Royal College of Occupational Therapists: IT Assessment, Partner Selection

Hart Square help RCOT map their digital future

The Royal College of Occupation Therapists (RCOT) is the professional body and trade union for occupational therapists throughout the UK and a registered charity. RCOT is based in central London and has 34,000 members and approximately 80 staff.

Steve Ford joined as Chief Executive the RCOT in April 2021 and immediately faced a serious obstacle when a technical incident left staff without access to systems, documents and communications tools for several weeks.

RCOT looked to Hart Square as their longstanding partner, for support initially in a ‘Virtual CIO role’ acting as a trusted adviser in key meetings and decisions. As Steve described: “It was really important that at such a tricky time our staff had the support of someone who could ask the challenging questions and bring our perspective to the conversations.”

RCOT then faced a series of difficult decisions on how to move forward when recovering from the outage. “Part of the challenge was not being on the cloud and there didn’t seem to be clarity on what our strategic direction should be” Steve explained “It offered an opportunity to take a fresh approach and brings some leadership and direction to the provision of IT and digital within RCOT.”

This work built on the relationship RCOT had developed with Hart Square over an extended period. “Hart Square have developed a deep understanding of how we work, what we do and our culture,” Steve explained: “There was always a sense that Hart Square were on our side, that they were invested in what we were doing, and we were valued as clients.”

A project was then agreed for Hart Square to:

Map out high-level vision/roadmap for IT/Digital across RCOT
Have engagement meetings with the key stakeholders across the whole organisation
Carry out a strategic evaluation, GAP analysis and technology review
Playback of recommendations and options for RCOT to consider
Develop a high-level roadmap for the delivery of any new technology

As a consequence of early analysis, it was agreed that Hart Square would also manage a process to allow RCOT to identify and select a managed IT service provider who could deliver against their strategic objectives.

STRATEGIC IT ASSESSMENT

Hart Square then led a discovery process which included:

Strategic workshops with RCOT leadership looking at the alignment of IT provision with their strategic vision and identifying change drivers and barriers
Surveys and focus groups with RCOT staff on their experiences, challenges, and expectations
Discussion with key strategic technology partners on relationship management and expectations

“It was important for me to get my team and colleagues across the organisation on board,” Steve reflected: “It meant you could get the buy in and wider understand from the senior leadership teams but also the wider input from a range of our colleagues”

Hart Square delivered a comprehensive analysis of the IT and digital capability gaps in the organisation evidenced by the challenges and experiences shared by staff. A roadmap of recommendations, projects and opportunities was outlined to move RCOT towards its goals.

“It was a really comprehensive process that allowed us to get on the front foot” Steve explained: “Through the conversations and sessions Hart Square facilitated the final deliverable was very much our vision, our roadmap, our sense of what the collective priorities were and a whole set of recommendations which are now built into our planning for the next financial year.”

MANAGED SERVICES TENDER PROCESS

In the first stage of selecting a managed IT service provider, Hart Square initially worked with RCOT to produce a thorough specification of their IT service needs. “It was great that we had the confidence of being able to describe what we wanted to achieve,” Steve explained: “Hart Square ensured that partners understood what we were looking for and we understood what those partners could bring to the table and if it was right for us.”

Hart Square then managed a selection process where RCOT had a series of engagements with prospective technology partners, resulting in an appointment in June 2021.

“It was a process that allowed us to make sure the partners really understood us and they could present themselves in the most relevant way” recalled Steve, “It felt we’d had a really robust process and at the end of that process I was really confident that the best partner had been selected.”

OUTCOMES

“We’re in a strong position to move forward and support our strategy” Steve described when reflecting on outcomes for RCOT on their work with Hart Square, “We’ve developed a five-year strategic plan and have agreed with our council the investment to modernise the organisation.”

The relationship between Hart Square and RCOT was core to the success of these projects. “Hart Square has always brought constructive dialogue, pro-active suggestions and I’ve always felt they want to do what’s right for us” Steve explained “Hart Square have a real emphasis on partnership and have people who are professional, easy to work with and are prepared to go the extra mile.”