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LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL

SECRETARY'S REVIEW

DEPARTMENTAL OVERVIEW

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Outcome and Output structure
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Group information
Client Services Group
> Technical Services Group
Corporate and Strategic Development Group

REPORT ON PERFORMANCE

MANAGEMENT AND ACCOUNTABILITY

FINANCIAL INFORMATION

APPENDICES

GLOSSARY

TECHNICAL SERVICES GROUP

Group Manager: Peter Ward

Infrastructure Facilities
Director Gary Coble

Projects
Director Michael Pronin

Project Office
Director Mike Lawrence

Standards and Security
Director John Hardin

Business Management
Director Carole Peacock

Overview

The Technical Services Group (TSG) is responsible for second line information technology, telecommunications and broadcasting technical support. These services are generally invisible to Senators, Members and other users of the department's outputs, but are the engine rooms which allow for development and improvement of first line services.

Objectives

The Group provides the majority of Output Group 2 (Support and Technology Services) and supports the department in achieving its mission statement by providing:

• Parliament-wide information technology infrastructure and systems to allow secure access to key parliamentary resources, documents and materials
  
  
• office information technology services, such as integrated desktop facilities, email, intraNet and Internet
  
  
• remote and mobile access to the central computing networks
  
  
• telecommunication services, including telephone and facsimile
  
  
• technical support for television, radio and Internet broadcasts
  
  
• sound reinforcement systems in the Senate, House of Representatives and committee rooms
  
  
• other electronic services, including division lights, bells, clocks, Senators' and Members' pagers and the public address and emergency warning intercom systems.

The Group comprises three subgroups:

• Infrastructure Facilities
  
  
• Projects
  
  
• Standards and Security

A business management unit supports the Group.

Significant activities

The 2002-2003 operational year was an exceptionally busy one for the Technical Services Group as it met the challenge of managing a wide range of technical, computing and telecommunications initiatives and projects aimed at enhancing the services provided to Parliament. The focus continued to be on providing a responsive, quality service for clients using a seamless delivery approach capable of meeting present and future needs.

A number of significant and complex projects were continued, completed or commenced during the year.

OneOffice

The most significant project was the OneOffice platform, which is the largest information technology project ever undertaken by DPRS. The new OneOffice computing environment is a sophisticated, state of the art platform that will see the realisation of the vision that Senators, Members and their staff will have equivalent computing facilities wherever they are - in Parliament House, their electorate offices, at home or while travelling in Australia or overseas. Senators, Members and their staff will have 'one office' from a computing perspective regardless of location.

The project began in 2000-2001 with research on current and future technologies, processes and practices. Subsequently five subprojects were established - software services, servers, integrated applications, standard operating environment and enterprise management. In 2001-2002, the OneOffice project became a joint undertaking between DPRS and the Department of Finance and Administration (Finance), which has responsibility for electorate offices and the funding of Senators' and Members' information technology and communications entitlements. Staff of the other parliamentary departments were also included in the project to ensure a seamless interchange of information between Members and Senators and the parliamentary administration.

During 2002-2003 the following milestones were achieved to allow a progressive rollout of the OneOffice platform to proceed across Parliament:

• The central computing infrastructure was upgraded, including introduction of Microsoft Windows2000 Server and Active Directory, the central email servers and related storage were upgraded, and the number of servers required overall was reduced;
  
  
• 90 per cent of parliamentary departmental staff moved to the OneOffice platform;
  
  
• A new enterprise management methodology was introduced, based on the world best practice ITIL approach. This has included improvements to configuration management, change control, release management and incident and problem management. The HP Openview Service Desk product was selected through a competitive tender to support these activities, and significant training of support staff and process redesign was completed;
  
  
• A new MobileOffice solution has been developed, including new laptop software, support for personal digital assistants (PDAs) and an upgrade to the Outlook Web Access program. The new laptop solution has been successfully piloted by six Senators and Members from the Presiding Officers' Information Technology Advisory Group (POITAG) and meets the objectives of being easy to use, cost effective, broadband ready and having improved security. The new MobileOffice solution will be rolled out in parallel with the update to OneOffice of Parliament House and electorate offices;
  
  
• A new OneOffice Standard Operating Environment (SOE) for Senators and Members has been developed and is being tested. It includes improved security, greater supportability and a new networked attached storage device (NASD) in each electorate office, which will host the shared 'Y' drive and be backed up centrally. All computers will be upgraded to WindowsXP.

