Changes to IT Services organisation
06 Dec 2019
Next phase in creating an IT organisation to support our University to deliver its ambitions
The Directorate of IT Services is undertaking a modernisation programme of work on technology, operations and organisation over five years. The aim is to create an organisation to support the University’s goals, to reduce staff load, improve the experience of our students, enhance our research capability and to make us better placed to respond to future opportunities and challenges through:
- Re-aligning and organising IT Services to create a more responsive approach to changing University demands, resulting in more effective and cost-efficient service delivery, agreed budgets and standard procedures.
- Taking advantage of current and future technological innovation to improve effective ways of working and service delivery, while being more cost-effective.
- Clearly defining the cost of technology services within the University, so informed choices can be made about future investment.
At the end of this modernisation programme, IT Services will be operating with a different organisational shape and size, new capabilities, competencies and skills. It will be able to better respond to the University’s needs with improved processes and with more modern and standardised technologies. This future operating model is referred to as the Target Operating Model and was shared earlier this year on StaffNet.
Progress has already been made over the past two years, starting with changes to the senior leadership structure, individual capabilities, and responsibilities. These changes have already supported adjustments to the overall shape of the IT organisation.
Following this work, the Board of Governors of our University has now approved entering into formal consultation with the trade unions on further proposed changes, detailed below, in two areas of IT Services.
These areas are:
- Office of the Chief Information Officer (OCIO).
- Strategy, Demand and Architecture (SDA).
Within OCIO, the capability of traditional in-person IT training is not part of the future operating model as a result of increased online and self- directed learning. The Resourcing, Recruitment and Directorate Support teams (included in the OCIO) are currently not the right size and shape for the current and expected volumes of work. Within SDA, the Architecture team is also not the right size and shape for the current and expected nature and volumes of work.
The proposals will result in a change to the number of posts required and their nature. In total there is a proposed reduction of 14 posts, with 33 roles in scope of the changes.
A targeted voluntary severance scheme will be offered to those colleagues in scope and at risk. If the voluntary severance scheme is not effective in achieving the required target reduction in posts, then the University will seek approval from the Board of Governors to proceed to a compulsory scheme.
As always, we are committed to ensuring that this process is conducted fairly and transparently in line with our policies and procedures and we will seek to explore opportunities for the avoidance of compulsory redundancy where possible, including redeployment and retraining.
All changes involving people that are undertaken by our University are given very careful and serious consideration. While these changes are essential, I recognise that this is an anxious time for those colleagues likely to be affected by the proposals.
As a result, my senior team and I will continue to have regular conversations with colleagues who are affected by the process.
Modernising IT will create an organisation which is able to support the work of our University more effectively and I will keep you informed as it develops.
Malcolm Whitehouse
Chief Information Officer
Directorate of IT Services
More information
- Modernising IT
- Watch a video on the IT Services Target Operating Model and the benefits it will bring