Report to Deputy Leader
and Portfolio Holder for Strategy
February 2015
Subject:
IT Replacement Capital Programme, approval of
delegation to Head of Resources
Status:
Open
Report Ref:
Ward(s):
N/A
Key Decision:
No
Report of:
Head of Resources
Primary: Paul Tatam, IT Manager, ext 2279
paul.tatam@basingstoke.gov.uk
Contact:
Secondary: Kevin Jaquest, Head of Resources, ext 2513
Kevin.jaquest@basingstoke.gov.uk
Appendices:
None
Papers relied on to
produce this report
None
SUMMARY
1.
This Report
1.1
The purpose of this report is to seek approval of the Portfolio Holder to
release funding from the 2015/16 capital programme and to delegate approval
for individual IT capital scheme expenditure to the Head of Resources.
In accordance with the constitution, Portfolio Holder approval is required for
the release of capital budgets. This report seeks Portfolio Holder approval for
the release of capital budget and delegation of approval of individual schemes
to the Head of Resources. This will aid the operational delivery of projects
and avoid delays that would be introduced through seeking portfolio holder
approval for each scheme. It will also support the continued delivery of the IT
Strategy 2014 – 2017.
2.
Recommendation
It is recommended that:
2.1
The Portfolio Holder approves the release of £427,000 from the IT
Replacement Programme Capital budget in 2015/16
2.2
The Portfolio Holder delegates approval for individual schemes to the Head of
Resources.
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CONTRIBUTION TO COUNCIL PRIORITIES
This report accords with the council’s Policy and Budget Framework and supports the
development of an effective and efficient council.
GLOSSARY OF TERMS
Term
Definition
SSD
Solid state drives. Computer storage devices
with no moving parts and faster access times.
IDS
Intrusion detection systems. Monitor network
activity
MAIN CONSIDERATIONS
3.
The Proposal
3.1
The Council’s IT Service supports over 600 users including members across
multiple sites including offices, workshops and homes. The investment made
in IT affects every service the council delivers and reliable equipment provides
the building blocks to allow day to day operational delivery of council
business.
3.2
Investment in IT equipment replacement underpins the continuous
improvement of the councils IT infrastructure to ensure continued compliance
with legislation and continued maintenance of the councils business continuity
environment.
The main areas of capital expenditure in 2015/2016 that will be required to
ensure that a robust, reliable, and appropriate IT Infrastructure and IT service
include;

