01 March 2007

Knowledge Solutions balance the IT implementation equation

Seven out of 10 public sector IT projects fail. That's around £9.8 billion a year at serious risk of being wasted due to projects failing, coming in late or over budget.

That's the stark reality highlighted in a recent report by Joe Harley, CIO for the Department of Works and Pensions. However, Knowledge Solutions, the leading provider of knowledge transfer and learning technologies, believe this figure could be slashed by at least a third if more attention was paid to user adoption and training. This article highlights two public sector organisations that have looked beyond simply hitting technology deadlines and focused on people factors to drive successful projects.

Moorfields eye hospital, the UK's leading centre for ophthalmic treatment, teaching and research, recently deployed a new Stalis Silverlink PCS Patient Administration System (PAS). To ensure the 500 doctors, nurses and clinical staff using the system were fully trained and confident using the system they selected technology from Knowledge Solutions to create a comprehensive learning environment. Using Knowledge Solutions technology Moorfields quickly created interactive, online training materials which were tailored to specific roles and functions on the new system. Moorfields were able to track the progress of individual students using the built-in learning management system to verify that all staff completed and passed mandatory refresher training on the PAS software.

Additionally, Moorfields were able to re-use the content created for training purposes by linking it into the live application as context sensitive, in-process support, offering users 24/7 help on the live system. The in-process support functionality means any alterations to the PAS system can be easily flagged to users, eliminating the time and cost overheads of retraining 500 staff on minor system changes.

"Ensuring that all of our staff are completely up to speed on our upgraded Patient Administration System is obviously vital to ensuring the highest possible levels of patient care," commented Ian Mercer, Training Manager, Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust. "Using Knowledge Solutions' software has enabled us to deliver flexible, online training, management and ongoing support to users, tailored to their individual roles."

Another example of how Knowledge Solutions' technology helps increase end-user uptake is based on a Police Force deploying a Niche Records Management System (RMS). The Force, of 6,500 officers, found that training learned in the classroom wasn't being transferred into the real world.

The training programme was scheduled to take 17 training managers four months to complete. Yet within the first month of the training programme it became apparent that, whilst proceeding to schedule, officers continued to forget the classroom training when they moved onto the live system. This led to major concerns over the quality and consistency of the data that was being input into the system as officers simply failed to follow the necessary processes.

The Niche RMS system plays a key part in the Forces' ICT strategy, and ensuring data was entered into the system consistently and accurately was critical to its success. The Force required a solution that would enable them to reinforce the lessons learned in the classroom every time officers used the application.

Knowledge Solutions were selected, and rapidly deployed an in-process support environment designed to guide officers through the application. Linking into the Niche RMS system, Knowledge Solutions' in-process support tool, KShelper, provided officers with a quick and easy method of accessing help functionality, best practice information and other critical knowledge when they needed it most.

Officers were now able to access the help they required whenever they used the application, and also be reminded to check for duplicate records, typos and the numerous other errors that skew the quality of the data recorded. As the support functionality is linked into the application it is available 24/7, meaning officers working unsociable shift patterns still benefited from support on demand and abstraction costs associated with removing officers from duty for training were cut out.

Using Knowledge Solutions ensured the data quality in the Niche RMS system was consistently high, which if left unchecked would have seriously undermined the effectiveness of the entire system.

The examples above demonstrate how using the right technology can provide end-users with the knowledge and support they need to successfully deal with change generated through deploying new IT systems. By supporting users throughout the life cycle of the deployment the chances of a project succeeding are increased significantly, saving money, time and valuable resources.

Related link:http://www.gpsj.co.uk/samples/GPSJ_spring_07.pdf