Public sector organisations are facing uniquely challenging times. The Local Government Association estimates that in the past decade councils will have had budgets cut by almost 60 pence out of every £1 the Government provides for services. As a result, the public sector has been forced to look for new ways to drive efficiencies and explore the cost saving opportunities presented through digitalisation of services. The current COVID-19 crisis has accelerated the need for digital transformation within the public sector. This has included the need to mobilise business continuity planning rapidly and securely implement remote working capabilities. A once perceived medium-term goal is now an immediate necessity to ensure continuation of service delivery.
There remain significant barriers to implementing digital transformation, from organisational readiness, to a lack of ICT support expertise which further highlights existing skills gaps to, notably, operating within a cyber secure environment.
Public sector organisations must be ready to embrace the benefits of a digital transformation programme and confront the challenges that to realise the efficiencies that can be delivered. Shifting organisational cultures that can be resistant to change to allow them to become more agile, in order to achieve a secure remote working capability. As we transition to the new normal there will be a need to deliver efficiencies through initiatives such as shared service centres and expanding self-serve options for stakeholders.
As local authorities explore digital transformation opportunities that generate cost savings, shared service centres and self-serve options will become pivotal to drive efficiencies. Our supply chain can offer end-to-end solutions from initial diagnostic work, to identify needs and opportunities through discovery and feasibility studies, to the migration from legacy systems and the rollout of self-service tools into local authorities. All of our supplier partners will ensure all data and information processed is handled in a safe and compliant manner.
Our marketplace has successfully delivered complex business continuity planning requirements for multiple authorities. Recent requirements have included maximising cyber security considerations, replacement of legacy systems and rollout of new technology platforms and design and delivery of effective remote working options.
An effective and secure remote working programme will enable local authorities to adopt smarter working practices. This will protect against future disruption whilst offering the potential to reduce costs in office space and enabling the workforce to become more agile and flexible to the significant budgetary challenges they face.
Internal stakeholders may already be suffering from the change fatigue associated with new digital infrastructure. Through our pre accredited supply chain local authorities can receive a complete front-end analysis of their transformation programme. This will identify migration and exit risks, whilst facilitating the creation of mitigation strategies. Detailed change management planning allows local authorities to identify future pressures such as skills gaps and take actions to ensure effective implementation.
Our outcomes-based model allows us to deliver a fully managed end to end service, delivering efficiencies and cost savings for your organisation, and ensures you only pay for what is delivered. With even greater pressure on budgets anticipated in the coming months managing outcomes is essential to ensuring a cost-effective digital transformation programme. From the implementation of new software and systems through to cyber security, our category experts work with you to develop a gold-standard specification that draws upon our experience of successfully delivering digital transformation to local authorities.
Within its first year of trading, Cantium Business Solutions has paid back its investment to the council and provides significant external income. It also established a highly trained service desk team to support the council’s migration to the cloud and rolled out seamless remote working capability, delivering £8,000 in savings through a move to the electronic storage of data.
In this guest blog, Richard Puckey, Head of Compliance & Facilities at eacs argues that utilising the machine learning, unprecedented reporting and analytical muscle of Power BI will empower local authorities to be more informed when making time-sensitive, business critical decisions.