Next stop HMRC: How TfL CIO will shake up the taxman

From TfL to HMRC, CIO Phil Pavitt talks to silicon.com about the nerves surrounding his new role, cleaning up outsourcing deals, and why he wants to make IT boring

In a matter of months, there will be a new man in charge of taming the tangle of fragmented systems that power the British taxman.

From September, current Transport for London (TfL) CIO Phil Pavitt - who featured on this year's silicon.com CIO50 - will take over HM Revenue and Customs' (HMRC) £1bn IT department from acting CIO Deepak Singh.

Pavitt's challenge will be to realise vision of the Poynter Review and implement a single customer record across the HMRC's 650 computer systems.

Unsurprisingly, Pavitt admits to a degree of nervousness at the size of the challenge ahead of him.

"I do not feel that my approach [to being a CIO] will change for HMRC," he told silicon.com.

"There are aspects that really excite me, like the sheer size and the opportunity to really make something happen that you know is going to affect millions of customers.

"And part of me is a bit nervous and scared, again because of the sheer size and doing things that affect millions of customers."

Since arriving at TfL two-and-a-half years ago, Pavitt has been no stranger to taking on big projects.

Prior to his arrival TfL spent 60 per cent of its IT budget on 17 outsourcing contracts covering the bulk of its IT infrastructure and services, from desktop management to helpdesk.

Now, 15 of the 17 contracts have been brought back in-house, cutting headcount costs by £20m and desktop and support costs by 61 per cent, according to Pavitt.

"Why should outsourcing companies be cashing your cheque when I have brought them back in-house and are offering an exceptional service?" he said.

"Many traditional outsourcing deals that I have seen are yet to achieve the desired business transformation after 10 years."

Not all of these deals will remain in-house however: some services will be farmed back out after being "cleaned-up" in-house.

Pavitt has also headed up what he calls "the world's largest" deployment of thin clients, having already distributed 11,000 to staff. By August of this year, he hopes to have rolled them out to 75 per cent of TfL's 18,000 desktop and 4,000 laptop users.

"Instead of having a multiplicity of desktops and laptops you will have one or two devices for most staff," he said.

"The illustration that I like is the iPhone...

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