As Hampshire County Council's outgoing CIO, Jos Creese believes BYOD is here and now rather something to build up to. He thus delivered a self-service fully automated back-office function for HR, finance and procurement activities accessible to all staff, from dinner ladies to CEO, using personal mobile devices in the form of tablets, phones and home PCs. It's more about  the culture, processes and ability to execute change across the business and less about the IT, he says. When did you start your current role?December 2014. What is your reporting line? CEO. Do you meet with and discuss business strategy with the CEO every week? No. Are you a member of the board of directors? No. What other executive boards do you sit on? Digital board, external spend board, risk board, corporate services board, integrated business centre and shared service partnership boards. Does your organisation have a CDO?Yes. What different responsibilities does the CDO have? Technology exploitation and business challenge – in particular, to improve services, to reduce costs and to support sold services. This cross-cutting role constructively challenges and effectively breaks down silos to secure new business value from digital. As the lead advocate and champion for digital practice, the CDO ensures council-wide commitment to the digital vision, working closely with board, politicians and workforce strategy, especially in terms of digital skills, governance, culture and behaviours of staff. What non-technology responsibilities do you have in the organisation?I support all council departments, business units and partners as necessary in the move to digital by default, challenging and development new operating models while looking across departmental and corporate boundaries to identify solutions to solve large-scale problems – financial and service-based. I advise on policies in areas such as social media, learning programmes, collaboration tools, data sharing and customer interaction, working with suppliers, partners, community organisations as well as council departments and stakeholders. I work with departments in developing business cases which maximise digital benefits while managing risks. How many employees does your organisation have? 40,000. How many users does your department supply services to? 50,000. How do you ensure you have a good understanding of your business and how your customers use your business's products?Various ways. For example, IT business partner teams establish the link between technology opportunity and business need and innovation. This leads to full prioritisation of IT activity based on departmental and corporate need. Hampshire Council technology strategy and agenda Is your organisation being disrupted by the internet, mobility or technology-oriented start-ups?Yes. Are you empowered by your organisation to disrupt from the inside? Yes. Describe a disruptive measure you’ve led or played a major part inI led on the development of BYOD implementation now reaching around 20,000 staff. This required technology strategy, investment and risk planning, influencing government, partners and suppliers to put in place a flexible but secure solution which passed required public sector accreditation. What major transformation project has been recently completed or is under way at your organisation? In 2014 we launched an integrated business centre, implemented in nine months. The centre delivers self-service fully automated back-office function for HR, finance and procurement activities, as well as the ability to change personal details. It is accessible for all staff (from dinner ladies to CEO) using personal mobile devices (tablets, phones and home PCs). It has been launched for 50,000 employees – around 540 schools, all council departments (40,000 staff), Hampshire Fire Service and Hampshire Constabulary. We are now in train to deliver the same solution in partnership with Oxfordshire Council, with which we have run shared IT services for some years. Each organisation uses the same processes to reduce cost and improve IT access. What impact will the above transformation have on your organisation? This is a public sector first and is rare in the private sector. Every employee (including major partners) is empowered to transaction on core HR, finance and procurement over personal devices, instantly and securely. This allows for example, everyone to put in expenses claims and be immediately paid, notify absence or sickness, order and pay for items as well as change personal data. It's all self-service and immediate, with simplified processes over what used to be slow and clunky SAP. It is faster, more efficient and shareable. How has your leadership style contributed to the outcomes of the transformation project?I have been a full member of the delivery boards (internal and partnership) representing HCC IT delivery, as well as the design boards. The success of this is a joint effort between IT, HR and finance directors working closely with Deloitte, which is our private sector partner. What key technologies do you consider enable transformation? Typically it's less about the IT and more about the culture, processes and ability to execute change across the business. However, key technologies we've exploited include cloud, social media and mobile. Many of these need to sit on top of well-run, solid, large-scale applications for core business functions, which for us means Microsoft and SAP in particular. Are you increasing the number of cloud applications or infrastructure in use at your organisation? Yes. What is your information and data analytics vision for the organisation? We have vast amounts of data, often locked into systems or departments. Our digital strategy envisages unlocking this potential but in a way which can deliver business value (not just lots more information) and protects the security and privacy of data. We expect to invest in tools which allow better analysis (eg customer insight) and greater sharing (eg across sectors such as health and social care). How is mobile and social networking impacting operations and customer experience? In every area, too many to list – for example, SMS messaging for parents at schools, Facebook groups for our country parks, full mobile access for highways engineers on the move, improved communications to communities and minorities groups using accessible IT designed to reflect their needs, not our internal organisation. Describe your strategic vision towards shadow IT and BYOD. How do you influence and engage executives and employees around choice? We've moved beyond this. We have a fully centralised IT group which is expected to be strong on shared corporate IT and flexible beyond this in responding to local requirements and specialist needs. This is achieved through corporate control from the board (and our digital board chaired by the CEO) and strong prioritisation of IT activity around our clear corporate goals. Of course there are tensions, and these are resolved through our IT business partner activity and the strong personal relationships with the IT leadership team across the organisation, backed by the board and our politicians. What strategic technology deals have been struck and with whom? IT now provides services to many partners – over 40% of IT activity is shared externally – three other county councils, boroughs, districts and unitary councils in Hampshire, fire and police services, health organisations, over 1,000 community groups, 540 schools, charities such as Age Concern, and others. These partnerships are delivered through a variety of mechanisms and services, such as the integrated business centre, shared IT infrastructure such as the Hampshire public services network, and our innovative hosted schools service (full curriculum and administrative IT delivered to over 100 schools). We have also struck some major private sector partnerships this year, notably with SAP off the back of our strong vision and delivery success above. Who are your main suppliers? Microsoft, VMB, SAP. Hampshire Council IT security and budget Has your organisation detected a cyber intrusion in the last 12 months?Yes. Has cyber-security risen up your management agenda?Yes. Does your organisation understand the potential cyber-security threats it faces?Yes. Has this led to an increase in your security budget? Yes. What is the IT budget?Around £250,000, but it varies as we make specific capital investments, such as in the development of BYOD mentioned above. What is the strategic aim of the CIO and IT operations for the next financial year? To enable the organisation in moving from ‘analogue’ to ‘digital’ practices to improve services, reduce costs and support sold services. To constructively challenge and effectively break down silos to secure new business value from IT for departments, business units and partners, while looking across departmental and corporate boundaries to identify digital solutions to solve large-scale problems. And by so doing, to enable the organisation to save a further £100m pa without cutting essential public services. Are you finding it difficult to recruit the talent you need to drive transformation?Yes. Has recruitment and retention risen up your agenda as a CIO? Yes. Are you looking for recruits in the EU to fill the skills shortage you have?No. Does your IT organisation operate an apprenticeship scheme?Yes. Hampshire Council technology department How would you describe your leadership style?Collaborative but impatient. I want IT to drive innovation and new ways of working, but so that the ownership and the credit are with those using IT and so it is not seen as an imposed IT change. Digital will help this. Explain how you’ve supported and developed your senior leadership team to support your overall objectives and visionMy team has been through much change recently. I help them by backing them on key decisions and organisational changes, and in how proposals should be presented and prioritised. I also help with navigating through the corporate politics to secure the right alliances with departmental heads and with our partners. My success is perhaps in the strength and depth of the team – better than me in so many ways – measured by the fact that my deputy has taken on my role whilst I embark on my new CDO activity across the business. How many employees are in your IT team? 400. What is the split between in-house/outsourced staff? 90/10. Does your team include key skilled workers from the EU? No.