Offering support and stabilisation, backed by experience and expertise, Civiteq was able to help Derbyshire County Council implement software solutions that will enable the authority to deliver its business functions for years to come.
Derbyshire County Council had wanted to upgrade its software systems since 2020, with the aim of ensuring it would be fit for the future. On one hand, the benefits of enhanced efficiencies were clear – but on the other, the authority knew it had to be careful to deliver on time and on budget.
That’s where Civiteq, a business integrator working across local and central government, came in. The company was able to provide progamme management and support to ensure a successful implementation.
The starting point was Derbyshire’s existing Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system, which was provided through an on-premise supported version of SAP, and was a decade old when the decision to upgrade and to migrate to the cloud was taken.
The Covid crisis put paid to initial plans but even when Derbyshire was ready to resume the project, weaknesses in the council’s internal ICT service were revealed while the need to upgrade certain systems left it in a position where service delivery was at risk.
The council knew it needed help from an experienced and flexible partner, and Civiteq was appointed in mid-2023 with a wide-ranging brief. This included providing initial stabilisation support to the internal leadership of the ICT team, while adding resources and skillsets. The initial stabilisation support migrated to the leadership of the ICT service, at assistant director and heads of service level, as the internal team left the council.
Civiteq was also tasked with mitigating Derbyshire’s risks; and analysing the council’s technology position to produce a project plan encompassing a digital strategy describing the council’s digital ambition for the immediate future, and a technical infrastructure strategy that would upgrade the council’s infrastructure and meet the needs of the digital strategy.
Finally, Civiteq would provide programme management of the SAP upgrade.
Challenges are common with complex programmes, and with this programme two main ones were quickly identified. First, from day one there was the need to build trust and confidence that a resilient upgrade programme could be put in place which would deliver the required upgrade on time and to budget.
Secondly, once into the programme, the constant challenges of re-prioritising actions when everything was urgent, and continuous management of the project’s risk log, to avoid any more delays.
Elegant solutions
From its first engagement with Derbyshire, Civiteq was able to provide elegant solutions that would overcome these challenges. Additional resources were provided, enabling Civiteq to identify gaps in technology and human resources, while the company also initiated upgrades and placed Civiteq colleagues in ‘business-as-usual’ roles to fill skillset gaps.
The company also initiated a review of Derbyshire’s technology and the systems infrastructure, to prepare for the SAP upgrade. As a result of this, several remediations were proposed and a new project plan was put forward to deliver the work within a short six-month timeline.
A high-level governance structure with detailed task lists, timelines and responsibilities, and clear and transparent reporting, was also vital to the project work.
After receiving the authority’s sign-off, the project cycle process was begun – going from development to pre-production, on to dress rehearsal and testing, and finally to go-live.
The new SAP upgrade was launched on time, and after spending a few weeks overcoming minor hiccups to get the system stable, a planned period of hyper-care was entered into, with a training plan put in place.
Reflecting on Civiteq’s work, Derbyshire County Council’s executive director corporate services & transformation Joe O’Sullivan commented: “Civiteq provided very effective stabilisation support to the council. The advice we received, and in particular the very high-quality programme management of our SAP upgrade, gave us the confidence needed to progress with the upgrade and deliver it successfully.”
Outcomes and learnings
Ultimately, Civiteq’s stabilisation and management of the ICT team brought stability, and enabled a new deliverable project plan to be developed. Derbyshire County Council now has the SAP upgrade it had been trying to implement since 2020.
The SAP upgrade from on-premise to the cloud has future-proofed Derbyshire’s software system and provided a stable ERP to deliver all of its business functions for the next ten years or more.
And Civiteq’s cutover management, hypercare package and expert support and training means the council will be able to manage the new system in-house for years to come.
The project can be called a success, but there are also key learnings that can be taken from it.
Civiteq noted that projects with a short timeframe like this one require a laser-sharp focus on continually moving tasks forward and making sure that every single day counts, if the project is to be delivered on time.
It proved important that Derbyshire contracted Civiteq, as an organisation, rather than individuals, as the company was able to bring in additional colleagues quickly and seamlessly, where changing requirements demanded it do so. Their expert skillsets and experience from similar work with other local authorities could then be drawn upon, while the council had the assurance of contracting a company with a respected brand in the sector, and the ability to reach back into Civiteq’s senior leadership when challenges emerged.
Finally, great internal leadership made a huge difference. The council’s leadership, across its senior leadership team, fully understood the issues, made thoughtful decisions swiftly and supported the project wholeheartedly with the right amount of personal involvement, and the necessary human and capital resources.
