27 August 2002

Striving for Successful Delivery of Public Services

By Peter Gershon, Chief Executive Office of Government Commerce

Although weaknesses in public sector IT projects attract considerable media attention, it is important to understand that IT project failure is not unique to the UK public sector. For example, The Standish Group reported that less than 30% of IT projects in the USA were successful in terms of completion to time, budget and with all features and functions originally specified.

Recognising the importance of improving its performance, in May 2000 the Government published the Successful IT: Modernising Government in Action report. Learning from lessons of the past, this stipulated that Government organisations must transform their approach to delivering IT-enabled business change projects. Rather than looking at IT as an end in itself, the report advocated that the public sector must set IT in the context of wider business change, supporting the overall aims and objectives of an organisation.

The Successful IT report focused on areas considered to be critical to successful delivery, making recommendations that aim to ensure that Government IT-enabled business change projects are as good as the best. Since its publication, there has been a sustained programme to implement the report's recommendations across Government.

This programme aims to develop and enhance existing best practice guidance and services, and to embed these across Central Government. It addresses issues that in the past have led to failure, builds capability and facilitates knowledge sharing. There are many examples of initiatives being taken to support the successful delivery of complex projects across the public sector.

The need to strengthen leadership was addressed with the introduction of the Senior Responsible Owner (SRO) role. An SRO is the individual responsible for ensuring that a project or programme meets its objectives and delivers the projected business benefits. The SRO is the recognised owner of the overall business change and ensures that business focus is maintained, and that the context and the risks are actively managed. Given the seriousness with which the Government views this role, support is available for SROs through training, guidance and mentors.

With SROs in place on all major projects, the Government is working with the private sector to introduce an industry equivalent of the SRO. This senior person works together with the SRO to make the necessary decisions to ensure successful delivery of public sector projects. The idea originated from the Senior IT Forum, a group of senior representatives from Government and the IT Industry, which identifies and addresses joint systemic issues associated with the acquisition and implementation of projects. This group identifies key areas that require change to bring about real improvements in working together. An example of the results of this work is a Best Practice Guide for senior managers working on complex procurements, to emphasise the importance of decision-making based upon value for money, rather than lowest price.

The Office of Government Commerce (OGC) is responsible for producing guidance to ensure that the public sector is equipped with the latest tools and techniques, based on best practice. Best Practice Guides for senior managers include "Why IT Projects Fail", which highlights the common causes of failure, and "Managing Partnering Relationships", which addresses the key considerations of working with suppliers.

These guides, and many more, are available electronically through the Successful Delivery Toolkit on the OGC web site. The Toolkit provides an integrated source of OGC guidance on procurement, project, programme, risk and service management. The wealth of guidance on the Toolkit ranges from summary information for senior managers through to more detailed material for project teams, review teams and those creating organisational standards.

Much of the guidance produced by OGC is renowned worldwide. The Management of Successful Programmes guide supports the delivery of projects within the wider business context. OGC has also recently revised the publication, Managing Successful Projects with Prince2. Prince2 provides a structured method for effective project management of all projects, not just IT. Both these publications have professional training and qualifications associated with them.

The OGC's recent publication Management of Risk, and associated professional certification, sets out a framework for taking informed decisions about risk at a strategic, programme, project and operational level. This can ensure that key risks are identified and assessed, and action is taken to address them.

The Government is taking its own medicine in ensuring that people attain the professional qualifications associated with these methods. Equally it recognises the importance of other professional skills in the public sector, such as contract negotiation and contract management. In September 2002 a major skilling programme is being launched to further strengthen these capabilities.

Recognising the value of independent reviews as projects progress through their lifecycle, the OGC has introduced the Gateway Review process. The process is based on well-proven techniques that lead to more effective delivery of benefits, together with more predictable costs and outcomes. The review considers a project at six critical points during its lifecycle, four prior to contract award and two addressing service implementation and the realisation of the operational benefits. At each stage recommendations are made that will help strengthen the likelihood of successful outcomes. All procurement projects in civil Central Government are subject to Gateway Reviews, which is now widely recognised as a major tool in the embedding of best practice.

Of course, Government cannot deliver public services without private sector help, and it relies heavily on IT Industry partners to provide reliable and robust systems to support those services. The Government is striving to become a smarter client of industry, and it needs to be more confident that suppliers are capable of delivering to the contracts they are awarded. The OGC is developing a toolkit to help public sector organisations evaluate supplier capability to deliver on large, complex, or novel projects. The aim is to provide a toolkit with an evidence-based method of assessment.

These are just some of the initiatives that Central Government is taking to address the failures, and learn the lessons, of the past - and the present. They highlight the determination of the Government to improve its successful acquisition and delivery of IT-enabled business change. As many readers will recognise, the underlying issues are complex and require a long-term, sustained change programme. There is no magic "quick-fix", but there is an unrelenting drive to get better and better.