedicated hardware platform that offers an extremely high performance capability, protecting voice and data communications at the fastest speed possible.

One of the key features of EnterpriseCATAPAN is the facility for user-specified algorithms to be implemented which enables the device to be used in a wide range of applications. It also eliminates the dependency on classified ASICs which is a

huge benefit to users who are looking for a flexible, low through-life cost solution.

As with all CATAPAN products, EnterpriseCATAPAN offers in-field re-programmability for changing operational requirements. Software and firmware upgrades can be performed overthe-network for added flexibility.

Management of EnterpriseCATAPAN is via the CATAPAN Device Manager; an intuitive GUI which provides a range of features designed for optimum usability. In addition, the CATAPAN Configuration Viewer enables users to view pictorial representations of device configurations.

Enterprise-CATAPAN generated a huge amount of interest at Infosecurity Europe, with delegates impressed by the small size of the unit which has been designed to fit neatly into a 19 inch server rack. Its high performance statistics, ease of operation and configurability

were also very positively received.

Certification for Enterprise-CATAPAN is expected later this year and with unprecedented sales of MiniCATAPAN setting the benchmark for success, L-3 TRL has high expectations for EnterpriseCATAPAN. L-3 TRL has a long history in providing cryptographic equipment and services to government and intelligence agencies in the UK. Enterprise-CATAPAN is the latest in a long line of high assurance systems that are constantly evolving to keep pace with ever-changing technologies and network infrastructures.

FOR MORE INFORMATION More information on the CATAPAN range of solutions can be found on L-3 TRL’s website: www.L-3Com.com/TRL

SPEED. PERFORMANCE. SECURITY.

Enterprise-CATAPAN—High Assurance Protection for the UK’s Most Sensitive Networks Enterprise-CATAPAN is the latest high-speed encryption solution from L-3 TRL. It provides both a 1 and 10 Gbps capability for government and intelligence agencies requiring a High Assurance solution capable of supporting the network speeds of today and the future.

Enterprise-CATAPAN TRL Technology

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Further information can be found at www.L-3com.com/TRL. L-3com.com

INFOSECURITY 2011

E Your Advantage Or Are They The Next Big Security Hole?!’ Lead by analyst Bloor, the panel included representatives from NFU Mutual, LAMCO LLC - Lehman Brothers Holdings and NHS Dumfries and Galloway. With arguments for, and against, this was a lively debate!

Back on the attack vector trail the keynote theatre saw a team of specialists cover `Advanced Persistent Threats - Hype Or Reality’, which looked at this newlydiscovered, but potentially serious problem for IT security professionals. Panellists for this session included specialists from the Serious Organised Crime Agency, the online better exchange Betfair and communications giant Virgin Media.

SOCIAL MEDIA There was a topical debate on social media led by Michael Page International, the Cobra Group, Investec and the Ministry of Defence.

The consumerisation of IT was brought under the spotlight by the Institute of Information Security Professionals, LeasePlan, Sue Ryder, GlaxoSmithKline and SABMiller.

The keynote on ‘Securing the Cloud’ included Bob Tarzey, analyst with Quocirca and blogger for the Infosecurity Network, and representatives from Barclaycard, Bank of America and DAF Trucks.

Every organisation’s largest commodity, its workforce, was also examined in a seminar titled ‘Don’t Forget the User – How to Make Them Your Biggest Ally.’

A business is only ever as successful as those people it employs. When it comes to effective information security your workforce are your number one asset and with the right training and risk awareness they can be the eyes and ears for the business beyond

the IT security infrastructure that is in place.

However, without the proper risk awareness they can also pose a significant threat – be it knowing or unknowingly – especially today as we start to see the increased use of employee-owned IT in the workplace and the explosion of social media. This discussion highlighted the key factors to incorporate into any employee awareness training, especially how best to make people care by making them relate to the corporate risks in the same way they would towards personal risk.

No agenda would be complete without the Hall of Fame, which celebrated the people that the industry has voted as being the leading contributors to the advancement of information security.

The Keynote Theatre concluded this year with a witty seminar titled ‘It Wasn’t Me, It Was Bennett Arron.’ Bennett is an award-winning writer and stand-up comedian and, in his talk, he gave a disturbingly true and funny account of what it’s like to have your identity stolen.

