Here We Grow Again

Grow Here we Again!

Continuous Refinement: Quality, Teamwork and Process Improvement

In today’s complex, competitive and rapidly changing business climate, three critical success factors drive every business –People, Processes and Technology. With this frame of mind, throughout 2003, MITTS Ltd maintained its commitment towards a continuous effort to improve the level of service provided through the management of the Information Communications Technology (ICT) infrastructure base and through the ever increasing investment in its intellectual and human capital. MITTS Ltd has recognised that developing organisational talent is a key leadership responsibility critical to its success.

MITTS Ltd has also acknowledged that these cornerstones must be present for continuous improvement to work. If one is left out the Company will lose the battle to develop an organisation that will last. Quality without teamwork leaves MITTS Ltd competing against itself. Teamwork without process improvement leaves the Company vulnerable to the market forces. Process improvement without quality and value for money leaves MITTS Ltd without clients.

In this regard, 2003 has been characterised by a sustained effort to continuously streamline business processes and provide higher levels of customer service. As part of the Company’s continuing investment in improving efficiency and effectiveness a number of resources were also shifted to more productive and value added roles.

This is the dawn of a new era for MITTS Ltd. The improvements constantly carried out represent a refreshing approach to continuously contemplate better ways to work each and every day. MITTS Ltd really believes that every single team member has the capacity to make a difference that will steer the Company forward through own ideas, can-do attitude and enthusiasm. This philosophy represents the beginning of new opportunities to continuously invest in new technology and tools, and further streamline

internal processes in order to provide a better service and more value for money to our clients.

The Key to Improvement by Measuring Performance

The sayings, “You get what you measure” and “What gets measured gets managed” are well known, and well worn. However, their simple logic is fundamental to MITTS Ltd organisational behaviour and culture where every employee can now relate to the objectives of the Company.

The need for effective measures that allow progressive monitoring of performance improvements and external comparisons and benchmarking has proved to be central to MITTS Ltd pursuit of excellence. MITTS Ltd has recognised that without the ability to measure effectively, the journey of excellence cannot even begin.

With this objective, in 2003, MITTS Ltd introduced the concept of Key Performance Targets and Key Performance Indicators with a view that such metrics provide management and functions with statistical data which will allow to gauge the effectiveness and / or efficiency of services in its quest to assist the Company in the decision making process and in order to steer the Company to the right direction should the indicators show that the targets are not being met.

Targets were not set to meet the Company’s existing performance at the time, but were intentionally set at high levels with a view that over the medium term MITTS Ltd could be attaining such ambitious targets. After the first year of measurement, it transpired that the results were much higher than expectations proving the point that the rationale of having a key performance target framework served the purpose extremely well in so far as having a guide for continuous improvement.

MITTS Ltd will in 2004, continue with the refinement of these performance metrics and results will be continuously reviewed so that proactive actions are undertaken to constantly improve technology, systems and processes but above all, to always provide value for money services to clients.

"After over twenty years experience of the delivery of technology enabled solutions - spanning many industries, countries and governments - rarely have I seen so much delivered so effectively as that observed in MITTS Ltd. Their philosophy is not just to be the best, but to continually get better, which is more important." Peter Shores - Senior Director Gartner

International Standards applied successfully to the Local Context.

Ongoing Commitment to Quality Assurance!

In 1998, MITTS Ltd undertook a long term commitment to gain ISO 9000 Certification. Initial certification was gained against the ISO 9000:1994 standard. The ISO 9000:1994 standard allowed for a gradual scope increase over a number of years, with the final target of including the entire Company under ISO scope.

In December 2003, the ISO Auditing firm (SGS Yarsley) conducted a migration audit from ISO 9001:1994 to ISO 9001:2000. The audit was successful and MITTS Ltd was recommended for certification of ISO 9001:2000 assessed in accordance with the TickIT scheme for all functions within MITTS Ltd. This made MITTS Ltd the first company of its size locally to attain this standard.

The year 2003 also saw the initiation of a mobilisation process in order to develop a roadmap for the certification of the ISO 17799 methodology for the newly formed department of Information Security and Risk Management.

MITTS Ltd – the PRINCE of Project Management

The Company’s vision of having a Corporate Project Management Framework in order to ensure the continuous improvement of one of MITTS Ltd core competencies has been attained in the first half of 2003, whereby PRINCE II was introduced as the Project Management practice. The Company can now boast of having PRINCE II certified project managers; however, the certification alone is not enough. Thus the Company ensured that its project management practices were revised and calibrated to ensure effective project management governance, also through such practices being entrenched within the scope of ISO. This with the intention of aiding internal communication between the various teams, to standardise work practices with regard to project management, and to have a greater involvement of the client at the critical milestones of each project delivery.

Effective Service Management for Effective Service Delivery

The service delivery philosophy embraced by MITTS Ltd is the Open Group Consortium’s (OGC’s UK) Information

Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL). A number of procedures, namely: incident; problem; change and service level management have been successfully implemented and audited and included within the ISO 9001 certification carried out in January 2003. This service management philosophy brought about a transformation in the way services are now delivered to clients, as with improved and tighter disciplines introduced in 2003, together with the Company Value of being client focused, saw a paradigm shift in effective management of the MITTS Ltd services delivered to clients.

