Tamworth Borough Council’s ICT has been praised for its performance, having achieved year on year savings and increased performance levels since becoming ISO/IEC 20000 accredited.
This success, which has won the accolades of the Council’s senior management and the national standards body, is the result of a long term investment in implementing and following effective working processes, supported by Sunrise Software’s web based IT service management platform Sostenuto.
Assistant Director of ICT Nicki Burton oversees the fully centralised service desk, which provides support for 450 staff across headquarters and eighteen remote sites. Having led the project which resulted in Tamworth becoming one of the first accredited organisations (before BS 15000 was superseded by ISO/IEC 20000), she submits her team to regular inspections by the national standards body, BSI.
“At their last visit,” says Nicki, “the BSI inspectors commented that the ISO/IEC 20000 standard had truly become ‘business as usual’.”
As a relatively small team, Tamworth ICT took a down to earth approach to the standard, as Nicki explains: “We began by looking at how existing processes fit the standard, and any new processes had to demonstrate appropriateness.”
Following a procurement process which involved the evaluation of different ITSM software solutions to support ISO/IEC 20000, Tamworth selected Sostenuto in 2008.
“After carrying out some site visits, talking to partner councils, and seeing various demonstrations, it became apparent that of the products evaluated, Sostenuto was the most cost effective and provided our specified functionality.” says Nicki.
“Good change management capabilities were important for us and I have to say, this was one of Sostenuto’s strong points. Being ITIL aligned, Sostenuto enables us to track a full incident lifecycle as well as deliver a significantly more effective change management service. It has provided us with an ideal platform to meet our ISO 20000 obligations.”
Third party performance reports produced in Sostenuto enable the team to closely monitor supplier performance and negotiate prices where appropriate, ensuring that the Council is getting the best possible value. This, combined with headcount savings resulting from efficiencies, has provided a huge boost to the department’s profile.
“We have received numerous positive comments from our customers and from senior management,” says Nicki. “The impact that ICT can have has truly been recognised and this is very rewarding.”