BUSINESS STRATEGY THEATRE AND TECHNICAL THEATRE The Keynote Theatre was supplemented by parallel sessions in the Business Strategy and Technical theatres.

Amongst the 31 seminars over the three days in the Business Theatre, sponsored by Oracle, topics were: • A panel featuring Boris Goncharov of G4S Security Services, one of the first European organisations to achieve ISO 27001 certification, and Steph Charbonneau, chief technology officer with Titus, discussed success strategies for ISO 27001.

• Are we approaching a skills gap? With the growing attention given by governments

Security

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to information security, including its top ranking on the UK national security agenda and the growing stature of ENISA, (ISC)2 asked if we should be doing more to address the natural barriers to entry to the profession?

• BT’s chief security technology officer examined security, privacy and the generation gap and asked what security and privacy will look like in this new world.

• How do we ensure users personal Internet habits don’t leave them or the business vulnerable? The key question is do we already have solutions that can be better purposed to help solve this problem, is this simply a case of policy and education or is something further required? During the session McAfee defined best practices for managing the social engineer attack.

Over in the Technical Theatre, sponsored

by SecurEnvoy, topics included: • How Virgin Media’s automated firewall operations management solution from Tufin revolutionised the way their IT staff work, giving them back 30 per cent of the day to focus on more strategic tasks and enhancing CPU and memory performance by 15 per cent to improve operational continuity.

• SecurEnvoy’s presentation discussed and demonstrated how the latest banking Trojan, OddJob, seizes browser session ID tokens and how they are then utilised upon another system to access sensitive user account information. A live demonstration was conducted showing an example of how a session ID token is compromised and how it is then replayed upon a different system. Next Generation Two Factor Authentication will then be invoked and they demonstrated how the compromised session ID token cannot be replayed.

• Aintree University Hospital Trust transformed remote access enables users to access the trust’s information systems from outside the campus and is used for a variety of purposes such as enabling staff to work from home, to support on-call working and to provide third party support for IT systems.

• Imperva, who are hurting the business of hackers and gaining insight into hacker activity including: uncovering full-fledged XSS attack campaigns in the making, a server-generated DDoS attack, the discovery of a data collection containing millions of users passwords or the finding of cloud-based technologies used by hackers.

• ISACA took us on the journey of a social media attack. In this session visitors explored the journey of a social media attack and received guidance on how to minimise these risks. L FOR MORE INFORMATION For more information on what happened and video content from the education programme visit www.infosec.co.uk

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Digital Signs

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EVENTS

INCREASE YOUR PROFITS AT THE FLICK OF A SWITCH

Digital Signage Expo is Europe’s most highly-focused trade showcase exclusively concerned with all digital signage related topics such as in-store tv, digital media, ad screens, content and solutions Digital Signage Expo 2011 will bring together participants and players from the digital signage industry worldwide for the fourth highly successful year. Once again co-located with Kiosk Europe Expo 2011, the world’s largest self-service exhibition, the event takes place 24-26 May, at Messe Essen, Essen, Germany. Digital Signage Expo 2011 is Europe’s leading showcase for digital signage solutions for the whole spectrum of vertical markets. As we know from previous years and initial visitor signups, all the top sellers, servicers and buyers in the business are expected to attend.

EXHIBITION HIGHLIGHTS The shows are expanding this year with a brand new Competence Centre. There will also be special emphasis on content development; an area of digital signage and self-service which has previously been overlooked. 3D technology, the hottest development in the digital media world, will also have a strong presence.

The hugely popular Open Forum held alongside Digital Signage Expo 2011, will this year boast an impressive line-up of retailers, experts and operators of digital signage, with speakers from NEC, NEO Advertising, C-nario, Bluefox and New York-based digital agency R/GA, amongst many others. Full details of the

Spain, Germany, France, the UK and Eastern Europe, enabling attendees to gain a global insight into this rapidly evolving market.

After the success of last year, this year’s Open Forum is also organised via a partnership with the Platt Retail Institute, an industry-leading expert in research and consulting for businesses seeking to impact the customer in-store experience.

