It's time to STOP!

When talking to councils I often ask how many business applications they support. The answer is usually the same… For a district/borough, it’ll be between 150-250, for a unitary 600+ and for a County maybe 300 and change. ?Then I ask about how many they *don’t* support. The ones built by Shadow IT... the spreadsheets, OneNotes and Access databases. That’s when eyes start to roll!

The reality is that every business application a council owns was bought because it served a purpose, either a legislative, citizen-facing, or internal productivity one. No council goes through the exercise of procuring a new system for the sheer fun of it. ?For each business system, there is a defined – even if often quite limited – business use.

System deployment and configurability have come a long way. But even the most sophisticated and modern system is out of date as soon as the users start using it. ?

Typical software release cycles are at least 3-6 months. Then the upgrade needs to be scheduled in alongside everything else. And you can guarantee that this release doesn’t include all the fixes/enhancements you need. ?Perhaps you've asked for a bespoke change. Well then, prepare for a cost and a lengthy wait.

Unfortunately, each added system also introduces the by-product of technical debt, an element of obsolescence as soon as it is put in place, alongside the need to maintain that obsolescence.

And this is precisely why there is shadow IT. Those COTS business systems don’t do all that your citizen or user needs. There is always a compromise in functionality. This might be due to the procurement route, or because your council's needs are bespoke or different from what’s available on the market. Maybe you're behind the upgrade cycle as your legacy tech hasn’t been improved for years.

All these are valid reasons for the gap between user needs and system capability. However, it doesn’t change the fact that these apps are not meeting the business's needs. These gaps spawn shadow IT.?Without the right tool, teams find a different way. For example, they'll create a spreadsheet to do the calculation the system doesn’t, or a database to store the reference number the system doesn’t. The examples are everywhere in every council.

This, of course, isn’t news to anyone working in Local Government, and the risks associated with this shadow IT are also well known. But what can be done about it?

Well… as the title says… It’s time to stop!!

And by “stop” I mean it’s time to stop buying traditional COTS business systems. No, not every one, but it is time for councils to ask the question, “is there a better way”?

The local government technology estate never gets smaller. Those legacy systems are seldom replaced, rather they become a data archive, a silo of information that needs tapping into.

Instead, new applications are forever appearing. They may be useful but they add to the problem. They create more gaps for shadow IT to fill and more technical debt, and they add to the number of vendors councils need to rely on.

Yes, there is a better way. It's how councils can take control of their technical destiny. It is possible to regain digital autonomy from the vendor market.

“How?” I hear you ask. Start by investing in both your people and in low-code.

To explain, let’s look at the tech, low-code…

It's called low-code because it is exactly that. It gives users the ability to build applications, from process design to databases and forms. All on a drag-and-drop graphical user interface. You no longer need to rely on traditional development. The skills to build new applications can be rapidly learned by new users.

Not only can we design and develop new applications quickly, but Liberty Create allows us to build a concept and easily show how it works to the wider team - South Hams Council.

So how does low-code help? Well simply put, it allows councils to build their own applications to meet their business challenges in their own way. No more changing processes to match the system. Councils can build their own applications in weeks or even days without relying on vendors. Online accounts, payment portal, integrations etc can also all be designed and deployed without any need for traditional coding.

You'll notice from our case studies that there are already many examples out there from CRM, waste management, repairs management, asset registers, track and trace, housing repairs, volunteer management, licensing, and blue badge systems (to name a few).

This autonomy has a liberating impact. No more yearly release cycles or bespoke quotes. No battles with other councils over prioritising enhancement logs.

Councils who have taken the step into low-code are driving massive internal efficiencies by addressing their own specific challenges. Using the sophisticated integration capabilities, they're digitizing and automating any process they choose. This removes the need for Shadow IT, releases officer capacity and delivers better services to citizens.

Because councils own the systems, they also own the data and access to them. The real-time data and process heat maps allow officers to improve their understanding of bottlenecks. Each bottleneck becomes visible. The specific root cause can be determined. The process can be updated, refined, and enhanced.

After process improvement comes data analytics improvement. When you can use native predictive analytics to join up data for real-time analysis you get the opportunity to affect a seismic shift… ?You move from reactive to proactive service delivery. You get the data, can see the trends, and use it to inform decision-making. User pathways, accurate signposting, and any intervention point become easy to action all at your own fingertips.

So, onto investing in your people…

With the adoption of lowcode, instead of a resource shortage, you gain a resource pool. Training teams in low-code ensures officers are empowered to deliver continual change. You now take control of the pace and direction of change. Invest in your own people and embrace the business understanding and operational need that was driving the shadow IT.?Upskill them and become that employer of choice because you work with leading-edge technologies.

This is not transformational, it's evolutional!

Netcall … has enabled a revolutionary culture change to rapidly deliver and continue to improve customer-focused services - ?Cumbria Council.

The value in lowcode is giving control back to councils, but that control needs to be taken. Develop a culture of change and engagement, task teams to engage with the business to understand the challenges and work co-operatively to develop the solution. That’s how you unlock the most value.

No longer is it about presenting the solution as a fate a complie but instead its about iterative improvement that doesn’t have and end date but is an ongoing activity embedded into every team. Evolution not revolution.

You also save money!

Prepare to decommission and save

As you reinvent your future you decommission those technologies that have never really met the need. Why pay for a system when you can build your own?

Finally, truly collaborate.

Save the public purse and save your teams from rebuilding something someone else has already built and tested. Benefit from the efforts of your peers, and share your own across the user community. Image a world where you can download and go live with a new app in days rather than months! Well, its already here.

So just… STOP. There is a different way.

The time has come when the traditional client/vendor dynamic can change in local government. Councils can take back control of their digital destiny. They can deliver better digital systems to support the ever-evolving demands on employees and citizens.