The government's chief information officer Ian Watmore and
his new council of CIOs have agreed a series of measures with which
they intend to consign failures of major IT-related change projects
to history.
The CIO Council - comprising about 30 CIOs from central and local
government and the wider public sector - sees the prevention of
project failure as a top priority.
Its work ties in closely with the aim of Computer Weekly's Shaking
Up Government IT campaign, which has sought to bring to an end
decades of major IT-related projects and programmes failing to meet
expectations.
The group wants to make 2005 the year in which the government's IT
reputation "bounces back," said Watmore, as he outlined the
decisions of the council's first meeting two weeks ago.
Last year some government officials said the measures they had put
in place were enough to prevent IT disasters, such as Gateway
reviews by the Office of Government Commerce. Watmore and his group
strongly support the work of the OGC but want further action.
Watmore has already met heads of departments who he said would
welcome help to ensure their IT projects succeed.
His group wants to advise ministers and heads of department on the
feasibility of IT-related projects and programmes as policy is
being considered and before any go-ahead is given.
"When policy is being considered, the practicalities of that policy
from an IT and [business] change perspective are considered at that
time and we are a good group to get involved in that," Watmore
said.
To help projects that are under way, Watmore plans to recruit a
"heavy-hitter brigade" of experienced professionals who can help
prevent IT projects from failing.
The aim is to "be proactive and not wait for reviews to surface or
the phone to ring." Experts will aim to "get out there and spot the
problems and dangers earlier."
The team will be managed by Watmore's e-government unit and will
work on projects at short notice, but will be paid for by the
departments and agencies which need them.
Watmore hopes that top business change specialists will be
attracted to join the team by the idea of working on different
projects. They could be working on, for example, the national
programme for IT in the NHS and later switch to ID cards. Initially
the brigade will comprise about six to 10 people.
"They will have to be rigorously assessed for experience and
capability. We do not have a problem with lack of demand. If I had
five of these people tomorrow they would all disappear in no time
at all," said Watmore.
He also said systems must not be introduced until they and the
department are ready to go live. This may mean persuading ministers
to delay the introduction of systems even if they have a high
political priority.
"If something is not right, let's wait until it is right before we
bring it in," he said.
The government must recognise that the environment in which a
contract is signed will change a year later, and after three years
will be "very different," said Watmore. "I think we have to
recognise we are going to have to change the priorities and
sequence in which we do things. That is another challenge.
"We want more proactive troubleshooting of projects as they are
going through their life. That means being more realistic in the
wider community about how these projects go. Things will change and
the important thing is to be able to come out and say they have
changed and not get pilloried for it."
He added, "Best practice from the private sector is when you
recognise change is needed, you get on and do it." Do not pretend
things are as they were two or three years ago, he advised.
By bringing together CIOs from various departments Watmore hopes
the council will tackle a series of pan-government issues. "We need
to make sure we do not end up with a supplier who gets in trouble
in one department effectively pulling resources from another
department to help out - robbing Peter to pay Paul."
Watmore also wants to see the lessons from successes disseminated.
"We have people who sweat blood on these projects and they do not
want to feel they are working in environments which tend to fail,"
he said.
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