Agenda item

ICT Continuity Plan Presentation

Minutes:

The IT Manager delivered a presentation on the Council’s ICT Continuity Plan and the following salient points were noted:

 

·         Member and Staff Support: Efficiencies were made by implementing and bolstering existing technologies including self-help.  Training was fundamental to drive down costs and free-up existing resources.

·         Security was ICT’s primary focus and the following initiatives were key, namely cyber essentials plus, completion of regular penetration tests, Microsoft active directory migration maintained in-line with industry standards, logging, policies aligned with Government and industry best working practices and architecture.

·         Dynamic IT: The following activities had been established to ensure technology consolidation, so that staff could access IT from anywhere (zero trust networking) and resilience.  Work had been carried out on the server room migration, network expansion, firewall redesign, cloud strategy and integrated telephony.

·         Server Room Migration: Cost saving drivers were consolidating into one physical room with an eventual move offsite in readiness for Town Hall renovation, uninterruptible renewable and generator power supply, air conditioning and fire suppression.

·         Future investment would consist of underpinning future infrastructure changes required to adapt to the significant changes in working practice post COVID, business grade internet connectivity for homeworkers was being considered, and allow the Council to realise Cloud Strategy.

·         In order to keep the Council in-line with current industry standards, it had been necessary to complete the following activities regarding redesigning the firewall e.g. consolidation of firewalls, saving renewal costs, removal of walled garden and complexity, simplifying and cost savings.

·         Benefits of moving to a Cloud Strategy were money savings, working smarter and collaborating across the Council and with customers, providing better robust user experience as vendors continually fixed issues and improved their products, as well as offering real time monitoring, access to marketplace security tools, avoiding inflexible network specification, as well as being locked into long-term contracts.

·         Benefits of using an integrated telephony system included reduced costs, better contact centre integration which would fully utilise Microsoft Teams licencing with telephone lines.

·         Strongly recognised the need for usable and useful policy documentation and the Council’s insurance company was assisting with the completion of outstanding policies which were scheduled to be completed in September 2021.

 

Members had the opportunity to ask questions and the following was noted:

 

·         Concern was aired regarding irregular broadband connectivity issues, particularly within the rural areas of the District.  Members were reassured that if viable the introduction of business grade broadband would assist with alleviating connectivity issues, however this could not be completely guaranteed.

·         It was clarified that the Council was already using the Cloud platforms e.g. email (hybrid approach) etc.  Four back-up systems across the Council; all systems and data would be recoverable either from the Cloud (includes Cloud back-up on and off site) or physical off-line back-ups.

·         Reassurance was given that the computer network was secure and robust measures had been implemented to protect the organisation from cyber threats / attacks.

·         As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, significant changes had been implemented within IT namely the ability for staff to work from home etc.  Measures had been implemented to ensure that the environment was safe and secure and that bespoke departmental packages were functional / deliverable across the authority.

·         Once Government restrictions were eased, Members were encouraged to contact the IT department for a personalised tour of the Council’s ICT systems.

 

Members thanked the IT department for their professionalism and assistance in delivering a smooth transition to the new way of working.

 

RESOLVED: That the presentation be noted.