Steven Keith Platt, director and Research Fellow, Platt Retail Institute, commented: “We have assembled industry leaders to present discussions on the most challenging issues facing the industry today.”

Digital Signage Expo has established itself as an industry-leading event. Its quality is now recognised throughout the world. Steve Gurley, VP Marketing, Symon Communications USA, has commented: “The Expo and Forum provided me with great insight into the EU marketplace.

I highly recommend this event.”

KIOSK EUROPE EXPO 2011 As Digital Signage Expo 2011 is co-located with Kiosk Europe Expo 2011, the world’s leading show on interactivity, visitors can find out all about how interactive digital signage makes for a more impactful and engaging means of communication as well as about the synergies between these two technologies and solutions.

Digital Signage Expo 2011 is Europe’s leading showcase for digital signage solutions for the whole spectrum of vertical markets. speaker programme for the Open Forum can be found on the event’s website.

HOT TOPICS Topics to be covered in the presentations, workshops and expert panel discussions include creating compelling content for a network, understanding the real costs of digital signage, digital signage in airports, nationwide digital signage networks used by petrol stations, deploying and operating a network, using sensors to understand the audience and digital signage in retail environments. The Forum will close with a panel of industry leaders in discussion comparing the outlook for digital signage in

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Over 130 exhibitors have signed up so far including Samsung, Memedia, AMX, Hof3, Stinova, Beam, European Association for Self-Service, Peripheral Dynamics and Black Box. Please check the website for the latest list of exhibitors. L

FOR MORE INFORMATION The exhibition is open from 09.00-17.00 on 24-26 May at Messe Essen, Germany.

Visitors can sign up for free at www.digitalsignageexpo.eu or pay €78 on the door. Attendance to the Open Forum is included in the entrance ticket.

Tel: 01223 350515 Fax: 01223 351725

GOVERNMENT ICT CLOUD COMPUTING With the G-Cloud debate still going strong, a panel of experts will be discussing cloud computing for the public sector and the G-Cloud vision. Steve Palmer, CIO from LB Hillingdon, Chris Pope OBE, director of transformation at Merton Council and Andy Tait, the former deputy director of G-Cloud, Apps Store and Data Centre Consolidation at the Cabinet Office will look at where cloud technologies will be delivering returns on investment, how new delivery models will impact service recipients and your workforce; as well as the issues around building maturity, resilience and reputation.

Andy Burton from the Cloud Industry Forum will build on this panel discussion in the best practice seminars looking at how the public sector can participate in the cloud with confidence – understanding the different cloud solutions and standards as well as exploring adoption and concerns in the UK to date.

GAIN INSIGHT INTO SMARTER TECHNOLOGY

By bringing leading government influencers, thinkers and suppliers together, SmartGov Live can help the public sector to harness the right ICT to deliver services efficiently and effectively This year’s Guardian SmartGov Live brings together technology leaders from within government and beyond to explore the key ICT issues impacting the public sector.

Decision makers in public sector ICT can attend the free exhibition and full conference programme, 14-15 June, to gain insights into new technology developments that are transforming the way public services are delivered. Hosted at ExCeL London, the exhibition will be running alongside Smart Healthcare Live and The Public Procurement Show, which all comprise full conference agendas, keynote debates and best practice seminars.

your colleagues with the latest insights and innovation shaping IT today, together with the opportunity to meet new and existing suppliers in one place.

INDUSTRY EXPERTS Our speakers are leaders from within the very heart of government, those who are driving change to ensure that our public services remain world-class. For example, while the public sector network is already delivering efficiencies, is it on track to achieve savings of up to £500m a year as planned? Additionally, to what extent can the network transform cross-boundary working and enable local

Our speakers are leaders from within the very heart of government, those who are driving change to ensure that our public services remain world-class.

With the reality of cost-cutting hitting public sector organisations at every level, IT professionals are facing the joint challenge of reducing costs whilst enabling their organisations to deliver services more efficiently. Building on last year’s inaugural success, SmartGov Live will provide you and

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authorities to share services more effectively?

John Stubley, programme director of the Public Sector network at the Cabinet Office, will be opening the SmartGov Live Government Talks agenda with this discussion and looking at the challenges and opportunities moving forward.

