Independent IT assurance and IT operating model design enabled a smooth supplier transition and equipped the client for long-term success.
Delivered programme assurance across a multi-supplier service transition during a major business system overhaul.
Designed and secured board approval for a new IT operating model aligned to the demands of a hybrid cloud environment.
Acted as a trusted advisor, providing weekly IT assurance checkpoints and enabling early issue identification and resolution.
The Requirement:
A major gas utility decided to undertake a significant transformation programme, which entailed new business systems being developed and delivered on a new hybrid platform encompassing both cloud and traditional platform services.
The transformation required a significant reshaping of the supplier ecosystem, with legacy providers phased out and new ones onboarded.
Our original involvement with the client began when we were engaged to design and write the tender documentation and assist in the supplier evaluation process. This initial engagement then expanded to include the programme assurance activities required to effect the various supplier transitions and, ultimately, expanded further to encompass the design and creation of a new target operating model for the in-house IT organisation.
Our Approach:
During the supplier evaluation process we began to build a framework to govern the upcoming transitions. Our programme assurance methodology provides a superset of tools and models. From this we constructed a detailed approach that allowed us to independently assure the transition plans our client would use to control the complex set of supplier and service transitions.
Throughout the programme, we facilitated weekly checkpoint sessions and used our IT assurance framework to perform “soft touch” investigations to ensure the plans remained coherent, realistic and were being actioned in a manner that was likely to lead to the desired outcome.
It became apparent early on that the current in-house organisation was not fully equipped to manage the new world of integrated business systems and expanded supplier eco-systems.
To address this gap, we launched a parallel workstream to design a new target operating model for the IT function. Following an initial baseline discovery phase we worked through a structured process involving functional requirements, capability requirements and organisational design.
Delivered through an iterative sequence of workshops and evaluation sessions, the approach gained the buy-in of the senior IT leadership team and a new structure – including additional resources – was ultimately approved by the board for implementation.
The Outcome:
Our client has been able to progress through a complex transformation programme in the knowledge that ImprovIT, acting as a “critical friend”, is providing the security of professional programme oversight which allows problems to be identified in sufficient time for remediation actions to be deployed effectively.
The newly developed target operating model, developed in parallel to the IT assurance activities, provides a capable and resilient structure to manage the new services going forward. Collectively, the combination of services we delivered has provided our client’s IT organisation with a solid foundation capable of handling the challenges of the future.
This case study demonstrates how ImprovIT’s IT assurance services and strategic operating model design can empower large-scale transformation while reducing risk. Our expert support helped this utility client build a solid foundation for future success—ensuring stability, accountability, and value throughout a high-stakes transition.
ImprovIT are always the first company we think of for projects. It was a good piece of work and we are very happy with it, good turn around and the output was exactly what we wanted.
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