Change within the theme of digital transformation

Consultancy+’s blend of technical capability and procurement expertise allows public sector organisations to realise the value of their change and transformation programmes.

The public sector is facing unprecedented challenges due to financial pressures and the need to transform services and the way they are delivered.

With demand for services increasing and budgets reducing, authorities are forced to do more with less. A clear way to achieve this is through digital transformation to increase levels of automation, as well as improve decision making and visibility.

However, delivering the outcomes of these transformations is not easy and there have been limited stories of success. McKinsey recently reported that 70% of IT and digital transformations fail.

So, the challenge is to find a way for organisations to deliver these vital transformations, but also protect the public purse from failed investments.

Delivering holistic change successfully

To make the most of any digital transformation programme, it is imperative that the change is not just a technical and digital change, but that it is an organisational change that doesn’t happen in isolation.

The Harvard Business Review summed this up, saying: “For successful transformation programs, it was what the members envisioned to be the future of the organisation that drove the technology, not the other way around.”

The key challenge underpinning most underperformance within change programmes is that they focus too much on a single aspect of change – whether that is technology, people or simply bringing in siloed external consultancy.

The reality is that almost all change will impact technology, people and processes, requiring the procurement and management of a level of external expertise. So the change program must cover each of these areas otherwise it will not stick and the project is not a change program but more an implementation. Implementations focus on the in-puts, change programs should focus on the outputs.

Why our solutions are geared towards success

This is where Consultancy+ can support our clients by focusing on change across a range of areas.

Our solutions cover people, processes, procurement and IT to allow customers to partner with a technical IT consultancy, a people and change specialist, a procurement expert, a training provider and a talent acquisition specialist.

By doing this, we have the capability to mirror an internal change board, covering the full breadth of organisational change and allowing our clients to deliver effective change and transformation programmes. We have dedicated and experienced Change Managers that support and input into all of our programs to ensure the focus is in delivering the desired impact rather than focusing on implementing the newest thing. 

Our approach to delivering change is underpinned by four dedicated practice areas: technology, people, procurement, and change process to deliver comprehensive change. This is done by implementing solutions which encompass a wide-range of services covering both direct and supplier led delivery.

Delivering digital transformation

In order to deliver successful change programmes, it is vital to implement a full range of outsourced IT services.

These services would cover advisory and thought leadership, a depth of technical understanding, work package and SoW solutions, a wide consultant base and a scalable approach. This blend of services and solutions helps to ensure that the change program can carefully balance a number of competing agendas:

Because we have a dynamic and flexible approach to this, we are able to deliver in different ways under the same program to allow us to balance these four key areas on a day-to-day basis rather than looking for the one silver bullet. 

An example of this might be that during a program the organisation needs specialist advice on an area of data security that is outside the direct capability of the change partner. Through our model we can manage this via our +1000 strong specialist supply chain. At another stage in the program, the organisation may need a burst of development capacity to augment their team. Through our relationship with REED we can deliver this is in a fast and cost-effective way.

In addition, through our partnership with YPO under the Managing Consultancy and Professional Services (1141) Framework, we can offer Public Sector organisations the opportunity to procure all of these services through one compliant framework route. 

This means a holistic change partner that works with over 150 Public Sector bodies engaged to support your change program under a fit-for-purpose framework contract.