BEST PRACTICE This year, we will be introducing best practice theatres and creating a dynamic and collaborative forum for hot topics in the sector to be explored. Despite the ubiquity of cuts and their impact on public services, we are seeing exciting developments within the use of ICT in the public sector. Nothing captures this change better than social media, especially as the Big Society begins to take hold in the public consciousness.

Hugh Flouch, founder of Networked Neighbourhoods, will be taking attendees through the social and civic impacts of citizenrun online neighbourhood networks and what these mean for public service providers.

High level strategic keynote debates will also run across all three shows on both days.

Leading thinkers from across the sector including Lord Geoffrey Filkin, Allison OgdenNewton, chief executive of Social Enterprise London, Dominic Campbell from FutureGov, and Chris Chant, interim executive director for digital, Cabinet Office, will discuss rethinking public services, how to get bigger savings, better value and outcomes through procurement, and how information technology is changing the UK. WORKING SMARTER At SmartGov Live, we know these are tough times with cuts affecting all of society – citizens, community, local and central government. This is where ICT comes into its own – by working harder and smarter to create efficiencies across the board. By bringing leading government influencers, thinkers and suppliers together under one roof, SmartGov Live can help ICT professionals understand and harness the right ICT to deliver the public services efficiently and effectively. L FOR MORE INFORMATION www.smartgovlive.com twitter.com/GuardianSmart

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The future of integrated technology IT decisions 2011 28-29 June 2011 QEII Conference Centre, Westminster, London

Next generation computing for a converging world Almost every aspect of the digital world is now converging at an unstoppable rate: data, voice and video; email, messaging and social media; desktop, remote and mobile devices. The conventional lines between work, social and home lives are blurring and there is a growing need for information to be available on-demand from almost any location.

IT Decisions 2011 presents an integrated view of: • Virtualisation, Storage & Datacentre Optimisation • Cloud Computing & Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) • Enterprise 2.0, Social Media & Collaborative Working • Unified Communications & VOIP

• • • • • •

Mobile & Wireless Accessibility e-Identity & Security in the Cloud Green IT, Governance & Compliance Open Source Software Development Interoperability & Standards Risk Management, Procurement & Contractual Issues

Access an extensive programme of thought-provoking keynotes and seminars, executive briefings, independent advice clinics and demonstrations of all the latest innovations – helping you to understand and evaluate their significance within a wider strategic context.

Apply for your FREE place now at

www.itdshow.com

IT DECISIONS 2011

SHAPE YOUR IT STRATEGY AND INVESTMENT

IT Decisions, taking place 28-29 June at the QEII Conference Centre, London, identifies the most significant trends currently shaping both corporate and public sector IT systems

With last year’s spending review placing huge pressure on budgets, government IT departments are being asked to make very careful decisions to ensure best value from their technology investments, whilst also innovating to reduce costs and improve efficiency.

This is why one of the UK’s leading organisers, Revolution Events, is bringing its acclaimed IT Decisions event to central London in 2011, providing better accessibility and improved facilities at the prestigious QEII Conference Centre in Westminster.

Almost every aspect of digital communications are now converging at an unstoppable rate: data, voice and video; e-mail, messaging and social media; and desktop, remote and mobile devices. The conventional lines between work, social and home lives are blurring and there is a growing need for information to be available ondemand from almost any location – by citizens, employees and senior government leaders.

Innovations such as cloud computing and the G-Cloud, virtualisation, unified communications, web-based applications, e-identity, service oriented architectures, content management, hosted storage, Enterprise 2.0, Web 3.0 and increasingly sophisticated mobile devices are all key components in the move towards this pervasive information layer.

SIGNIFICANT BENEFITS Individually, these technologies can all deliver significant benefits to businesses and government organisations, helping to build IT systems that are more flexible, accessible and secure than ever before. But the most significant opportunities emerge when they are integrated within a long-term strategy to maximise availability and interaction

between the providers of public services and their customers: improving service levels, reducing response times and delivering efficiency gains at every stage of the process.

