Making a Difference
Report to Customer & Support Services
Lead Member Briefing - March 2010 by
Head of ICT Services

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Socitm Benchmarking Survey February 2010
This report summarises the results of the Society of IT Managers (SOCTIM) benchmarking process in 2009, published in February 2010. The survey was carried out from October to
November 2009, with 15 organisations participating in the group.
The survey was based on an e-questionnaire and as the benchmarking process continues to mature and services change, some indicators have been discontinued and some new indicators have emerged.
15 organisations participated and 12 key performance indicators (KPI) were reported. Most
KPIs are broken down into measurable sub-indicators. Those organisations scoring particularly well are highlighted by SOCITM as indicators of good practice.
Of the indicators used by Soc itm to identify “good practice”, Salford ICT Services was identified
12 times in these categories:
 Delivery time from order to desktop
Lowest support cost per workstation
High ratio of workstations supported at low cost
Cost per connection to voice network
Cost per connection to converged network
Good
Practice
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Lowest cost for PCs
Lowest cost for Laptops
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Adopting Quality Management systems
Information Security
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Training adequacy assessed by users
Training days per ICT specialist
ICT competence of employees with at least 10% ECDL qualified
The average number of times other organisations were identified as good practice was 5 times.
We reported improvements in 9 of the 12 key performance indicators, confirming our commitment to provide our customers with an excellent service.
In overall terms Salford ICT Services had the following results:
 17 in the upper quartile performers
 8 middle ranking performers
 2 in the lower quartile performers
See the Appendix for a full list of these results.
Page 2 of 16

Socitm Benchmarking Survey February 2010
The following charts show Salford’s position for key indicators relative to the other participating councils, together with comparisons to 2007 where available.
Overall Customer satisfaction with all ICT services (full external independent survey)
2007 2009
Salford
Minimum
Salford
Minimum
Maximum
2007
Maximum
0 2 4 6 8 0 2 4 6
Salford’s position is 3 rd with a satisfaction rating of
5.24 out of 7
Salford’s position is 5 th with a satisfaction rating of 5.25 out of 7
Customer satisfaction – internal surveys as part of ongoing operations
8
2009
Salford
Minimum
Salford
Minimum
Maximum Maximum
0 2 4 6 8 0 2 4 6
Salford’s position is 1st with a satisfaction rating of S alford’s position is 2nd of all councils surveying
6.86 out of 7 100% of users
Only 8 organisations reported results for internal surveys. Salford ’s position was actually 3 rd but the organisation scoring the highest satisfaction rating surveys only 3% of its users, whereas
Salford surveys 100% of its users.
Page 3 of 16
8

Socitm Benchmarking Survey
% of reported incidents resolved within agreed timescales
2007 2009
February 2010
Salford
Minimum
Salford
Minimum
Maximum Maximum
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 0 20 40 60 80 100 120
Salford’s position is 6 th with a performance of 94%. Salford’s position is 5 th with a performance of 95%.
% of reported incidents resolved within 4 hours
2007 2009
Salford
Minimum
Maximum
0 20 40 60 80 100
Salford’s position is 9 th with a performance of
68%.
Salford
Minimum
Maximum
0 20 40 60 80 100
Salford’s position is 5 th with a performance of
65%.
Page 4 of 16

Socitm Benchmarking Survey
% of calls resolved at point of contact (Help Desk)
2007
Salford
Minimum
Maximum
0 20 40
Salford’s position is 3 rd with 59%
60 80 100
Salford
Minimum
Maximum
0
2009
February 2010
20 40 60 80 100
Salford’s position is 3 rd and has improved to 64%
Page 5 of 16

Socitm Benchmarking Survey February 2010
The following information shows comparisons between 2007 and 2009 relating to unavailability of systems and a chart that shows the weighted index of availability with the highest scores having the best availability.
Number of instances and hours of unavailability
Salford’s performance - 2007
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Whole network
Salford’s performance – 2009
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Whole network
0 instances of total unavailability
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Part of network
0 instances
 Email
0 instances
 Internet
4 instances & 0.63 hours lost
 Finance system
0 instances
 Revenues & benefits
2 instances & 0.66 hours lost
 Housing system
1 instance & 0.11 hours lost
 Social Services
0 instances
 CRM
1 instances & 0.25 hours lost
 Website
13 instances & 41 hours lost
1 instances of total unavailability
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Part of network
0 instances
 Email
0 instances
 Internet
5 instances & 5 hours lost
 Finance system
0 instances
 Revenues & benefits
0 instances
 Housing system
0 instance
 Social Services
0 instances
 CRM
2 instances & 7 hours lost
 Website
8 instances & 13 hours lost
The one instance of total unavailability was caused by the uninterruptible power supply (UPS) failure.
Internet – The provision of Internet connectivity is an increasingly complex environment with additional filtering techniques having to be deployed. There had been issues with the software that caused the increased amount of downtime reported.
Weighted index of availability of systems 2009
A scoring system is used to allow service availability to be compared with other organisations.
Scores are allocated for 100% availability, minor unavailability and major unavailability. Major unavailability is classed as 10 or more instances or hours per year.
2009
Salford’s position is 4 th with a score of 83.
Salford
Minimum
Maximum
0 20 40 60 80 100 120
Page 6 of 16

