Specific examples
24. In the course of our inquiry, we talked to Richard
Allan, who has an unparalleled understanding of the provision
of ICT services to Members and in the corporate sector. He was
a Member of the Information Committee for eight years from 1997
to 2005, and its Chairman for half that time. Since leaving the
House, he has worked as Head of Government Affairs UK and Ireland
for Cisco Systems, a leading corporate provider and user of IT
systems. The notes of our informal discussion are published as
an annex to this Report.
25. The range of ICT solutions in use at Cisco shows
what can be achieved with modern technology beyond those services
currently available at Westminster, for example:
- the use of wireless technology
as standard,
- computer-based telephony (generally
using Voice over Internet Protocol—VoIP),
- extensive use of audio and video conferencing,
- online management tools, such as web-based expenses,
supplies and pensions systems, and online training, and
- ICT systems which look and feel the same to a
user wherever they might be in the world.
26. We also spoke in the course of our inquiry to
Chris Montagnon, who at the time served as the external member
of the Joint Business Systems Board (JBSB), a board otherwise
made up of senior staff from both Houses. The JBSB is responsible
for ensuring that the business plans of both Houses are reflected
in and supported by a viable and affordable business systems and
ICT strategy for both Houses; and that programmes of activity
to realise the benefits of this strategy are being managed in
a coherent and cost-effective way. Mr Montagnon noted that, from
his experience of a large retail company with 500 remote locations,
these locations were given no flexibility as to the service provided.
Everything was decided by the central IT service. From his more
recent experience of a university environment, although it initially
seemed that there was a much greater degree of flexibility, in
fact any proposed new ICT applications had to be submitted to
the centre to make sure they would work on the network and to
ensure the legality of the licensing situation.
Possible comparators
27. Although most other organisations are unlike
the House, we have identified two possible comparators:
a) Franchise operations with independently owned
points of sale.
b) Universities, where the principal clients
include highly independent-minded professors, questioning of central
diktat and with varying IT needs and expectations.
28. Seeking to control Members' behaviour too closely
is unlikely to be a successful approach to the provision of ICT
services, and is bound to be unpopular. The experience of universities
in particular suggests that a more constructive approach is to
concentrate on ensuring that services remain coherent, rather
than on controlling what Members do. This would mean defining
standards (for example, requiring web browsers to comply with
HTML 1.1 and be Java-enabled) rather than prescribing exactly
how the standards should be met (in this case, by specifying exactly
which browser should be used), and it would mean having clear
and transparent processes for requesting and approving new services.
Some of these issues are discussed further in part four of this
Report.