MITTS Ltd has also continued with an across the board accredited development programme for ITIL, targeting all project and services managers, line managers, project and team leaders.

Further Calibration of the Organisational Set-up

MITTS Ltd acknowledged the need to be innovative, being open to new technology and how this can simplify business processes and enable increased efficiency both internally and externally. In the same way as being innovative, MITTS Ltd has recognised the need of being flexible, quickly adapting to changes. The fast pace of new technologies being introduced and adopted has in turn been reflected in the way MITTS Ltd is conducting business so as to remain client focused and provide value for money services. Hence, a number of refinements to the organisational structure were implemented to quickly respond to changing business environments. Major calibration was carried out within the Service Management function in order to be more pro-active in the way services are delivered to MITTS Ltd clients. Such calibration, however, was also coupled with the introduction of technology tools and the re-design of processes in order to make the transition more effective.

Proactive Command and Control

With the advent of 24x7 services, all professional service providers that offer such availability are required to have an internal set-up that is indeed 24x7. With a massive rollout of e-Government services in 2003, MITTS Ltd recognised that such a service level deserves a round-theclock assurance mechanism.

Thus, in order to ensure the maintenance of high level services any time and any day, and in order to ensure a locum of responsibility should a crisis occur, in 2003 MITTS Ltd established a Command and Control Centre (CCC) within the Service Management Department. Its remit also includes special focus on introducing more proactive monitoring and anticipating problems through the utilisation of automation techniques; transferring certain tasks and routine jobs during the late hours and doing more things remotely through the proper utilisation and exploitation of tools. 2003 was a mobilisation period, whereby a pilot Network Management System was introduced and a 24x7 shift was launched towards the end of the year. It is envisaged that by mid 2004, the Command and Control Centre will be fully functional at near to optimum levels. During 2003, MITTS Ltd also took a proactive approach through initiating the compilation of a Company standard framework and a set of procedures for the formal establishment of a Crisis Management function in order to be in a much better position not to jeopardise the Company’s ability to operate and deliver services that clients have become mainly dependent upon and in order to have a controlled approach with crisis situations such as virus attacks, that may hit at any time of the day and night.

Is MITTS Ltd living by its Corporate Value of being Client Focused?

In 2003, MITTS Ltd commissioned a surveying company to carry out a customer survey targeting its client’s perception of the quality of services provided. This survey produced excellent results for MITTS Ltd, with levels of satisfaction rated in the region of 80% (median) with some services or perceptions reaching a high median of 90%. Such outstanding results have put additional pressure on MITTS Ltd not only to maintain but also to possibly exceed these levels of service provision in the future.

Towards an e-MITTS

During the first quarter of 2003, MITTS Ltd initiated a drive to move towards an e-MITTS in order to continuously improve internal operations, costs and interaction with clients. The e-strategy framework developed which is business driven, is based on a dual parallel approach –targeting both the internal and external fronts.

Moreover, the e-strategy has been articulated around the principles of what can be achieved in the short-term (thus having quick wins that not only generate victories but also enable MITTS Ltd to learn what works and what doesn’t) and what can be carried out in the medium to long term, thus giving a long term visibility of where the Company should be heading in this regard.

On the internal front, the Company will continue to strive to address operational process issues by implementing electronic transactions in its interaction with employees. Quick wins carried out in 2003 included:

• The on-line application forms for the movement of fixed assets. • The launch of the MITTS Ltd Intranet. • The launch of the MITTS

Ltd internal newsletter. • The launch of the e-Learning initiative. • The launch of the first phase of e-HR. • The revamping of Say

It, the MITTS Ltd e-Comments and e-Suggestions system.

The introduction of the tools which enables users to rely on proactive business alerts and keep management updated about all areas of financial operations.

From a service delivery perspective, the eStrategy is targeting to enhance the smooth delivery to clients by increasing the efficiency by which the Company will operate and deliver its services through electronic transactions. In addition to this, MITTS Ltd clients will be given the possibility to interact with the Company through its e-Platform in a two-way interactive process.

The other side for external interaction of the Company is the relationship with its suppliers. MITTS Ltd will, during 2004 and beyond, implement processes that permit suppliers to interact through its e-Platform in a bid to streamline processes, increase transparency, efficiency and reducing the overall cost of the process. Major breakthroughs already embarked upon and targeting the external front, include:

• The launch of the e-Request for Service (e-RFS). • The launch of the official MITTS Ltd newsletter in January 2003, namely

ITCatalyst. • The launch of the revamped MITTS Ltd web site. • The launch of the Exchequer’s paperless module. • The introduction of an e-Customer Care

System. • e-Procurement Software System for

Government.

The medium to long term strategy for an eMITTS will be pivoted on the launch of the MITTS Ltd web services portal which will be the virtual gateway that will provide users with the point of entry to a host of services and activities. This personalised portal together with the introduction of the new Service Management System can provide an unlimited range of e-Services designed to cater for different users being employees, clients, the public in general and suppliers.