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Services
e-Government ConsultancyNineveh is the UK’s leading specialist provider of electronic government advice to local authorities. Consultants working in this practice area include: Tim Dawes, Pete Williams, Brian Cox, Brian Westcott and Mary Wintershausen. All of these have acted as advisors to government and are recognised as the leading independent consultants in this field. Each has more than 20 years experience in IT.
Tim Dawes and Linda Williams assisted Brighton and Hove to become the first Council to complete an ICT strategy specifically linked to electronic government targets. Nineveh has since helped many local authorities to develop comprehensive customer access and electronic government. Customers include: Belfast City Council, London Borough of Havering, Buckinghamshire County Council and North Shropshire District Council.
A feature of our electronic government strategy work has been our awareness raising seminars with senior officers and elected members. For example North Lincolnshire Council commissioned Nineveh to spend a day explaining electronic government to their elected members and helping them put the implications into their local context.
Nineveh can call on a number of associates and partners to help its customers build effective ICT Infrastructure strategies to support their business objectives. For example, Nineveh has arrangements with Trustis who provide PKI and related security infrastructure advice. Areas of special expertise include: LLPG, Middleware and CRM, DIP and Workflow and applications fit analysis. We also have specialists in telecommunications, networking, web based systems, GIS, Microsoft Active Directory, Open Source solutions and Lotus Notes.
GIS and Addressing ConsultancyNineveh has a number of consultants who have experience in GIS and related fields such as LLPG and BS7666 addressing systems. Peter Clegg is a leading member of the AGI and Linda Williams has served on the NLPG Advisory Committee. Martin Green and Sheila Davidge also contribute to this work. The practice has a particularly strong expertise in implementing GIS in District Councils.
GIS and Addressing Strategy reviews have been completed by Nineveh for the following Councils: Fareham Borough, Gosport Borough, Surrey Heath, Test Valley, Torridge District, Vale of White Horse District, West Dorset District and Winchester City.
ICT and related services reviewNineveh has been involved in a number of Best Value and general management reviews of ICT Services. Tim Dawes has advised a number of new unitary Councils on their IT Staffing requirements and has helped a city council review its service options before deciding to outsource its IT Support service. In other incidences reviews have led to changes in staffing, operational procedures etc. A recent review has recommended that a client who has outsourced their IT service should bring it back in house. Interim ManagementNineveh provided full interim management for Winchester City Council for a period of eight months whilst the IT service went through a major change period. Despite all the changes, the interim period saw a number of major projects completed and the standard of service improve.
Nineveh has a number of experienced IT directors and technical leaders in its associate network and is always willing to discuss possible interim management options with local authorities. Please contact Tim Dawes on 02392 471811 to discuss your requirements. Network and Server reviewNineveh has special expertise in the area of Microsoft NT and Windows 2000 configurations over local area networks. We can also quality assure NT/W2k server hardware configurations.
Lon Jeal, our technical configuration consultant, completed a Quality Assurance review of the network and server infrastructure at Tendring District Council. The review confirmed that the local configurations were well constructed and made some practical recommendations for future investment. Lon has considerable experience of configuring Netware, NT and W2000 solutions and is also able to design and configure switched networks. Other customers of this service include Eastleigh and Test Valley Borough Councils.
Procurement AdviceWe are widely regarded as one of the most knowledgeable procurement advisers to local government. This area of our practice covers work many types of advice including market availability of products and services, contract packaging, letting supplies and services contracts using the EC Public Procurement procedures and advice on contract terms and conditions.
We have experience of working with all kinds of local authorities and often work alongside in-house IT teams and procurement professionals as well as both in-house and external legal advisors. Examples of our work include helping Test Valley Borough Council procure a new Revenues systems, providing option and market information on Benefits systems for Wolverhampton Borough Council, helping Powys Council decide how it should purchase desk top equipment and helping Salisbury Borough Council decide which contract re-lets needed to go through the OJEC process.
Project ManagementNineveh has a number of very experienced Project Managers. We use, as appropriate, PRINCE 2 as our standard methodology, but can adapt to most local requirements. All of our Project Managers have experience of working in local government and with IT supplier companies.
At Colchester Borough Council our Project Manager, Peter Rudge, helped implement a number of projects related to the Council’s move away from mainframe architecture. Peter has special knowledge of Social Services and Housing IT systems. Peter Williams has been our project manager for the customer service project at South Hams District Council, a major service transformation project. The modernisation of the planning service at Dacorum is an example of another project managed by Nineveh that radically changed the way in which services were delivered.
