Getting 'IT'
Right
A Thematic Inspection
Appendix D
SUMMARY OF OBSERVATIONS AND GOOD PRACTICE POINTS
Paragraph
2.6
1. The best departmental business plans seen by HM
Inspector represented good practice in linking tasks in hand to force objectives and is
evidence of technical staff seeing their role as supporting the business objectives of the
force.
Paragraph
3.3
2. It is good practice to follow the advice of the Central
Computing and Telecommunications Agency (CCTA), since they have wide experience of
managing public sector computer projects.
Paragraph
3.13
3. It is good practice for an independent post
implementation review to be carried out to check that each project achieves its aims,
within budget and timescale, and that lessons are learned and applied to other projects.
Paragraph
4.3
4. RAD is a sound system, and its use represents good
practice. It has been used successfully by a number of forces - involving the signing-off
of work changes by users, which places an obligation on both user and analyst to get it
right first time.
Paragraph
4.4
5. It is good practice for the Scottish police service to
formulate its own terms and conditions for supply and maintenance of contracts, which
should be available with the invitation to tender.
Paragraph
4.6
6. HM Inspector identified best practice in the form of
supply contracts which apply liquidating damages in the event of failure to deliver and in
the case of maintenance contracts give discounts if speed and availability criteria are
not met.
Paragraph
4.7
7. Some organisations paid maintenance contracts three
monthly in advance instead of annually in advance: this represents good practice.
Paragraph
4.11
8. There were several examples of quality policy documents
and operating rules for operational applications having been utilised in some forces’
training programmes and this represents good practice.
Paragraph
5.17
9. Progress with SPIS is encouraging and the project
management approach adopted by the Central SPIS Team represents good practice. |
