Case Studies

Otago Polytechnic IT Sustainability Assessment

In May 2008, Effectus were engaged to assist the Otago Polytechnic's IT team to identify their current position in terms of their use of sustainable practices within the IT environment and to provide input into how best to drive continuous improvements in these practices.

Effectus assessed the Polytechnic's overall level of sustainable practice maturity against a comprehensive IT Footprint sustainability maturity model and then identified and developed focused recommendations to improve key aspects of sustainable IT practice. The Polytechnic team are now in a position to monitor these improvements and reassess their sustainable practices within the assessment framework.

This was a pilot engagement for Effectus. The Otago Polytechnic team reinforced the accuracy and usefulness of the IT Footprint Sustainability Assessment tool, with participants providing positive feedback regarding the benefits expected from the implementation of key recommendations.

“I think the final report was excellent, and a great benchmark” CIO, Otago Polytechnic

“The exercise was very worthwhile to help gain awareness of sustainability obligations by business and where we can contribute in our specialised areas” Network Services Team Leader, Otago Polytechnic

Tasman District Council Disaster Recovery Assessment

Tasman District Council (TDC) required a formal review of ICT recoverability in order to identify key business continuity issues, to prioritise the key business processes required to "keep TDC in business" and to fulfil audit requirements.

TDC commissioned Effectus for this engagement in order to achieve these objectives, including:

• Provision of a comprehensive ICT Disaster Recovery (DR) Plan, to support the recovery of key business processes in the event of disaster.
  The DR Recovery Plan now forms TDC's handbook for recovery of all functional areas of ICT during and after a disaster. Most organisations fall short of owning and maintaining a clear DR Plan and so the activities required in a disaster recovery situation are unclear when carried out in adverse or chaotic circumstances.
• Tabletop testing and ongoing review and improvement of TDC's ICT DR capability.
  TDC now undertakes tabletop testing every 6 months to ensure that staff are familiar with the content of the DR Recovery Plan, that the steps contained within the plan are achievable and are clearly described, and that the services required to effect the plan will be available after a disaster.
• Identification of gaps in current ICT DR capability and recommendations on remediation plans to ensure continued availability of TDC's ICT systems.
  After testing TDC adds action points to a roadmap for systems improvement to improve recoverability.

Effectus worked in collaboration with the IS team and key business stakeholders throughout this engagement. Their involvement has ensured that support personnel are aware of the DR Recovery Plan, are familiar with the process for testing, and have contributed to the roadmap to close the gaps.

Dunedin City Council Project Management

In mid-2007 Dunedin City Council approached Effectus to support them in conducting a feasibility review for implementation of a shared services model for all council libraries in Otago and Southland. Effectus managed all aspects of the review which include establishing requirements, technical architecture, supplier liaison, investment and risk analysis, business cases development and presentation to executive teams plus selling the vision to all parties.

With the preliminary approvals in place Effectus moved on to detailed planning for the implementation including supplier contracts, hosting providers, shared costing models, memorandum of understanding for the consortium and continued liaison with all 8 councils involved in the consortium.