The CSO’s IT Strategy and the GSBPM IT Directors Group October 2010 Joe Treacy Central Statistics Office Ireland

Central Statistics Office, Ireland 2 In this paper Inputs to the CSO’s IT Strategy Key features of the strategy Putting the GSBPM at the heart of the strategy How we are using the GSBPM to influence corporate strategy and culture

Central Statistics Office, Ireland 3 Inputs to the CSO’s IT Strategy Users’ concerns and priorities for IT Strategic review of CSO in 2009 Plan for Business and Organisational Development Lessons from DMS project Generic Data Management System (DMS) Ambitious and far-reaching project Organisational culture Informal culture Developing a more cohesive approach

Central Statistics Office, Ireland 4 Users’ concerns and priorities for IT Uncertainties about DMS project Capacity of CSO IT to maintain and develop DMS Capacity to meet new business requirements Not enough support for end-users Technical support for end-user statistical software Policies, standards, training Demand for upgraded desktop & groupware tools Need for better communications by IT Decision making processes (governance) perceived to be difficult

Central Statistics Office, Ireland 5 Plan for Business and Organisational Development CSO’s potential to deliver on corporate objectives Statistical outputs; response burden; cost Co-ordination of Irish Statistical System Internal co-ordination Re-organisation Business and household surveys – process model Large Cases Unit – single point of contact Administrative Data Centre – greater use of administrative sources IT Wide range of IT requirements arising from plan Re-organisation within IT: System User Support Team & Web Development

Central Statistics Office, Ireland 6 Lessons learned from DMS project Data Management System (DMS) Project began in November 2003 System went live in September 2007 Reviewed in 2009 Outcome of review DMS project has delivered a solid platform for capturing and processing statistical data But: far-reaching project – full ambitions not realised Input to IT Strategy DMS is a strategic system – support and develop to meet new needs Consolidate our statistical IT applications Implement new developments on a small scale – need faster benefits realisation

Central Statistics Office, Ireland 7 CSO’s organisational culture Culture and communications in a small organisation Informal Based on personal networks more than on formal management processes Flexible - “gets things done” But at a cost... ad-hoc solutions; sub-optimal decisions Informal management culture not sustainable

Central Statistics Office, Ireland 8 CSO’s IT Strategy key features Applications – Support and Development DMS is core strategic application for data capture and processing Consolidate existing applications architecture Meet new business demands in small projects Early benefits realisation (ROI) Governance & Communications Manage the corporate toolset Simplify governance processes System User Support Team (business support) Better support for end-user computing

Central Statistics Office, Ireland 9 CSO’s IT Strategy explaining the rationale The strategy explains the rationale for corporate IT policies. For example: Corporate applications (DMS) Consolidation of corporate toolset (strategic software) Effect on allocation of IT resources Rationale : More efficient allocation of IT resources Better response to business requirements Better decision-making

Central Statistics Office, Ireland 10 CSO’s IT Strategy Communicating the strategy Main target readership: Our staff and managers We want them to read the strategy. We want them to understand it. We want their actions to be consistent with it. Information sessions to “sell” the strategy. We’re using the GSBPM as a communications tool to explain the rationale of the strategy.

Central Statistics Office, Ireland 11 Putting the GSBPM at the heart of our strategy GSBPM is referenced throughout the strategy Appendix describes the GSBPM contribution to IT and corporate management GSBPM reflected in: Data Management System (DMS) Plans for further statistical application development But model is more than a set of production or IT steps A way of influencing corporate culture

GSBPM and Governance Production Central Statistics Office, Ireland 12 Good governance – gives space for proper planning and evaluation – fosters a culture of quality improvement. Planning Evaluation Quality lifecycle PlanProduceEvaluateImprove

Central Statistics Office, Ireland 13 GSBPM and Governance - changing the culture Acceptance that formal processes are worth the effort: Good documentation Consistency of approach across the organisation Planning Monitoring resources and outputs Quality management processes Evaluation Culture of learning and improvement Repeatability Effective response to: new demands, scarce resources, complex high-level objectives

Central Statistics Office, Ireland 14 GSBPM and Financial Management - changing the culture Greater visibility of costs and value of IT contribution: Better cost metrics Map costs to GSBPM Level-1 Map costs to business owner areas Improve budgeting and monitoring of IT spending Improve awareness of costs, choices and consequences when allocating IT resources.

Central Statistics Office, Ireland 15 The GSBPM is more than an IT framework GSBPM is often seen as: Description of production processes Description of IT processes “Belonging” to IT This is a limited view of what the GSBPM can contribute. “Other uses of the GSBPM” – Section VII of GSBPM document Contribution to Corporate Strategic Planning, Governance, Quality Management, Building Organisational Capability, Measuring Costs, Measuring Performance These “other uses” are a valuable part of the GSBPM framework.

Central Statistics Office, Ireland 16 End of Presentation Any questions?