The Brent, Lewisham and Southwark IT Committee met on Tuesday 26 November 2024 to discuss updates on the Shared Technology Service, including its performance, cyber security, and strategic direction. The committee was scheduled to consider reports on the Shared Technology Service's performance, cyber security status, and future strategies for 2024-2026.

Shared Technology Service Update Report

A significant portion of the meeting was dedicated to reviewing the performance of the Shared Technology Service (STS) between July and October 2024. The report indicated a slight drop in Service Level Agreement (SLA) performance for priority 3 (P3) and priority 4 (P4) calls compared to the previous period, attributed to increased demand from server upgrades, the rollout of Office 365 applications, and emergency planning exercises. Despite this, the number of open calls had reduced from over 2,600 in October 2023 to around 2,100.

The report detailed performance across various priority levels:

• Priority 1 (Major Incidents): Eight STS infrastructure-related P1 incidents occurred, with six resolved within SLA. The report noted that this was within the target of three or fewer per month, despite considerable infrastructure changes, including Wi-Fi replacements, new core firewalls, and migration of mobile phone estates.
• Priority 2 (Serious Issues): Thirty P2 calls were logged, with an average of 7.5 per month, well within the SLA target of 30 or less.
• Priority 3 (General Issues): 13,667 P3 incidents were logged, with an SLA performance of 82%, a decrease from the previous period. This was linked to increased demand and an ageing laptop fleet. The top call categories included applications, hardware, and connectivity.
• Priority 4 (Service Requests): 10,137 P4 requests were logged, with an SLA performance of 90%. This also saw a slight drop, influenced by the higher number of P3 incidents.

Updates were also provided on onsite support, telephony support, and user experience initiatives. The report highlighted the ongoing development of a Customer Satisfaction (CSAT) measurement to replace the Net Promoter Score (NPS) for STS. Overall ticket volumes had increased, reflecting a growth in the user base and ongoing projects.

The report also detailed ongoing service improvement initiatives, including redesigning the Hornbill system, developing a reporting trends database, and integrating Dynamics with Hornbill. Future plans included exploring AI possibilities within Hornbill and restructuring STS teams to increase frontline staff.

Shared Technology Service Cyber Security Update Report

The meeting was also scheduled to receive an update on the cyber security status, threats, and mitigations for the Shared Technology Service. This report aimed to outline the strategy for protecting STS systems, data, and services from unauthorised access, harm, or misuse. The strategy for 2024-2026 was presented, focusing on the National Cyber Security Centre's (NCSC) principles of Defend, Deter, and Develop.

Key areas covered in the cyber security report included:

• DEFEND: Developing means to defend against evolving cyber threats, respond effectively to incidents, and ensure networks, data, and systems were protected and resilient.
• DETER: Detecting, understanding, investigating, and disrupting hostile activities against the service.
• DEVELOP: Creating a coordinated and tailored approach to risks and threats encountered and mitigating potential vulnerabilities.
• REACT: Developing sufficient controls to respond to attacks, including organisational channels and processes for efficient decision-making.

The report detailed plans for implementing new security measures, enhancing the Security Operations Centre (SOC) service, and conducting regular cyber resilience exercises. It also emphasised the importance of cyber security as a shared responsibility across all staff and partners. The strategy aimed to align with government guidance and achieve compliance with relevant standards.

Other Scheduled Discussions

The agenda also included standard procedural items such as the appointment of a Chair, apologies for absence, declarations of interest, and the minutes of the previous meeting. The date of the next meeting was also to be noted. The committee was also scheduled to consider the exclusion of the press and public for the cyber security update due to the commercially sensitive nature of the information.

The report pack also included appendices detailing the procurement process review for the Laptop Refresh Project, a briefing note on a global IT outage caused by a CrowdStrike update on 19 July 2024, and the STS Strategy 2024-2026 and STS Cyber Strategy 2024-2026. These documents provided further context and detail on the topics scheduled for discussion.