Socitm Benchmarking Survey February 2010
Costs per PC and Laptop
The chart below shows the position in relation to the purchase and installation of PC’s and laptops.
2007 2009
Salford Salford
Minimum
PC's
Laptops
Minimum
PC's
Laptops
Maximum Maximum
0 500 1000 1500 0 500 1000 1500
Salford’s position is 11 th for PCs with a cost of £474 for the equipment and £45 installation
Salford’s position is 5 th for Laptops with a cost of
£627 for the equipment and £45 installation
Salford’s position is 6 th for PCs with a cost of £420 for the equipment and £52 installation
Salford’s position is 9 th for Laptops with a cost of
£493 for the equipment and £52 installation
Current Equipment Costs per PC and Laptop (Sept 09)
2009
Salford
Minimum
Maximum
0 500 1000 1500
PC's
Laptops
Salford’s position is 1 st for PCs with a cost of £336 for the equipment
Good
Practice
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Salford’s position is 2 nd for Laptops with a cost of
£431 for the equipment
Good
Practice
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Page 7 of 16

Socitm Benchmarking Survey
Average time taken from order to desktop for a new workstation
2007 2009
February 2010
Salford
Minimum
Salford
Minimum
Maximum Maximum
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 0 5 10 15 20 25 30
Salford’s position is 4 th with an average time of
5 days.
Salford’s position is 3 rd with an average time of 5 days.
Good
Practice
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In 2007 Data and Voice connections were reported but in 2009, these have been split into Data,
Voice and Converged connections. This reflects the changes in patterns in the industry and is an excellent example of using technology to reduce costs.
Cost per connection to the voice network
2007 2009
Salford
Minimum
Maximum
0 100 200 300
Salford’s position is 2 nd with a total cost of £103 comprising:
 £29 capital investment
 £33 support costs
 £41 call costs
400
Salford
Minimum
Maximum
0 100 200 300
Salford’s position is 3 rd with a tot al cost of £80 comprising:
 £1 capital investment
 £45 support costs
 £34 call costs
Good
400
Practice
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Socitm Benchmarking Survey
Cost per connection to the data network
2007 2009
February 2010
Salford
Minimum
Salford
Minimum
Maximum Maximum
0 200 400 600 0 200 400 600
Salford’s position is 8 th with a total cost of £164 comprising:
 £24 capital investment
 £140 support costs
Salford’s position is 8 th with a total cost of £153 comprising:
 £16 capital investment
 £137 support costs
Cost per connection to the converged network
Salford
Minimum
Maximum
0 100
2009
200 300 400
Salford’s position is 2 nd with a total cost of £103 comprising:
 £13 capital investment
 £57 support costs
 £33 call costs
Good
Practice
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Page 9 of 16

Socitm Benchmarking Survey February 2010
Mobile phones
When comparing numbers of mobile phones Salford ICT Services supports the 3 rd highest number within the benchmarking group.
Cost per mobile per year
Salford
Minimum
Maximum
0 50
2009
100 150 200
Salford has the 3 rd lowest annual cost of £94
2007 2009
Salford
Minimum
Maximum
0 50 100 150 200 250 300
Salford’s position is 2 nd with a cost of £65
Salford
Minimum
Maximum
0 100 200
Salford’s position is 1 st with a cost of £52
300
Good
Practice
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Page 10 of 16

Socitm Benchmarking Survey
2007 2009
February 2010
Salford
Minimum
Maximum
0
Salford
Minimum
Maximum
0 200 400 600 800 200 400 600 800
Salford’s position is 3 rd with the number of workstations supported being 416 per ICT support officer
Salford’s position is 2 nd with the number of workstations supported being 442 per ICT support officer
Ratio of the number of users to each ICT staff member
2009
Salford
Minimum
Maximum
Salford’s position is 4 th with a ratio of 1:65
Good
Practice
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0 20 40 60 80 100
Page 11 of 16

