Success is a natural by-product of experiential learning and partnering with people across the organisation and beyond, says Andy Luiskandl, chief information officer at childcare group, Only About Children (Oac).
“To do this effectively requires a broader approach that transcends IT and is actively seeking to be inclusive of the whole organisation, its vision, mission and the specific products and services that are being delivered,” Luiskandl says.
“And rather than approaching IT as a collection of solid objects – such as software packages, pieces of infrastructure – it should be treated more like water, as the quote from Lao Tzu says; ‘fluid, soft and yielding will overcome whatever is rigid and hard.’”
Luiskandl along with his team, has rolled out a transformation comprising initiatives to transform the customer and employee experience. The initiatives touched all organisational processes and systems involving 2,500 staff and 100,000 customers.
The team migrated a heavily customised legacy enterprise resource planning (ERP) system to the QikKids cloud. The move included new mobile apps – Storypark, Enrol and Family Lounge – to support parents and their children from enrolment and the following communications between families and the centres.
Enrol has digitised the child enrolment process at each facility; parents use Family Lounge to book children in for unscheduled care; and Storypark enables two-way communication with educators and children’s families.
They also deployed Ento, a cloud-based and AI-powered workforce management platform that provides high accuracy demand forecasting and planning to better align and operate the business with the needs of more than 11,000 children in care.
In parallel, Luiskandl and his team upgraded its ‘bread and butter’ technology foundations, upgrading Oac’s network and cyber security capabilities.
No disruption or gaps between what was expected and delivered was experienced and all initiatives were executed in less than 12 months on a budget of around $1.5 million with the final investment further offset with IT optimisation benefits that reduced operational costs by 22 per cent, says Luiskandl.
“Thirty-one new locations also had to be integrated into the group during the 12 month period. New IT servicing practices has boosted user satisfaction by six times (enabled with a simplified approach to service scoring and analysis).
A trusted steward
IT should strive to provide ‘transformation stewardship’, says Luiskandl.
“This means to approach things in a highly collaborative way with IT taking a role akin to a trusted steward – in effect a servant leadership approach when it comes to powering transformational change with technology. I ensured organisational ownership and leadership across all levels from the CEO down to the educators caring for the children,” he says.
“I also took a robust approach to project and change management, supported with good governance and assurance and the timely acquisition of skills that are critical to successful execution. Our IT group is stepping up to take a broader role partnering with senior stakeholders and team to navigate through the inevitable challenges.
“As CIOs, we are temporary stewards who support people as the digital-powered transformation journey unfolds. Our responsibility is ultimately to those who will take over from us so we need to make sure the business is in the best possible condition, certainly when it comes to technology.”
Byron Connolly
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Author: Byron Connolly, Australia Editor
Byron Connolly is a highly experienced technology and business editor who contributes to CIO Australia. He also facilitates roundtables and conferences for CIOs and other senior technology executives and creates content from these events.