Held in partnership with BCS The Chartered Institute for IT, IT Decisions 2011 is the only UK event to present an integrated view of technology convergence, addressing all the most important technology trends and new innovations so that senior executives can assess their significance within a wider strategic context – together with invaluable advice on the essential procurement and contractual considerations that play a key role in mitigating risk and maximising the returns from major IT investments.

Using rich educational content and a wide range of independent speakers, IT Decisions aims to provide an annual one stop shop for understanding technology convergence, explaining the potential efficiency benefits and helping IT departments to generate a direct return on investment from their new and ongoing projects.

KEY THEMES Key themes for 2011 include: • Virtualisation, Storage & Datacentre Optimisation • Cloud Computing & Software as-a-Service (SaaS) • Enterprise 2.0, Social Media & Collaborative Working • Unified Communications & VOIP • Mobile & Wireless Accessibility • e-Identity & Security in the Cloud • Green IT, Governance & Compliance • Open Source Software Development • Interoperability & Standards • Risk Management, Procurement

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& Contractual Issues The unique two-day event will also run a special stream of free FastForward seminars, showcasing emerging technologies for the next three to five years and assessing their likely chance of widescale adoption. Each theme will be supported by a comprehensive range of educational seminars, advice clinics, supplier briefings and demonstrations led by independent experts such as Ovum, BCS, Verdantix, EEMA and the 451 Group, plus a wide range of end-users and technology innovators such as Google, Intel, VMware and many more.

The involvement of these market leaders and other service providers is a key component for ensuring the event addresses the full spectrum of market developments and different perspectives. “A common concern about single-focus or cluster-style technology events is whether they exist simply to peddle the latest IT ‘snake-oil’ by hyping a single set of technologies or promoting a rather biased vision of the future,” explains Rich Tribe, joint managing director of Revolution Events. “With IT Decisions, we decided to take a completely non-partisan approach to the technology landscape, presenting all the most significant innovations alongside each other and including competing views about their likely impact.

This doesn’t mean that none of our speakers will have a specific point of view – but rather that delegates can access a wide range of opinions and counter-opinions without interference from us as the organisers.”

By uncoupling itself from the singlefocus approach, IT Decisions helps users understand how the latest technologies are converging, overlapping and complementing each other, so that they can arrive at an IT strategy that supports and integrates with their own business objectives.

To add even more value, the educational programme at IT Decisions also includes several briefings on the IT buying process itself, providing expert advice on best practice for IT, finance and purchasing departments.

As technology has become increasingly commoditised over the past decade, effective procurement procedures have become an important consideration for reducing risk in major projects and controlling costs at all levels of expenditure. Building an accurate specification, sourcing and selecting the right partners, negotiating a fair price and putting a robust contract in place can sometimes be more important than the solution itself – yet many organisations feel ill-equipped to tackle these thorny issues when planning IT projects.

Attendance to IT Decisions is free for senior IT decision makers, directors and managers working in the public and private sectors.

You can find out more at the event website, including information on how to register and the latest news on key participants. L FOR MORE INFORMATION www.itdshow.com

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Mobile Working

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FSMW 2011

MOBILE WORKFORCE Field Service & Mobile Workforce Management (FSMW) 2011 takes place on 28 and 29 June, an annual two-day retreat dedicated to boosting field and mobile workforce efficiency

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E The rapid growth in the adoption of smartphones in the personal sphere paves the way for an extended use of mobile technology for business. Technology advances mean that a single personal mobile or in-vehicle device can now fulfil a range of different functions, not just the communication of instructions or the recording of data or visual images. It can also locate and track the remote worker for more effective job scheduling and to monitor their wellbeing to meet health and safety requirements.

The mobile technology sector is growing fast and, with it, the size of the field and mobile workforce – as the devices get smaller, neater and easier to use, the benefits of this way of working are being realised by user groups not traditionally viewed as field or mobile.

CURRENT ISSUES The 9th annual Field Service & Mobile Workforce Management event will draw on its long-established track record as one of the UK’s leading service management events to bring you a cutting-edge programme that addresses the current issues through a series of practitioner project case studies from a range of different industry sectors. All of these will demonstrate quantifiable financial results from technology implementation.

