Reliance Mutual Head of IT and Business Change Richard Norris started his role in May 2014 after moving from insurance intermediary Cullum Capital Ventures. At Reliance Mutual, Norris has been involved in the launch of new Reliance Mutual brand 'There', which the Head of IT describes as a start-up with an approach to projects and delivery "which will form the basis of an agile delivery methodology which is being embedded into the society". Job TitleHead of IT and Business Change When did you start your current role?May 2014 What is your reporting line?Head of Operations Do you meet with and discuss business strategy with the CEO every week?No Are you a member of the board of directors?No What other executive boards do you sit on?Portfolio Governanace and various steering groups Does your organisation have a CDO?No What non-technology responsibilities do you have in the organisation?Overall business change and business plan development How many employees does your organisation have?130 Does your organisation carry out significant trade in the EU?No What number of users does your department supply services to?100 How do you ensure that you have a good understanding of your business and how your customers use your business's products?I have monthly meetings with each of the functional department heads, weekly meetings with the Head of Operations. I chair the regular Portfolio Management meeting. Reliance Mutual technology strategy and agenda Is your organisation being disrupted by the internet, mobility or technology oriented start-ups?Yes Are you empowered by your organisation to disrupt from the inside?Yes Describe a disruptive measure you've led or played a major part in?Deployment of mobility, Audio Visual Equipment in meeting rooms and working areas. Technology changes to facilitate collaborative working. Intranet rebuild. Remote access working. Corporate and visitor WiFi access, data analysis self service. What major transformation project has been recently completed, or is underway at your organisation?Reliance Mutual launched a new brand called There® , the programme included changes to every part of the organisation as well as efficiently building a startup. The programme delivered project such as: Tech Readiness – New LAN, WLAN, WAN, Telephony, Desktop (Migration from SUN SGD and Unix), build of a new Windows Active Director. Culture – Deployment of DSDM Agile as the methodology of choice of project workload and management. Consultants engaged to help change the business to have greater Adhocracy. Development and embedding of the new core values. Product : A new product was designed Policy Administration System (PAS) : A new PAS vendor was selected that could meet the product and Direct 2 Customer requirements (D2C). PAS and Web portal developed to meet the new product requirements in conjunction with web developers who developed the new brand look and feel. New Call Centre (CSC team) : A new call centre was developed and staffed using specifically hired team, some 8,000 hours of training have been delivered. The team use a number of tools to service the customers, including the ability to mirror the customers web portal journey. New office space was allocated and a strategic view on desks and furniture for the office was undertaken which will ultimately see the who office having their desks replaced in 2015. Target Operating Model (TOM) : To facilitate the rate of change in the business and the servicing of our customers the IT and Business Change functions underwent a TOM review which ultimately saw the department being restructured. Managers have been hired (or are in the process of being hired) to lead the functional areas of Business Change, Solution Design, Development, Quality Assurance and Operations, the changes have produced a step change in change and quality, with a significant amount of process reengineering work being undertaken. BI-Modal IT : The IT services and change functions have now aligned with a BI-Modal IT model and we will continue to develop this our strategy for legacy and new world systems. New Website : A new website has been launched there.co.uk which present the new product and brand. What impact will the above transformation have on your organisation?The transformation is having a significant impact on the society, having been working in a low change state for many years the transformation forms the basis for the relaunch of the society and taking new products to market. Culturally the project has made a significant impact to the society and its approach to projects and delivery which will form the basis of an agile delivery methodology which is being embedded into the society. The new product and brand sales will form the basis of all new business for the society for the foreseeable future. How has your leadership style contributed to the outcomes of the transformation project?I have been involved in the steering group for the overall programme as well as the individual projects. one of the biggest wins was the development of a more open working style and culture within the organisation and department. Vendor selection and engagement is a new skill which has been lacking from the society and one that is now being embedded. Some of the tech ready projects had to be modified following reviews of the deliverables against the business requirements. Overall I have been working to develop the department and society to be more market focused, with a buy not build strategy as well as a pragmatic view on supplier and budget management. What key technologies do you consider enable transformation?Virtualisation, Saas, IaaS, Mobile, Collaboration tools, D2C Product deployment, the ready availability for software tools to enable pretty much everything these days. Given where this business has been in the past from a technology perspective, even deploying laptops to project managers and installing Audio Visual hardware in meeting rooms has been transformative. Are you increasing the number of cloud applications or infrastructure in use at your organisation?Yes What is your information and data analytics vision for the organisation?From a strategic perspective we are building a corporate data warehouse, to facilitate both Solvency II reporting and well as to meet the future needs of the society's BI and MI needs. How is mobile and social networking impacting operations and customer experience?Social networking has been developed as a core requirement for the society to interface with our customers and to that end we now have a presence on all the main platforms, which has been a transformation step for the society this year. Our customer services team receive the communications from our customers and respond accordingly. Describe your strategic vision towards shadow IT and BYOD. How do you influence and engage executives and employees around choice?Shadow IT is encouraged in part, certainly from a business innovating around tools to enhance business processes, after which IT would be engaged to facilitate vendor selection and project delivery. BYOD has been reviewed and the current view is that we will stick to our standard delivery models, which really are choices, Dekstop (thin client), Normal Laptop, Exec Laptop, Business Mobile phone. With the society being relatively small and a mainly static workforce the mobile requirement is low. What strategic technology deals have been struck and with whom?Insurance Trading Platform – Keylane Leanapps Website hosting – Acquia Infrastructure as a service – Redcentric VM Ware Horizon View deployment – Mobius Who are your main suppliers?Keylane Leanapps Redcentric Space01 Mobius Commensus Dell Misco Datasharp Google Iress Linedata Oracle Perceptive Reliance Mutual IT security and budget Has your organisation detected a cyber intrusion in the last 12 months?No Has cyber-security risen up your management agenda?Yes Does your organisation understand the potential cyber-security threats it faces?Yes Has this led to an increase in your security budget?Yes What is the IT budget?£3.2m Opex, £4.5m Capex How much is the IT operational spend compared to the revenue as a percentage?16 What is the strategic aim of the 玩偶姐姐 and IT operations for the next financial year?IT Operations development Supplier consolidation Cost reduction Environment consolidation and simplification Virtualisation Are you finding it difficult to recruit the talent you need to drive transformation?No Has recruitment and retention risen up your agenda as a 玩偶姐姐?Yes Are you looking for recruits in the EU to fill the skills shortage you have?No Does your IT organisation operate an apprenticeship schemeNo Reliance Mutual technology department How would you describe your leadership style?I would describe my leadership style as transformational, I focus on the high level leadership of the department whilst allowing the team leaders to drive and deliver the goals into their departments in the way which works best. I work as a trusted advisor to the Executive team, collaborating with them to deliver change and solutions which facilitate the business and our customers on their respective journeys. Explain how you've supported and developed your senior leadership team to support your overall objectives and vision?The IT and Business Change team have been through a complete target operating model review with structure changes and hiring being undertaken to support to vision. The objective and vision are support by team development days which are held offsite and facilitated by third parties. Each of the main functional areas have a tactical and strategic plan for 2015 and for the next five years to support the society in its business aspirations, the managers are developing, reviewing and embedding these visions and objectives into their team via regular communication channels, including department stand-ups, team meetings, one to ones and individual development plans. I have also enhance the training delivered to individuals, with the completions of ITIL foundation, individual specific training courses and DSDM training for both the business and project managers. How many employees are in your IT team?30 What is the split between in-house/outsourced staff?70/30 Does your team include key skilled workers from the EU?No