Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council, serving a population of just over 200,000, is one of the seven boroughs or unitary districts that comprise the 'West Midlands' region. What is your job title?CIO /Head of ICT When did you start your current role?September 2006 Have you completed an MBA?No Order the following sources of advice/information by value to you:1. Peer group2. In-house3. Analyst4. Consultant5. Vendors Technology strategy and spending What is the major transformational IT project that has been recently completed, or is underway at your organisation?Mobile enablement – including BYOD, but also other forms of mobile. Resisting central government's desire to outlaw BYOD What impact will it/does it have on the organisation?Cultural transformation – people work where they are, without wasting time "going to work"Efficiency – business processes are completed substantially more quicklyProcurement – Device cost savingCustomer satisfaction – Citizens receiving fast responsesService Perception – Users see IT as an enabler What new strategic technology deals has your organisation struck and with whom?Solihull the Lead Cutomer for major collaborative procurment struck with Virgin Media Business.For all public service organisations in West Midlands; Warwickshire & Herefordshire County signed up. West Midlands Police and Heart of England hospital imminent. Name your strategic technology suppliers?Oracle, Good for Enterprise, Citrix, Virgin Media Business, DotNetNuke (Open Source) What is the IT budget?£11m pa How much is the IT operational spend compared to the revenue or company turnover as a percentage?7% What is the strategic aim of the CIO and IT operations for the next financial year?Business efficiency, cost reduction, staff capacity release Transformation achievements Would you describe the CIO role as a transformation leader in your organisation?Yes Describe the transformations you have led / been involved in, how did they transform operations, customer experience or the organisation?The "Social Council" is an initiative lead by the CEO and CIO (myself) to position the authority to exploit digital and social media. Rather than simply cutting services Solihull intends to redesign processes and create new ways of working which are ‘fit for purpose’ for the future.  This is beyond channel shift – its about citizen engagement for self help. This is transforming "Networked Councillors", "Assistive Technology/Telecare", and "co-production" by making quick solutions easily available. Channel Shift – increasing the digital uptake for council transactions New Ways of Working – rationalising office space and enabling agile working Beyond technology, can you describe a business transformation programme that you own or contribute to?Lean Steering Board – whole organisation transformation method. MemberOperations Leadership Team – whole organisation senior team. Chair What key technologies are being considered to enable transformation?Open Source web content managementMobile Device ManagementUnified Comms What percentage of your applications / infrastructure is run from the Cloud?95%. If "Cloud" means the ability to access your "stuff" from anywhere. How is the use by employees of their own technology, use of mobiles and social networking impacting operations, customer experiences or the organisation at present?This is having a big, positive impact. I have a published BYOD policy and 17% of the organisation on some form of BYOD. The individual business cases speak of up to 20% time savings and other benefits.Social Networking is a critical aspect of the "Social Council" described above and is key to our organisational "Solihull Way". Do you have a plan in place for how to deal with shadow IT and BYOD. How do you influence and engage executives, place the right controls around employee choice and engage with the organisation on this issue?Yes. BYOD is Business as Usual! I have policy in place and strategic plans for growth beyond the 17% deployment we are currently at. Policy published as an exemplar in BYOD national case study.  Executive's are my keenest advocates of BYOD, although I also enable COPE (Corporately Owned, Privately Enabled) smartphones and tablets. Choice and control is managed through individual mini-business cases at present.Future strategy includes a "Points and Choices" scheme, where Users can choose devices up to the value of specified points for their equipment. Currently expecting CEO/FD approval Where do you seek transformational inspiration from?Trusted peers and networking. Thought leadership in the art of the possible expressed in blogs, seminars etc. My inspirational perspective is very outward looking – I am President of Socitm, Chair of the biggest IT collaborative procurment in teh West Midlands, active in the LCIO Council, active with the Government Digital Service. I have learned a huge amount from listening to what everyone else is up to. Recently I have invested energies in ensuring the security requirements of the Public Service Network (PSN) do not overshadow its transformational potential. Peer organisation leeds from CEO network have been particularly inspiring in this regard. The CIO role in the business Who do you report to?Finance director Do you have a seat on the board?No How often do you meet with the CEO?Monthly Does your organisation have a digital leader and what is the difference in their responsibilities to yours?Emerging role currently shared What percentage of IT budget do you control and what percentage of IT budget does your digital peer hold?85% CIO, 15% shadow IT, 0% CDO The IT department How many staff make up the IT team?(What is the split between in-house/outsourced staff)96 Describe the CIO’s management team, do you have direct reports that develop the relationship and services between the business and IT?Two account managers (one for each of major business divisions)One Continuing Service Improvement ManagerOne Business Systems ManagerOne Infrastructure Manager All tasked with developing the relationship and services between the business and IT. As are other staff. And how many log-in accounts do you issue across you organisation?8000 plus school pupils What is the primary technology platform? ( for example ERP, Website, trading system)Oracle ERP (Including CRM). Open Source Web Content Management (DNN)