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When a senior member of Haringey Council's IT Management team was seconded to an internal project, a Campion Willcocks' Associate was assigned to manage critical relationships with external IT providers. “The Borough has outsourced a significant proportion of its IT services to third parties, and my job was to manage relationships to ensure high levels of service and best value,” says David Hatley, the Associate involved.

Serving a population of 225,000, many of the Council's services depend on 200+ IT systems. In recent years, most IT services have been outsourced; this, in turn, requires appropriate management processes to ensure best service and value. “We manage an enormous amount of contracts and contractors,” says Stephen Cornell, Service Delivery Manager, Haringey Council. Heading a 40-strong team, Stephen Cornell is responsible for services that include helpdesks, support, infrastructure, contracts and other relationships. Managing suppliers to a high degree of quality must be maintained and, ideally, improved over time. By doing so, the Council aims to improve overall performance levels.

Driving service excellence
The role required someone with the expertise to not only manage day-to-day delivery, but also to support service improvements and keep a close eye on costs. And Haringey wanted someone fast: “We wanted an experienced Service Manager who could start immediately and be here for a minimum of three months,” adds Stephen Cornell. “We contacted various agencies but were not convinced by the CVs. However, Haringey already had people from Campion Willcocks. We subsequently chose David Hatley. His experience - managing key supplier relationships for outsourced operational processes and IT platforms, and dealing with suppliers - was very useful.”

As Service Manager, David Hatley was based in Haringey's Central IT Services team. His role included reviewing and recommending the Service Management Team's charter, practices and processes, then recruiting a team to take on activities permanently. He says, “Relationship management experience was critical, while contract management and negotiation skills were also key. I was a central point of liaison with internal customers to, for example, escalate incidents. The final part of the mix, to help improve service levels and deliver best value, was service level and performance management.”

Outcomes
“Managing a portfolio of long-term IT suppliers effectively is a competency Haringey has developed over the last few years,” continues David Hatley. “My involvement brought an additional level of rigour and improved processes.” In particular, implementing service levels and service credits (penalties) into contracts, and enforcing them, has helped Haringey improve performance and better manage costs.

Stephen Cornell adds, “A highly professional and likeable guy, David's not afraid to ‘get his hands dirty' and would do anything asked of him. Another clear benefit was that he was comfortable working at a senior level, and often had to attend high-level meetings. He fitted in extremely well: so much that his contract was extended from the initial three months for a further three-to-six months.”

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