Desktops and Laptops

Core Infrastructure

Servers

Backup
3.3
Desktop and Laptops
3.4
The council operates a rolling replacement program for its desktop in line with
industry best practice. This ensures that staff and members continue to be
able to use current and future services provided by IT Services.
3.5
IT adopts a policy of operating desktop, laptops and servers for a minimum of
4 years to balance failure rates and risks associated with aging devices
against the cost of replacing equipment. Wherever possible equipment will be
used for 5 years or more.
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3.6
The IT service has extended the life of laptops to a minimum of 5 years to
ensure value for money across all desktop devices.
3.7
During the course of the 2015/2016 financial year, 100 laptops will reach their
end of life and are scheduled to be replaced.
3.8
In line with the IT Managers ambition to reduce to number of laptops deployed
in the council, a maximum of 60 laptops will be replaced. The remaining
laptops will be scheduled for replacement in the 2016/2017 financial year or
will be removed and replaced with standard desktop devices.
3.9
IT Services have recently been reviewing desktop equipment as a whole, and
while the review is ongoing it is clear that the specification of laptops provided
by IT Services could be reduced, this will impact favourable on purchase
costs.
3.10
During the course of the 2015/2016 financial year, 40 desktop computers will
reach their end of life and will require replacement.
3.11
Additional desktop computers will need to be purchased to replace laptops
given up by staff.
3.12
Savings made on the replacement of desktop equipment will be rephased into
later financial years.
3.13
Core Infrastructure
3.14
The council’s core infrastructure supports the use of and processing of data
around the council. Networking is an essential element of the infrastructure.
The council’s network environment has recently been refreshed, new network
switches and core network infrastructure was replaced in 2014/2015. The
core network replacement was brought forward as an opportunity to save
money on its replacement was available to the council. The savings made on
the earlier replacement of the equipment was approximately £100,000. This
was at the expense of the planned wireless network refresh which will now be
performed during 2015/2016.
3.15
The council storage infrastructure was replaced during 2014/2015 with faster
storage technology which included the use of solid state drives (SSD) and
improved technology for storage resilience and backup.
3.16
Security of the council’s information assets is important, the refresh of the
councils Intrusion Detection Systems (IDS) is planned for 2015/2016. These
systems monitor for and alert staff of attempts to breach the council’s security
environment, both internally and externally.
3.17
Part of the council data backup environment will become unsupported during
2015/2016 and will require replacement. As the council looks to reduce the
amount of data if holds through the implementation of its retention and
disposal policies, the replacement equipment will be specified appropriately to
meet the needs of the council.
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3.18
Servers
3.19
The council is heavily virtualised within its server environment, this means that
we have few large physical servers that support in excess of 200 virtual
servers that provide the platform for the majority of council services. The
physical equipment for the virtualised environment is a key component of IT
Services and during 2015/2016 it will reach an age of 5 years, therefor it must
be replaced to ensure that it continues to be supported. £165,000 is budgeted
for its replacement.
3.20
An additional £35,000 is budgeted for the replacement of other physical
servers that provide services that can’t currently be virtualised, these include
database servers.
3.21
Telephones
3.22
The equipment that supports the telephone environment is current and up to
date, there is no planned replacement during 15/16.
3.23
Print Equipment
3.24
The corporate print environment is the responsibility of the IT Service and has
successfully implemented secure Follow-Me printing and the removal of
desktop laser and ink jet printers from the majority of the council. To ensure
ongoing reliability of the office based print environment Multi-Functional
Devices (MFD) has been capitalised to allow the ongoing replacement of
equipment when it reaches end of life or support. Further reviews of MFD
replacement will be considered as the IT Service moves more transactional
prints from MFD’s to the corporate print room. The current works to support
office moves is expected to release two MFD’s from use.
Replacement of MFD’s will take place as and when reliability becomes an
issue and support is withdrawn on the basis of age of the equipment. Whilst
our print support provider is happy to maintain the equipment there are no
plans to replace.
3.25
The equipment in the corporate print room during 14/15 has achieved savings
on the revenue print budget of £27,000 per annum.
4.
Options Analysis
4.1
There are two options available for the release of capital schemes.
4.2
Requesting delegated approvals for all schemes will allow the IT Service to
delivery against its agreed projects, improvements and delivery of the IT
Strategy, ensuring that it continues to provide a robust and reliable
infrastructure to the council.
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4.3
Requesting approval for individual schemes could mean that there are delays
in the procurement of replacement equipment leading to hardware that is
unable to be supported and therefore risks of service delivery to staff.
5.
Corporate Implications
5.1
Financial Implications
5.1.1
The capital programme which was approved by Council in February 2015
includes total budget of £427k in 2015/16 within the Finance, Property and
Commissioning Portfolio to support the IT Replacement Programme.
5.1.2
The budget will be allocated in the most effective way to ensure that the
council’s IT requirements are met. This is currently anticipated to be as below:
IT Replacement Programme
2015/16
o Servers and Storage
£200,000
o Desktops and Laptops
£92,000
o Core Infrastructure
£80,000
o Telephones
£0
o Backup
£50,000
o Scanners
£5,000
o Total
£427,000
5.2
Risk Issues
5.2.1
Failure to replace infrastructure equipment at end of life may result in service
availability issues and impact on council services.
5.2.2
Failure to replace desktop equipment may lead to desktop equipment
performance issues and impact on day to day operational activity.
5.3
HR Issues
5.3.1
None
5.4
Equalities
5.4.1
No direct implications
5.5
Legal Implications
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5.5.1
No direct implications
5.6
Any Other Implications
5.6.1
Environmental and sustainable considerations
5.6.2
The implications of increased electronic service delivery on the environment
are significant. There are several considerations that can be noted, though
their full impact can only be evaluated as implementation of projects progress:

5.6.3
Reduced power consumption as replacement devices on the
desktop and in the data centre are more energy efficient
 Improved availability of electronic services allows remote and
24/7 access to request information or services provided by the
council
Where it is appropriate, some key infrastructure elements may be recycled
from the council’s main sites to the council business continuity environment.
6.
Conclusion
6.1.1
Continued investment is necessary to ensure a robust and reliable IT service
is provided. Delegation to the Head of Resources of the approval of individual
capital expenditure schemes will help ensure that timely and effective
procurement can continue.
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