Strategy involves disaggregation of existing ICT services bundle and building in-house capability
Croydon Council has appointed digital transformation consultancy Rainmaker as its strategic partner for the Good to Great multi-sourcing programme for a new ICT capability across the council over the next three years.
The programme is based on moving away from the Croydon’s current single-supplier ICT contract to a mix of specialist vendors managed by an in-house team. In the process, it plans to change the council’s internal ICT organisation to increase the level of control and accountability for the new supply arrangements.
Rainmaker will work as the council’s delivery partner through the recommissioning of outsourced ICT services and the implementation of new contracts and a new operating model.
The programme derives from an ICT sourcing strategy submitted to Croydon’s cabinet in November of last year by chief information officer Matthew Wallbridge. It said that, while the council had refreshed its technical infrastructure under a partnership agreed in 2013 with Capita, it had more scope to exploit new technology options by disaggregating the existing bundle and developing a stronger in-house capability.
This led to a proposal to take advantage of break point in the existing contract in April of next year and look for a new delivery partner.
Challenge status quo
Wallbridge commented: “We are pleased to be partnering with Rainmaker, whose core values and purpose have helped envision our journey by challenging the status quo through team collaboration across our business.”
Mark Hastings, director, public sector at Rainmaker, said the programme will include the application of the Government’s Service Design Manual and Technology Code of Practice and the use of agile working practices.
Wallbridge’s report said that Croydon had “moved ahead of the curve” compared with other councils in its migration to Windows 10, Office 365, an online CRM system and SharePoint.
The deal was procured through the Crown Commercial Service’s G-Cloud 9 framework.
Croydon is London's second largest borough with a population of over 382,000. The council employs over 4,000 people.
Image: Croydon Town Hall by Noel Foster, CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons
