Background
In 2020, Derbyshire County Council made the decision to upgrade its ERP, provided through an on-premise supported version of SAP, which had been brought in some 10 years earlier.
The Council had intended to use the SAP upgrade to begin the migration from a largely ‘on premise configuration’ to a ‘cloud’ configuration, in a similar manner to other councils across the sector. The COVID-19 response paused work on the upgrade, but the council then struggled to implement the upgrade with its internal ICT service and systems integration support from an external provider. The weaknesses in the council’s internal ICT service were further emphasised by the compounding pressure of the need to upgrade the Council’s case management system, CRM system and asset management system, which left it in a position where service delivery was at risk.
Keen to contract an organisation with brand equity, experience in the sector, and the ability to work with the Council’s changing circumstances, the Council appointed Civiteq in mid-2023.
Our brief and the project goals
- Provide initial stabilisation support to the internal leadership of the ICT team, to add resources & 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
- Mitigate the Council’s risks
- Analyse the Council’s technology position to produce a project plan encompassing:
- A digital strategy, to describe the council’s digital ambition for the immediate future
- A technical infrastructure strategy to upgrade the council’s infrastructure and meet the needs of the digital strategy
- Programme management of the SAP upgrade
Biggest challenge
There were two main challenges on this programme of work. Firstly, 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.
Our approach
When we first engaged with Derbyshire County Council, we provided additional resources, which enabled us to identify gaps in technology and human resources and then we initiated upgrades and placed Civiteq colleagues in business-as-usual roles to fill skillset gaps.
Simultaneously, we initiated a review of the technology and the systems infrastructure, to prepare for the SAP upgrade. From there, by proposing several remediations to the infrastructure, we were able to put forward a new project plan that would deliver the work successfully, within a short six-month timeline.
We also put forward a good, high level governance structure with detailed task lists, timelines and responsibilities, and clear and transparent reporting.
With sign off, we began the project cycle process, which included;
- Development
- Pre-production
- Dress rehearsal & testing
- Go-live
Having launched the new SAP upgrade on time, we spent a few weeks overcoming minor hiccups to get the system stable and then entered the planned period of hyper-care and put in place a training plan.
Outcomes and benefits
Our 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 now future-proofed the system and provided a stable ERP to deliver all their business functions for the next ten years or more.
Our 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.
Notable project learnings
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.
Contracting an organisation (Civiteq) rather than individuals was an important part of the success of this project for Derbyshire County Council. We were able to bring in additional colleagues very quickly and seamlessly, where changing requirements demanded us to do so, and draw on their expert skillsets and wealth of experience from similar work with other local authorities, 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.
Great internal leadership makes 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.
Derbyshire County Council on Civiteq:
“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.”
Joe O’Sullivan, Executive Director Corporate Services & Transformation, Derbyshire County Council.
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