Business Process Re-EngineeringAs a result of our Customer Services and ERDMS implementation practices, Nineveh has developed a strong business process mapping and re-engineering capacity. Kate McColl has worked on our process re-engineering assignments at London Borough of Redbridge, Derby City, Winchester City and Test Valley. At Winchester we have mapped all main processes ahead of the introduction of a corporate contact centre. Change ManagementNineveh has provided Change Management services to Braintree District Council since September 2003. Brian Cox undertakes this role working very closely with officers of the Council and its partner organisations. The Council has recently been shortlisted for an LGC e-government award 2004. Publication and ResearchNineveh undertakes research projects on commission and also has its own programme of research and development activities. Our clients have included Capita, Earth Observation Sciences, the Institute for Public Finance, Microsoft and Socitm.
In 1999 we published \"GIS in Local Government - A Directory and Introductory Guide to Best Practice.\". Other publications are under consideration for 2005/6.
Recruitment AssistanceNineveh has helped a number of clients to determine their staffing needs. At Herefordshire, for example, we helped the new unitary Council create a candidate profile and Job Description for a new post of Head of IT. We then went on to advise on assessment criteria and provided a consultant to assist with candidate interviews. Recently we have assisted several authorities to define their requirements for and recruit Customer Service Managers. Strategic Partnership FacilitationNineveh has developed a strong interest in facilitating strategic partnerships for electronic government. We have worked with groups of local authorities to facilitate common planning strategies and have been closely involved in developing best practice for the letting of ICT and e-government public/private partnerships.
We have advised two local authorities on the letting of such partnerships. At Braintree District Council, for example, Nineveh’s advice has been instrumental in obtaining excellent quality responses from the market place. Nineveh itself has a formal strategic partnership with Dacorum Borough Council.
Speakers for ConferencesSubject to availability, we can provide top name speakers for e-government and ICT public events. A modest standard fee is charged for this activity to cover our expenses where the conference is organised by a public body or representative organisation. TelecommunicationsNineveh has provided telecommunications and call centre advice to a number of Councils. Our associate consultant, John Taylor, worked with Colchester Borough Council helping them to re-let a centrex contract for telephone services. The exercise enabled the Council to switch providers and provide better value and improved service under their new contract. We also factored in the need to bring in new IP based telecommunications services as these mature in due course. John has also advised Swindon and Brighton & Hove Borough Councils. Training and EventsNineveh has been running training and seminar events since 1997. Events are designed for limited numbers, usually no more than 30, and can include small companion exhibitions from appropriate suppliers. Formerly operated on behalf of SOCITM and then for a period badged as UKA Training, Nineveh has organised public courses and seminars from Exeter to Stirling and in many locations in between. All Nineveh Events are completely independent of suppliers and do not feature any form of product placement.
In addition to public events, Nineveh runs a large number of in-house seminars and workshops for individual local authorities, regional partnerships and private sector organisations. Typically these are highly tailored to the individual requirements, although they also draw from our established portfolio. We can also provide complete e-government training programmes, aimed specifically, if required, at elected members and senior officers.
Current standard events in our portfolio include: Contact Centres in Local Government, Customer Relationship Management - an introduction,
e-Planning - what you need to do, Going Transactional - (e-enabling the web site), Greening e-Government,
Location, Location (GIS and LLPG implementation), Making e-Government Secure, Introduction to Project Management and Open Source in Local Government
We are constantly updating our course material and if you want a course that is not listed, please discuss it with us, as we may be able to help. We draw on the expertise of a large number of consultants and practitioners in local government. Our courses are always practical and independent. Our aim is to provide top quality information, with practical application from those who are in the forefront of development.
Please visit the events section of our website to see current events being promoted or telephone Ruth Scott (02392 471811) for details of our electronic government and special topic tailored seminars.
Our events section has a full list of our current public events. This events section is fully transactional and allows you to check event availability as well as on-line booking.
Old friends will note that we have run fewer public course in 2003/2004 than in previous years. This is because National Project dissemination programme events, despite their highly-variable quality, are currently saturating the market. Why not look at the conference section for a taste of our Nineveh conference, held in September 2004? Our most recent addition to our training arm in 2005 is to run accredited ITIL courses at our Head Office, see the website for details.
