CASE STUDY TWO: Wellington Shire Council
Information transformation
When Phillip Phillipou joined Wellington Shire Council in Victoria 18 months ago, the manager for information services was confronted by a creaking IT infrastructure.
“We were dealing with some systems that were up to 15 years old,” Phillipou says. “We had Windows XP so we were dealing with legacy applications and inefficiencies of incompatible system IT workarounds, and IT staff being called in for basic tasks, and this was a massive cost for the organisation.”
The escalating running costs and lost opportunities convinced the council to invest about $500,000 in IT as part of a larger program of works, Phillipou says.
“[Council] were stuck in a rut in terms of business processes and the limitations of the old technology so we couldn’t move forwards. Our users were so frustrated at the technology environment they brought in their own solutions, and that posed its own business risk; that was a main driver for change.”
Before Phillipou could go to market, he had to make the case for digital model transformation. “The business case was a five-year model around maintenance and support of an outdated ICT environment versus expenditure to deliver new technologies and savings from efficiencies. Costs are reduced and council has achieved fantastic value for the ratepayer.”
He then rigorously tested the market, insisting on terms such as same-day turnaround on device repairs before alighting on Lenovo Helix convertible two-in-ones from Melbourne reseller Learning With Technology. The Helix range is more tablet than laptop, given that the default keyboard is unpowered with limited connectivity and essentially acts as a base for typing.
Along with a broader ICT agenda that boosted connectivity throughout the 11,000km2 local government area east of the state, the transformation has lived up to its promise.
It is supported by Microsoft One Note and Skype for Business that also provides teleconferencing, Phillipou says, replacing phone handsets with Jabra headsets.
Now the business collaborates openly with other organisations and ratepayers and has integrated internal systems such as in finance. Server silos were consolidated and wi-fi is now ubiquitous in many council areas. The wired network is up to 20Gbps, connecting council offices to a disaster recovery site and a new data centre that provides private cloud services.
A 100Mbps to 500Mbps microwave link now connects regional offices and 802.1x covers the last few metres. “Previous to that we had a very limited wi-fi; it might have been one access point with a pre-shared key so we had all sorts of security problems.”
Elsewhere, 4G mobile fills in gaps in the network. Council also partnered with Aussie Broadband ISP to provide a wireless mesh network across council.
“The transformation has been phenomenal to go from that environment [of old PCs and limited connectivity] to a mobile, flexible workplace,” says Phillipou.
Fact file
Device Lenovo Helix
Number deployed 150-180
Suppliers Working With Technology, Perfekt, Icomm, APC by Schneider Electric, Lenovo, Aussie Broadband
Value of deal ~$500,000
Other technology solutions deployed Microwave data upgrade, new private cloud data centre, wireless mesh network, collaboration applications such as Skype for Business and paperless meetings using Microsoft One Note, replaced Windows Server 2003 with Windows Server 2012R2 and Windows XP replaced by Windows 8.1; Toshiba Eco copiers
Client status Council led a consortium of suppliers
Technology replaced HP Celeron PCs, running Windows XP (some up to 15 years old); old networking and backbone; printers
Business case A five-year forecast showed costs to maintain legacy technology versus new technologies and new efficiencies. Showed significant savings from efficiencies and innovation that benefits the business and delivers best value to ratepayers
Challenges Huge area to be covered, staff training and acceptance, creating the business case to secure budget, new digital models for service delivery
Timeline
12-month project started Jun/Jul 2014: Preplanning
Aug: Infrastructure and data centre build
Oct-Dec: Early adopter user program
Jan-Feb 2015: Lenovo desktops to 160 staff
Mar: Data centre go-live
Apr: Relocate 160 staff to new offices with new technology
Next: Sonic Healthcare
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