New incident and problem management system

Following the selection of the HP Openview Service Desk product as part of the enterprise management initiative, the incident and problem management modules known within DPRS as SARMS (Service and Request Management System), were implemented to provide improved support tools to the DPRS 2020 service desk. This allows better client service, and importantly, the ability to extend the support across electorate offices using remote access capabilities. The new system was commissioned in April 2003, with electorate office support commencing from July 2003.

Senators' and Members' pagers

The rollout of a new pager system was delayed due to problems experienced with the installation and operation of the exclusion zone function and signal coverage in the Ministerial Wing. These issues have been resolved and the new pagers are scheduled to be rolled out progressively on a party basis during the Spring 2003 Sittings. This system is critical to the Parliament and the delay in rollout has been necessary to deliver a fully tested and reliable service.

Parliament House communications network

Community access to parliamentary proceedings

In March 2003 an improved web interface to the ParlInfo database, ParlInfo Web, was released. This solution is available to the public as a tab on the Parliament's Internet home page and provides easy to use access to parliamentary materials, including Hansard transcripts, Table Office records, Bills, committee materials and information held in the Parliamentary Library's collections. ParlInfo Web includes a guided search, quick links and comprehensive help.

Other projects

A number of smaller projects were also undertaken such as vision monitor replacement, HMS channel expansion, migration of Hansard and the Table Offices to OneOffice, Oracle Financials system upgrade, ParlInfo maintenance and the piloting of a Senators' and Members' services portal.

Evidence of the high quality of project management work is reflected in the department maintaining its ISO 9001:2000 accreditation for its project management quality control system. The early achievement and continued certification against ISO 9001 is significant and illustrates the importance placed by the department on providing an international standard of service to Senators and Members and the Parliament.

Support of Joint House Department's information technology

In late 2002, the Joint House Department (JHD) decided it would no longer maintain an inhouse information technology systems support team and approached DPRS to consider taking over the services. A subsequent cost benefit analysis by DPRS found that there were potential benefits to both organisations from such an arrangement.

A Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) was negotiated by the two departments and signed on 28 March 2003 with a commencement date of 5 May 2003. The MOU clarified the arrangement between JHD and DPRS and outlined each department's objectives and responsibilities in the provision of information technology support services.

DPRS provides comprehensive support for tier one systems, assisted by the relevant vendor if necessary. Examples of tier one systems include the Loading Dock system, Chemwatch Hazardous Substance Material Data Information, the Parliamentary Shop system and the TRIM records management system.

Tier two category systems, such as the SAP system - a prime corporate support tool for JHD which handles all maintenance and related activity, including financial management - will continue to have their applications support and systems administration provided by specialist staff within JHD. DPRS will provide only server and infrastructure support for these systems.

The MOU stipulates the charges applicable to JHD under a cost recovery basis and provides for a six-month honeymoon period, where the service provision and service levels will be reviewed and adjusted by mutual agreement as necessary.

Provision of information technology support for electorate offices

The arrangements for the department to take responsibility for the provision of information technology support in the electorate offices (detailed in Client Services Group) will have a major impact on TSG through the provision of second and third line support.

Technical skills and documentation have been developed in anticipation of the new arrangements and a close working relationship with the Department of Finance and Administration has been established. New working arrangements have been negotiated within TSG so that suitably skilled staff will be available to provide support during extended hours.

Infrastructure improvement

In conjunction with the Joint House Department a number of improvements were made to the technical infrastructure including the reorganisation of the computer room to allow space for further expansion of facilities, the enhancement of the Uninterrupted Power Supply (UPS) to the Computer Room and Broadcasting Centre and the installation of racks and associated infrastructure for the new pager system and other projects.