Web Site ReviewsNineveh offers a straight forward practical approach to reviewing local authority web sites. This work is undertaken by Peter Clegg or Gene Webb, who have both been involved in web site content management and design for many years. A feature of our reviews is checking compliance to BOBBY standards - designed to help make sites accessible to people with disabilities. A typical review involves four or five days work and results in a detailed report packed with practical recommendations for improvements.
A report for Surrey Heath Borough Council made a series of easy to implement recommendations that improved the ease of access for the ordinary citizen. Another for a London Borough resulted in a major change of policy when we criticised the practice of different departments running their own web sites.
Customer Relationship ManagementWe see CRM as a lot more than just a piece of software; although we also know a lot about the various CRM vendors and their offerings. To us CRM includes all aspects of the customer service infrastructure - people, processes and culture as well as ICT. Nineveh was the first to run local government specific training courses in the UK on Call and Contact Centres (For SOCITM Training initially). Then we introduced our highly acclaimed seminar \"CRM in Local Government\". These products drew both on our pool of CRM expert consultants and our research into the application of customer service approaches in local government. The pool of experts is now stronger than ever and our independent research into best practice continues.
All of our CRM practice consultants have a mix of local government and private sector experience. They include some of the industry\'s leading experts.
Many other consulting companies offering CRM and Contact Centre advice have commercial ties with particular products or implementation services. Nineveh is completely, and very determinedly, independent. Whatever stage your customer service access strategy has reached, you can benefit from Nineveh\'s professional CRM consultancy and training services. See also Change Management and Business Process Re-Engineering e-Government InfrastructureBuilding an ICT infrastructure capable of supporting your e-government vision can be difficult enough as it is. Selling the idea to senior management that you need to invest in middleware or XML or even a content management system, can be a nightmare. Sometimes just working out what components you require can be challenging, especially when it may mean new solutions in areas you thought you had covered.
Nineveh\'s consultants have plenty of experience helping clients work up their e-government target architectures, plan their investment strategies and making their business cases. We have facilitated discussions with departmental heads, coroporate management teams and elected members in all kinds of authorities - Counties, Mets, London Boroughs and Districts. Our special blend of solid professional know-how and empathy with local government services and people means that time and time again we succeed in getting investment programmes to go forward smoothly. We can specify and procure individual solutions for you or, where appropriate, find you a partner with the right system integration skills to make it all work.
We have helped many clients to procure and implement EDRMS solutions, e-forms, CMS and middleware. GIS is aother specialist area with several corporate strategies to our name. e-Enabling Council ServicesFrom Strategy through to Implementation
Nineveh has an enviable record in helping local authorities decide how they will approach e-government. We wrote the first UK local government strategy to set specific electronic service targets (for Brighton and Hove Council) even before government e-targets were thought of, and have averaged around five e-strategies a year ever since. We had a hand in 17 IEG1 statements and have continued to write and quality review statements and action plans throughout 2002 and 2003. In early 2004 we helped two large councils whose IEG3 were failed by ODPM to recover and resubmit successfully. We have also helped several clients set up their ESD Toolkit service lists and BVPI157 monitoring systems.
Many clients have found that strategic guidance alone is not enough. Few authorities have sufficient in-house resources to manage and deliver a complex e-government programme. Nineveh has helped clients to find private sector partners to work with them on implementation. However, it is becoming increasingly apparent that this type of e-government partnership is difficult to manage cost effectively. Nineveh now offers a new option for partnership – one in which we partner the local authority, providing all the additional client-side expertise needed and facilitating further private sector involvement by bringing in external resources as appropriate. Because we manage the projects we are able to quality assure both proposals and the resulting implementations ensuring that e-gov investments give best value. In most cases this activity alone will pay for our own service costs, sometimes several times over.
Nineveh will on occasion, design and implement solutions for clients, using both components and specially written software. Examples include our e-gateway site developed by Dave Farmer for Dacorum and our youth web site developed by our consultant Charles Sale for Tendring.
Where the service requirement is small or awkward, the costs from large-scale private sector implementers can be prohibitive. They often simply cannot access appropriate good quality resources within their organisations to deal with what to them is a non-standard requirement. We have no such problem. By bringing in a specialist sub-contractor or, when appropriate, putting together and managing our own implementation teams, we can quote for and implement any project – even complex multi-disciplinary ones.
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