The Chilean miners accident of summer 2010 and the first conviction under the Corporate Manslaughter Act (resulting in a £385,000

Indeed, one of our past attendees rethought the whole approach to their project, purely because of insight gained from our speakers at last year’s event.

By choosing the right technology partners and getting upfront advice from our speakers on the common pitfalls before you begin, you can avoid wasting a single second of your time.

At FSMW 2011 you can: • adapt your strategies towards field and mobile working based on insight from the most advanced organisations • hear first-hand accounts of successful technology project implementations with demonstrable financial results • find out how to ensure the health and safety of your field and mobile workers and protect yourself from a corporate manslaughter lawsuit • assess the latest services and solutions in the marketplace – and look ahead to forthcoming technologies • network with your peers and learn from other projects.

HOW TO REGISTER All of this is free of charge if you have a forthcoming field service or mobile workforce technology implementation project. If you would like a place at this event start go to our website and register now: www.field-mobile.com

WHO SHOULD ATTEND? FSMW 2011 has been designed for senior decision makers in field service and mobile management, operations and IT who are sourcing field and mobility upgrades or seeking to implement a brand new enterprise mobility solution for the first time. The

The event will draw on its long-established track record as one of the UK’s leading service management events to bring you a cutting-edge programme that addresses the current issues through a series of practitioner project case studies from a range of different industry sectors. fine) have, together, focused the minds of many in the sector on the issue of the health and safety of field and mobile workers. This year, for the first time, take the opportunity to get legal advice from a lawyer with a specialism in the subject at FSMW 2011.

Hear from new case study speakers in 2011 too, including Royal Mail, MGWSP (combining May Gurney and WSP), SCAN COIN, EDF Energy and South East Water, and benefit from the supplier panel which returns by popular demand. There will also be a look ahead at those mobile technologies for which wider adoption will soon be forthcoming, including Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) and Augmented Reality, as well as a review of the use of tablet PCs in the field, including the much talked about iPad. Understandably, as a manager of a field or mobile project or team, your time is precious right now, but by attending FSMW 2011 for two days, you will save months of work.

programme is specifically designed as a cutting edge forum for those organisations that are planning live projects within the next 3-18 months and will be particularly relevant for the following industry sectors: utilities, telecommunications, engineering, manufacturing, facilities management, vending, construction, housing, transport, logistics, retail (home delivery), TV, entertainment and media, lifts, emergency response services, police, healthcare and local government.

CONFERENCE PROGRAMME At the heart of FSMW 2011 is a two-day conference with two distinct streams, one looking at strategic management issues, including the necessary decision-making processes and the management approach towards mobile working, and the other at the implementation of technology and solutions. Key topics include:

Mobile Working

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• Corporate killers? Practical legal advice on the health and safety issues associated with field and mobile working • Mobile devices for a sales application • Exploring the future technologies that will enhance the field and mobile working environment • Meeting the efficiency challenges of field and mobile working through collaboration • Royal Mail case study: From zero to 25,000 PDAs in 12 weeks • Integrating GIS with enterprise and mobile technology • Adapting a single platform core system to meet the needs of a diverse customer base • Implementing ruggedised devices and designing an in-vehicle solution • Supplier Discussion Panel: Where is mobile technology headed? Your chance to quiz the suppliers on where they think the market is going.

In addition to the two-day conference the key field service and mobility issues will be discussed in a series of one-to-one consultative meetings with solution providers.

THE VALUE FOR SPONSORS This is one of Ark’s longest running events and for the eight year senior managers from field service, operations and other senior personnel from top UK enterprises will attend to take part in a top class conference, network with peers and engage on a one to one basis with solutions providers.

Our sole aim for solution providers at FSMW 2011 is to deliver direct access to delegates who are responsible for live projects with defined budgets at enterprise level. Typically they will be at director or senior manager level with an implementation or upgrade deadline within the next 18 months.

Our delegates are looking for a solution that meets a key business requirement.

This is likely to be an absolute imperative for their organisation and as such they will control a corresponding level of budget and occupy a senior management position.

Over the two days they will have up to ten one-to-one consultations with solution providers, in addition they will hear casestudies and presentations around similar projects and network with their peers. L FOR MORE INFORMATION www.field-mobile.com

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