Located in southeast London, and home to the world-famous Greenwich Prime Meridian, the Royal Borough of Greenwich (RBG) was created in 1965 following the merger of the former metropolitan boroughs of Greenwich and Woolwich. It was awarded ‘Royal Borough’ status to mark Queen Elizabeth II’s Diamond Jubilee and the fact that it’s a UNESCO World Heritage site.
Evolving and improving service delivery to its approximately 300,000 residents and businesses plays a critical role in its forward-looking vision. Through employing a transformative, digital approach with a focus on “not just putting services online, but totally rethinking how they are offered” it aims to deliver a “happier, healthier and more joined-up borough through the use of modern technology and data.”
KEY FACTS
- UNESCO World Heritage site and home to the Greenwich Prime Meridian
- Delivers services to 300,000 residents and businesses
- Focus on transforming service delivery through harnessing technology and data
The Challenge
Deploying technology and data to transform and improve service delivery can be a difficult process and can come with significant cost. RBG has long-held ambitions to foster a 'digital mindset’ to support everything it does, and any technology investments need to align with both its digital strategy and the significant cost restraints every local government organisation operates within.
Its main challenge has been how to bring on stream new technologies and ways of working, especially following the disruption caused by the Covid 19 pandemic, while minimising cost and gaining optimum value for money for residents, businesses and visitors. In such circumstances, working alongside a technology partner that can help with achieving more with less is absolutely essential for success.
Critical success factors
- Support needed to implement ambitious digital strategy
- Drive to deliver service enhancements through technological transformation
- Achieve best value from technology investments
The Solution
Softcat has worked closely with the RBG IT team for close to a decade. It’s a collaborative engagement where Softcat’s specialists are on hand to offer advice and guidance around implementing technologies capable of providing the high performance and overall functionality needed to deliver on its digital strategy. As with all local authorities, RBG is obliged to put IT purchases out to tender, so Softcat has had to deliver, both on quality, and the best possible value throughout the relationship.
Underpinning RBG’s forward-looking strategy are multiple workstreams focused on ‘making the best use of technology and data to transform our services.’ They include:
- Migrating new resident services online by default – with alternative channels available for those not online
- Providing its people with the right tools for the job
- Building digital capability and getting better with data
- Ensuring robust and secure infrastructure and systems
- Supporting innovation
Every one of the workstreams has demanded an innovative organisational response, and Softcat has been there to advise on, and ultimately, help deliver the capabilities to support each strategic goal.
To ensure RBG had the capability to harness essential data, Softcat worked with it to implement Power BI providing the platform needed to analyse data, uncover insights, and make data-driven decisions. The need for enhanced security and compliance tools was also identified to provide additional intelligence and safeguard against potential risks. Throughout the relationship, Softcat has ensured that RBG has evolved its capabilities to benefit from M365 E5, maximising the return on investment.
And now that RBG has made the decision to migrate to a more feature-rich Microsoft E5 Licencing agreement providing enhanced security and resilience, Softcat will still be on board to help facilitate the ‘digital mindset’ and deliver the technologies RBG needs to improve ongoing service provision.
Timo Bayford, Interim Head of ICT at RBG, said, “The relationship with Softcat is very collegiate. We can discuss problems openly with them and trust them to work in our best interests. Softcat feels like an extension of our team.”
Solution highlights
- Longstanding collaborative working relationship
- Evolution of service delivery and ways of working
- Effective, value-for-money response to new challenges
The Benefits
Deploying deep industry knowledge and taking advantage of longstanding relationships with leading technology providers enables Softcat to deliver the capabilities organisations need, while simultaneously keeping costs to a minimum. Through working closely with the RBG IT team it has been able to focus on delivering in tranches the technologies needed for strategic demands and only migrating to alternative, more costly, solutions when it’s strictly necessary.
As data harvesting and interrogation has become a critical component of effective operations, Softcat has ensured RBG has access to the information it needs to streamline service provision and deliver the tools it needs to support its forward-looking ambitions. And as security and resilience have increased in importance for every organisation, Softcat has worked closely with both RBG and Microsoft to ensure that the uplift to an E5 licensing model has been cost-effectively implemented at exactly the right time for its strategic goals.
“Softcat’s wealth of knowledge has helped us refine our technology roadmap and develop the necessary plans to deliver on time,” said Timo Bayford.
Benefits at a glance
- Softcat delivers deep industry knowledge and the benefits of longstanding relationship with leading technology providers
- Providing the right tools to meet today’s challenges
- Minimising costs through only introducing new technologies when the time is right
Why Softcat?
“Softcat takes the time to understand our challenges from our perspective, then draw on their wide array of expertise to show us potential solutions,” said Timo Bayford. “The account team is very proactive in their approach, supporting our timeframe and priorities.”