Replacement of departmental assets

DPRS has a rolling program of replacing key assets as they age. In all cases, feasibility studies are conducted to determine whether the asset can be maintained for longer, whether the service is still required and what options and costs are associated with replacing the assets.Many of the assets purchased for the original commissioning of Parliament House in 1988 are becoming increasingly difficult and costly to maintain.

Assets replaced during 2002-2003 included:

• committee room broadcast television cameras;
  
  
• committee room audio systems;
  
  
• parliamentary web server; and
  
  
• several database and email servers.

Substantial progress has been made in the drafting and issuing of tenders for replacement of chamber local control rooms (which manage sound systems and camera robotics in the chambers) and the master clock system.

Completion of these asset replacement projects is expected in 2003-2004. During this time it is also planned to commence feasibility studies into the progressive digitisation of ageing analogue infrastructure associated with the broadcasting and sound systems.

Project management

The department had an asset replacement budget of approximately $9 million in 2002-2003. The significance of the asset replacement program is also reflected in operating costs, where 24 per cent of the costs are attributed to depreciation and amortisation.

A number of strategies have been developed to ensure cost effective management of projects. These strategies include:

• Strengthening project portfolio governance by tighter alignment of the project portfolio program with the department's Services Catalogue and oversight of the project portfolio by the Technical Development and Implementation Committee and the Finance Committee. This helps maintain a focus on high priority services and is cost effective in achieving synergies between related projects such as digitisation
  
  
• improved project governance through expansion of responsibilities of the quality management review group
  
  
• expanding the role of senior project managers, particularly in the mentoring and development of project managers
  
  
• enhancing the role of the Project Office to improve project support through enhancements to the project management methodology and quality assurance advice to project managers.

20 projects were completed in 2002-2003 of which -

• 75 per cent were delivered on or under budget
  
  
• 15 per cent were up to 10 per cent over budget; and
  
  
• 10 per cent were more than 10 per cent over budget

Of these projects, 45 per cent were delivered on time with 10 per cent delivered within one month after scheduled delivery.

These results were down on the figures for the previous financial year, when 95 per cent of projects were delivered on budget and 59 per cent were completed on time. The Project Office is investigating those projects which exceeded budget or timeframe. Initial investigations show that in a number of cases the scope of projects changed during the project life, but a more comprehensive review is continuing. Client feedback indicated that clients were satisfied or very satisfied with project deliverables and the way projects were conducted.

Staff development

The Group undertook a number of initiatives during the year to ensure that staff continued to maintain their professional competence while developing new skills. These included:

• the encouragement of work areas to organise off-site planning days at least once per year where staff participate in reviewing current issues, planning for the future and exploring workplace improvements
  
  
• the encouragement of staff to rotate through other work areas to develop broader skills and to experience new technologies and work environments.
  
  
• the encouragement of staff to undertake additional tertiary studies through the department's Studybank program.
  
  
• the encouragement of staff to participate in the Divisional Subcommittee (DSC) of the Departmental Consultative Committee, the department's tripartite consultative mechanism. The DSC has an active role in suggesting improvements in the workplace and providing input into departmental initiatives.

Particular attention was paid to internal management procedures seeking maximum efficiencies in cost management and corporate reporting and analysis. By working closely with the Corporate and Strategic Development Group and improving reporting, TSG was able to achieve greater devolution of responsibility for monitoring and managing activities and service costs.

Security

Considerable work was done on updating the department's Information Technology Security Policy and in developing a Security In-Depth proposal. Both documents were presented to the Technical Development and Implementation Committee for consideration.

Each month there are around 1000 attempts to infect the parliamentary computing network (PCN) with viruses. Almost all are stopped at the firewall. This year only one virus, BugBear, successfully penetrated the PCN, infecting five workstations and the printer servers. The virus was successfully contained and eradicated within hours and the vulnerability of the print queues remedied.

The Integrated Communications Strategic Plan (November 2000) recommended consideration should be given to a security certification for the PCN. Following a security impact analysis to determine the implications of such a move, the Standards and Security section developed a Security In-Depth model to address the findings of that report.

In 2003-2004 the Technical Services Group will focus on progressing the department's Information Technology Security Policy and in developing the Security In-Depth proposal. It will also continue to progress the Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity Plan.