UK IT Industry Awards 2009: Best IT Strategy of the Year

The night when the winners of the UK IT Industry Awards 2009 will be announced is fast approaching.

In an ongoing preview of some of the leading contenders, this week we look at the finalists for the Best IT Strategy of the Year award, sponsored by Pirean.

The winners will be revealed at a lavish prizegiving party at Battersea Evolution, formerly the Battersea Park Events Arena, in London on Thursday 12 November.

To see the full list of finalists and to book your table at what will be the biggest night of the UK IT calendar, visit www.computing.co.uk/awards

Wipro Technologies
FlexDelivery is a “best-of-both-worlds” delivery model offering reliability, quality and cost-effectiveness. With on-demand access to competency-based specialists and outcome-based pricing, FlexDelivery offers operations scalability without the need to maintain a large dedicated team, lowering costs without exposing businesses to unforeseen risks.

Ministry of Justice
The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) has moved towards joint working as the key to delivering IT-based benefits. The strategy has successfully refocused the MoJ’s internal IT function to create a new user-centric, delivery driven, cost-effective and transparent service. New practices have brought together different organisations and established a blueprint for other government bodies.

Whitbread Group
Whitbread hotel brand Premier Inn has defined and replicated all operational systems and processes to create “Premier Inn in a box”. This strategy is enabling the chain to expand into new international markets by seamlessly recreate the Premier Inn brand all over world for 30 per cent less per hotel than in the UK.

Prudential UK
Prudential UK has a clear ambition to be a leading provider of retirement income solutions. This was the driver for Prudential, supported by Deloitte, to develop a new strategic approach to its IT delivery. The strategy defined a vision, objectives and structure for its internal IT organisation ­ PruIT. This strategy is breaking down the barriers between the business and IT, positioning PruIT as a trusted partner, supporting the achievement of business objectives.

Rolls-Royce
The Rolls-Royce IT strategy has been developed with the business directly from corporate strategy. It contains a five-year vision of new capabilities and roadmaps for delivery. It uses IT portfolio management to prioritise programmes, which has been so successful it is now used for £1.1bn of Rolls-Royce investments.

Businesslink.gov.uk
Under the Public Service Reform strategy, business-facing content on 95 per cent of government web sites is moving onto businesslink.gov.uk, resulting in a service that is tailored around business needs and available to firms when and where they want. It is the first time that the needs of businesses have been served in this way by a government web site.

Liverpool Direct
Liverpool Direct’s approach to business is “high-quality people with high-quality IT”. Its IT strategy has been fundamental to growth and success. Liverpool Direct has consistently innovated with technologies such as thin client and delivered measurable benefits to public access, human resources, infrastructure services, and customers such as the Liverpool Arena and Convention Centre.

London Borough of Southwark
Southwark Council has created and implemented an innovative IT strategy, which has been pivotal in enabling the organisation to meet its modernisation agenda. The five-year strategy has already achieved savings in excess of £3m per annum through its adoption of modern ways of working, while meeting business needs, improving public services, and achieving high levels of user satisfaction.

Wales & West Utilities/ESRI (UK)
Wales & West Utilities has implemented a corporate geographic information system, linked to SAP, that provides a single, joined-up view of all of its business assets and operations and is easily accessible across the company. The solution has streamlined business processes and contributed to efficiency gains in many areas.