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By Gary Bettis, 8 June 2009 09:00

COMMENT

An upcoming government efficiency charge could be public sector CIOs' big chance to emerge from the back room, says Gary Bettis.

For those involved in public sector IT delivery, the government's recently published Operational Efficiency Programme (OEP) report makes for sobering reading.

The report says government wants to make estimated annual savings of up to £7.2bn, for back-office operations and information and communications technology.

It also calls for better collection, reporting and benchmarking of data on IT spend, greater system standardisation and the development of better internal IT capability for the public sector.

While the OEP presents public sector CIOs with a massive challenge, it also gives them their greatest opportunity yet. It's a chance to come out of the back room and spearhead cost-saving programmes that will improve not only efficiency but also the quality of services offered.

Any CIO worth their salt will have long recognised that the way to cost-savings is through standardisation and simplification of IT service models but with the OEP they have the remit to push these initiatives through.

It's the CIO's job to educate the board on the merits of such models in order to get buy-in from the outset. This will demand strong leadership on their part and they will need to speak the language of business rather than fall back on IT jargon to make their case.

And in this era of accountability and transparency, they must demonstrate that the service models they propose can be benchmarked and compared in a global marketplace.

In making their case to the board, CIOs should remember that public sector IT now has the benefit of a working model of standardised services, in the shape of the Department for Work and Pensions. The DWP recently completed a transformation programme to standardise services across its IT infrastructure that has been successful in delivering both cost-savings and improvements in services.

At the same time, public sector CIOs must show their mettle when dealing with suppliers. They must simultaneously be tough on them when it comes to costs to extract maximum value for money but must also encourage innovation.

Above all, they must make suppliers understand the day-to-day realities faced by those on the front line and in the back office of their organisation. They must be made to see that while a simplified model is required, it demands more than a one-size-fits-all approach and requires innovative thinking. There is no room for supplier complacency in the current climate.

No one can pretend that the current public sector transformation programme will be easy - and most are aware that previous cross-government IT initiatives have been beset by problems. By their very nature and the number of parties involved, they can also be highly political and fraught with tension.

CIOs are likely to find themselves managing a number of complex relationships and chains of command and will need to demonstrate clear communication at all times, so all stakeholders know where responsibilities lie and any grey areas are eradicated at the outset.

It may be that IT leaders have to look hard at their own skillset and address any weak areas. They should not shy away from doing so since their own leadership performance is central to the success of the project.

Five years ago Nicholas Carr challenged business leaders to take a practical and prudent view of the role of IT in their organisations in his insightful book Does IT Matter. Today many CIOs in the public sector have worked hard to make their leaders understand the implication of IT-enabled change.

Their message didn't always get through and while the OEP is undoubtedly going to equal some tough times ahead, it is also gives the CIOs licence to instigate radical change and play a huge part in transforming how the public sector operates.

In short, it is IT's chance to shine.

Gary Bettis is the director of the IT advisory practice at management consultancy firm Serco Consulting.