Self-Service Online HR to Save MOD Millions of Pounds Over 10 Years

“We have been modernising our internal administrative processes by changing from paper-based systems to an electronic service. While this has worked well internally, we were left with around 10,000 staff unable to access our internal systems online from their place of work. We wanted to give all of them secure access to the appropriate MOD systems from any Internet-connected PC.” David Longhurst, Adviser to the Chief Information Officer, Ministry of Defence

The Situation

As one of the UK’s largest government departments with 320,000 personnel including 40,000 reservists, the Ministry of Defence (MOD) is the guardian of national defence, security and international peace. In line with an obligation to the Treasury by all government departments, MOD has to seek efficiency savings and secure best value for the taxpayer in any major procurement.

Unlike desk-based colleagues, around 10,000 staff in remote locations could not easily access MOD applications such as HR systems. MOD needed to address this challenge. Managers saw an opportunity to achieve huge savings if expense claims and over 20 other routine HR processes were automated and turned into self-service functions.

The Solution

Since 2000, Capgemini has worked with the MOD on DECS (Defence Electronic Commerce Service) under a long-term contract. This has resulted in a range of communication models to facilitate operational benefits by secure use of the Internet.

With DECS as the backbone, MOD launched project IASS (Internet Access to Shared Service) to eventually extend to all employees needing access to MOD corporate systems. IASS needed to offer users a high level of security without a costly re-write of back office services. It would give users unsecured device access to services usually only available from a secure location inside the MOD’s electronic boundary.

IASS provides identity and access management solutions, assuring secure authentication of employees who access internal applications, from anywhere and at any time. It offers “Defence in Depth” to protect MOD networks while at the same time facilitating access to essential information.

The Result

The MOD, Capgemini and Microsoft brought together a number of other partners and suppliers to deliver an operational IASS solution. This allows secure access to HR systems from any Internet-connected PC. User authentication is achieved via banking style “Chip & PIN” smartcards and the Government Gateway.

The self-service HR system will save taxpayers millions of pounds over the next decade.

In a message to project team members at launch, David Longhurst, IASS project sponsor and Adviser to the MOD Chief Information Officer, said:

“I would like to give my appreciation to all staff in MOD (DCBA IPT, SPVA and PPPA), in DWP (the Gateway team), Capgemini, EDS and Microsoft who have worked together and in many cases long hours to put in place one of the most complex, and secure systems yet built to give staff the ability to access HRMS and JPA from any location, world-wide.”