Socitm Benchmarking Survey February 2010
This indicator is based on the average cost of equipment, data connection and support per annum.
PC Laptop
2009 2009
Salford
Minimum
Salford
Minimum
Maximum Maximum
0 200 400 600 0 200 400 600
Salford’s position is 1 st with a low cost of £240 Salford’s position is 1 st with a low cost of £258
Good
Practice
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These are significant KPIs indicating the value for money facility ICT Services supply, demonstrating excellent performance in a range of areas.
Good
Practice
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Cost per ICT staff member
2009
Salford
Salford’s position is 4 th lowest cost per ICT specialist
Minimum
Maximum
£0 £10,000 £20,000 £30,000 £40,000 £50,000
Page 12 of 16

Socitm Benchmarking Survey
Perception of the adequacy of ICT training
2007 2009
February 2010
Salford
Minimum
Maximum
0 1 2 3
Salford’s position is 1 st
% of employees with ECDL
2007
4 5 6
Salford
Minimum
Maximum
0 1 2
2009
3 4 5 6
Salford’s position is 2 nd with a performance of 5.57 out of 7
Good
Practice
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Salford
Minimum
Salford
Minimum
Maximum Maximum
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 0 10 20 30 40
Salford’s position is 2 nd with a performance of 33.9%
Salford’s position is 1 st with a performance of 36.4% and are commended
Good
Practice
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It must be stated that this may not reflect the true position here at Salford City Council. Although the ICT training department record accurately the uptake and completion of ECDL, HR do not record the number of leavers who achieved the ECDL qualification. Socitm reported that this seems to be the case in many organisations.
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Socitm Benchmarking Survey
Training of ICT specialists
2007 2009
February 2010
Salford
Minimum
Salford
Minimum
Maximum Maximum
0 5 10 15 0 5 10 15
Salford’s position is 1 st with an average of 13.5 days pa
Salford’s position is 2 nd with an average of 9 days pa
Good
Practice
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In comparison to the level of service performance shown above, it is worth noting the levels of ICT investment where Salford ranks:
 3 rd lowest investment spend per user
 2 nd lowest investment spend per workstation
Socitm state that Salford answered every question with the best possible answer regarding security and data handling
Good
Practice
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Page 14 of 16

Socitm Benchmarking Survey February 2010
Indicator Salford’s
Position
Upper Quartile
Action Points
KPI 1 External Customer
Satisfaction Survey
KPI 1 Internal Customer Satisfaction
Survey
Median The Service Improvement Team has been tasked with reviewing the way we collect this data to make it easier and quicker for users to give us feedback.
KPI 2 Incidents resolved within agreed timescales
KPI 2 hours
Incidents resolved within 0-4
Median
Median Although our ranking has improved from
9 th position to 5 th , the percentage has dropped from 68% to 65%. This is mitigated by the increase in roaming users with mobile devices who are not available in a static location
However, it must be stressed that we improved our results for % of reported incidents resolved within agreed timescales from 6 th position to 5 th with a score of 95%
KPI 2 Incidents resolved within 8 hours
KPI 2 Incidents resolved at point of contact
KPI 2 Operational incidents per user per year
Median
Upper Quartile
Upper Quartile
KPI 2 Service desk hours Lower Quartile The Help Desk availability is being reviewed in response to our low position in these results.
KPI 15 Weighted index of availability Median
KPI 4 Acquisition costs of PCs
08/09
KPI 4 Acquisition costs of PCs current
KPI 4 Acquisition costs of laptops
08/09
KPI 4 Acquisition costs of laptops current
KPI 4 Days from order to desktop
Median
Upper Quartile
Median
Upper Quartile
Upper Quartile
KPI 7 Support costs per workstation Upper Quartile
KPI 8 Workstations supported by specialist
KPI 8 Staff dedicated to supporting workstations
KPI 17 Cost per voice connection
Upper Quartile
Median
KPI 17 Cost per data connection
Upper Quartile
Lower Quartile
KPI 17 Cost per converged Upper Quartile connection
KPI 17 Cost per mobile per annum Upper Quartile
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Socitm Benchmarking Survey
Indicator Salford’s
Position
KPI 18 Total cost per PC per annum Upper Quartile
KPI 18 Total cost per laptop per annum
KPI 10 Employee perception of adequacy of training
KPI 10 Training days per ICT specialist
Upper Quartile
Upper Quartile
February 2010
Action Points
Upper Quartile A drop from 13.5 days to 9 days. This fall is in direct response to training budget cuts. Training is essential in order to stay abreast of the latest technologies and maintain the current high standards.
Upper Quartile ICT Staffing Ratio of users to each
ICT staff
ICT Staffing Cost per ICT staff Upper Quartile
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