Agenda item

[Report of  the Interim Director for  Customers, Transformation and Resources. To be introduced by the Cabinet Member for Corporate Services and Insourcing]

The report  will  be seeking authority to complete refresh of the Council’s laptop and desktop estate.

The Cabinet Member for Corporate Services and Insourcing introduced the report which sought Cabinet approval to the allocation of funding of up to £4.1m to enable the delivery of phase 2 of the Council’s Laptop and Desktop Refresh Project (part of the End User Compute Programme) by Shared Digital Service.

The Cabinet Member went on to state that this project was about capital investment to ensure that staff of Haringey Council could continue to work effectively. Currently, the Council was still using Windows 7 which would soon become obsolete and cease to be supported by Microsoft. Furthermore, the project would allow the Council to utilise Office 365 to its fullest extent.

The Cabinet Member emphasised that the project was required to ensure that the necessary equipment is supplied to staff and that it would be funded by Capital Funding and not revenue allocation.

In response to a question, it was noted that an Equalities Impact Assessment screening tool had been carried out and that the utmost attention has been given to access issues and ensuring that all disabled members of staff have full access to the equipment. Furthermore, it was noted that, due to the rollout of newer and better systems across the Council, it was anticipated that efficiency savings would be released as a result.

RESOLVED

To approve the allocation of funding up to £4.1m to enable the delivery of phase 2 of the Council’s Laptop and Desktop Refresh Project (part of the End User Compute Programme) by Shared Digital Service.

Reasons for decision

The Council has an ageing estate of laptops, desktops and monitors which were last refreshed in 2012/2013. The hardware is now failing at an increasing rate and the general level of dis-satisfaction and frustration with the existing estate from the user community is very high. The estate is also not suitable for running the latest software applications and is inadequate in supporting users with smart / mobile working. The ability to procure new or refurbished Windows 7 devices (the operating system currently installed on Council computers) is now proving almost impossible.

In addition to the critical usability issues, Windows 7 will no longer be supported by Microsoft from January 2020. No further security fixes will be released by Microsoft from that date. It is therefore critical that the Council move to the new Shared Digital recommended platform of Windows 10 before January 2020. Failure to do so may compromise the Council’s security and potentially expose the Council to exploitation of known hacking attacks. The Council’s access to Public Services Network (PSN) based systems e.g. NHS, may also be affected, as access to PSN is predicated upon the Council demonstrating that it is only running supportable and patchable hardware and software.

The move to Windows 10 is aligned to the Council’s software strategy (office tools, server and end user device operating systems) and the Council is currently renewing its Microsoft Enterprise Subscription Licensing Agreement and have recently migrated to Office 365. This will allow the Council to make use of the latest versions of Windows and Office as well as maintaining its investment in Office 365.

To address the above issues, the Shared Digital Service initiated the End User Compute Programme with a view to addressing the needs of the Council and our partner boroughs: Camden and Islington, using a “shared” approach. This approach allows all boroughs to utilise designs, resources, experiences and deployment approaches, will maximise efficiency whilst ensuring individual Council nuances are recognised. The Laptop and Desktop Refresh Programme is part of the wider End User Compute Programme.

The Laptop and Desktop Refresh Programme aims to make the Council more flexible and joined up in conjunction with Office 365. Implementation of the new technology will give users the capability to work from anywhere and facilitate more joined up and integrated working. Systems will be easier to use, secure, fit for purpose, forward looking and future proof. The Council will become ‘digital by default’ as users are able to access information from anywhere and maximise benefits by aligning the Council’s service offer with the technology used by our residents, customers and partners.

Following a detailed specification phase to understand user and technical requirements across all three boroughs, the Shared Digital Service has undertaken a procurement exercise including the use of an eAuction conducted by Crown Commercial Services and benchmarking information to ensure the cost of the replacement hardware provided value for money for the Council.

The overall cost of the Laptop and Desktop Refresh Programme is up to £4.6m which includes £488,340 already funded for Phase 1. The total estimated cost of the programme is £3.6m based on the initial user specification and resource requirements as at March 2018.

The remaining funding request is to cover any contingencies that may arise as a result of changes during the deployment of phase 2 as follows:

a)        Price increases – the original costings were conducted in March 2018. There may be some variations in costs.

b)        Resource requirements – the resources required to implement phase 2 may change if the Council wishes to deploy the programme more quickly or unforeseen circumstances require additional resources.

a.    Change in mix of hardware requirements – the hardware requirements (e.g. the number of devices) to be deployed is shown below in table 1. A number of assumptions have been made around the user estate. The proposed new estate adopts a “laptop first” policy and users of desktops will switch to laptops where possible, and the mix of laptop types has been estimated based on the initial user specification but the overall mix of estate may change during the implementation as user requirements are better understood.

            Table 1:

Note 1: Connectivity includes 24 inch monitor, dock, 24 inch USB-C Monitor and dongle pack

            Note 2: Accessories includes laptop riser, ruck sack, pen, Bluetooth mouse

The number of devices takes into account where there is currently a desktop device that is used by multiple staff members, if the desktop device is replaced, each member of staff would need an individual laptop. During the phase 2 deployment, where it makes business and financial sense to maintain a desktop device e.g. job share or where home or smart working is not a requirement, then the desktop device will be retained.

All costs associated with the programme will be monitored on a monthly basis and reported to Cabinet on a quarterly basis. Any unused contingency funds will be carried forward and used to fund other transformational work.        

Alternative options considered

Do Nothing:

The Laptop and Desktop Refresh Programme has been initiated to address two specific issues. The withdrawal by Microsoft of Windows 7 support from January 2020 and the ongoing procurement issues of purchasing the Council’s existing estate of Dell laptops due to the requirement of using Windows 7 operating system. Failure to address these issues would not only be in breach of the Council’s current commitments and expose the Council to security flaws (e.g. out of date software will not be patched / supported by Microsoft), but will also affect the Council’s PSN submission. Coupled with high levels of frustration with the existing Dell laptops and their continued suitability as an enabling business tool, ‘Do nothing’ is not an option.