Seamless service:
Ontario anticipates the next generation of ICT

by Paul Crookall

Ron McKerlie was recruited from a career in banking and telecommunications to become Ontario’s Corporate Chief Information and Information Technology Officer. It was a crucial time: the Desautels task force had just given its recommendations on the management of large IT projects and the government had set an aggressive agenda with Service Ontario. McKerlie accepted the opportunity to learn about the business of government, and make a contribution. Now, a year later, he reflects on the challenges.


We received very good, very useful advice from the Desautels task force. For example: don’t bite off more than you can chew; break projects into do-able chunks with clearly defined expectations; trouble deepens when there is a lack of business leadership, insufficient up-front planning, and no exit strategy. We are in the process of implementing all of the Task Force’s recommendations (see footnote).

We are getting better at scoping and managing IT projects. Some things we are doing that are very helpful:

1. Keeping political decision-makers focused on the largest, most important, and highest-risk projects, and putting good governance and oversight processes in place to ensure due diligence on the smaller projects.

We have created an IT Project Approval Committee (ITPAC) and a Supply Chain Leadership Council (SCLC) to review and approve IT projects and procurements between $1 and $10 million. Members are ADMs from business lines, IT and procurement. They identify opportunities for leverage and ensure alignment with enterprise directions. Larger projects still go to Management Board and smaller ones are decided by the department. This frees Management Board to pay more attention to the enterprise IT issues and provides more oversight to mid-size projects by people closer to the business. ITPAC approves the project, then Supply Chain and Leadership Council shepherds the procurement process. It's one-stop shopping that also reduces timelines.

The Committee reports to Management Board quarterly, on projects approved, turned down, and in process. This allows us, at the enterprise level, to see if others might be able to benefit from the project. So other customers can come in to the same application, we don’t have to rebuild it several times.

We have 27 ministries but only eight CIOs. Each looks after a cluster of one or more ministries. We meet as the IT Executive Leadership Council every two weeks to talk about issues like where we need rebuilding, what our customers want, how to integrate. The cluster CIOs still provide all the application development and support for their ministries and are responsible for each application in their ministries. The cluster CIOs all report to me, for technology leadership, and each reports to the DMs of the ministries for business leadership. The CIOs provide strategic advice that helps the organization get better value from I & IT investments.

2. Using a standardized ‘scorecard’ approach to review proposals to ensure they address real priorities, are ready to proceed, and have the necessary support.

This is backed up by a professional project management discipline across the organization that includes identifying risks and mitigation strategies. In the same way we are moving toward using more common applications across the OPS, we are also moving toward using common project management tools and processes through the Project Management Centre of Excellence, which provides common tools to guide project managers, sponsors, and staff through the process.

This includes: (i) formalizing the gating process – making sure projects don’t proceed to the next phase until ready, being transparent on expectations and results; (ii) implementing standard project methodologies including project frameworks; and (iii) focusing on governance and accountability. Roles and responsibilities are clarified, making for excellent partnerships.

Common services are a real priority. We have been consolidating HR and facilities management for years and now we are making progress with IT. This helps make the entire organization more efficient and allows people to focus on their core business. The Ontario Shared Services Organization (OSS) delivers transactional services (e.g., financial processing) to the government. It has responsibility for supply chain management. It has been charged with delivering significant savings.

The concept is that through consolidation and standardization, services will cost less and deliver better value. Thus, within IT, we are consolidating our infrastructure and moving to a new generation of infrastructure service management. Automated tools and formalized, consistent processes will allow us to deliver better quality, standards-based services at lower per unit costs than we have in a fractured environment without economies of scale. By moving to common applications and IT resources, such as a single stakeholder relations system, we simplify the technology environment and enhance our ability to take an enterprise view.

Most users see their needs as unique. The reality is typically that 85% to 90% of their requirements are identical to anyone else’s. With correspondence control, for example, everyone argued their needs were different, but the underlying tasks of assigning, tracking and following up are the same. Now when we get a request for a software program, we are collecting requirements from other potential users and building reusable common components and enterprise applications. We now have nine common services in production being used by 138 clients, with 48 more in various stages of activation.

When each user had their own server, to keep their data separate, they were being used at 12% to 15% of capacity. But we can virtualize the servers, run multiple applications with no contamination of data, and reduce from the 5,700 servers we currently have. We put a senior person in charge with the accountability to make it successful. We also have a structure to support him and help clear obstacles.

We have had some successes. One is the birth certificate project Michelle DiEmanuele described in your December issue – certificates delivered within 15 days of an online application or your money back – we are at 99.7% success. I’m sure most people applying for a birth certificate would prefer the 15-day turnaround to what could once be as long as a nine-month wait.

Our goal is to move many services under the Service Ontario banner and provide consistent and increasingly guaranteed delivery through a choice of counters, telephone, kiosks and internet. We have learned that citizens want reliable, convenient access and are not interested in which ministry or level of government deals with that particular service.

Recruiting IT staff is a challenge, but we are very good at retaining them. Many people don’t naturally think of government as a place to build a career. But once they experience the work, see the breadth of opportunities, the role they can play in improving services to Ontarians and experience the benefits, they want to stay. Our pay at the entry and mid levels is very competitive.

We benefit from word-of-mouth, our own staff talking up the potential. We hire quite a few interns each year, then offer them permanent jobs once their internship is complete. We use TOPS, Tomorrow’s Ontario Public Service, which provides a networking and support structure for new staff. And we began this year to create a project manager internship stream.

The next generation of ICT will be about easy access. Being simpler and seamless to the customer, becoming more customer-friendly, in a secure environment they trust. No wrong door for entry will allow citizens to ignore levels of government and reach the services they need. For example, we have a pilot underway where you can apply for a provincial birth certificate and a federal social insurance card at the same time. The generation after that might feature more pro-active services and the ability to customize.

To get there, we have to build bridges internally and across governments: envision a scenario where customers identify themselves and then ask for everything they need. Some of those services might be municipal, others provincial, others federal. The better option is to start with the customer application, which gets you the biggest part of the benefits from the citizen’s point of view – it makes their life easier. If they can go to one spot to get all their services, they don’t care whether in the back room it is hived off into three governments and several ministries.

It is a different decision if you want to collapse the backend processing. That would be fraught with all sorts of issues. But we could make the front end very convenient. And provide time commitments and guarantees – proof that government cares about citizens.

My advice for those who have oversight responsibilities but limited IT knowledge is to establish effective governance structures and processes that ensure you and the IT function have a common view of the future and that the projects planned will get you to that future. Don’t just leave problems with IT to resolve, be a leader and a partner. Five things help make this advice practical:
1.     Ensure the project meets a real need. Make sure the proposal is written in a way that you can understand. Don’t accept ‘IT-Speak’, make sure you understand what success would look like so that you can explain it in your own words to others.
2.     Keep it simple. Ensure deliverables have short time commitments (e.g., six months). Ensure regular updates on achieving commitments.
3.     Maintain a positive relationship with the contractor. Don’t rely on conflict resolution mechanisms in the contract or through the courts – by the time you get to that it is too late. Problems will occur and should be detected and resolved early in a culture of trust and cooperation.
4.     Insist on hearing the bad news as well as the good. Reduce the risks for staff who deliver bad news early.
5.     Ensure you have knowledgeable I&IT staff, and stay involved.


My advice for fellow CIOs and IT managers is to become better listeners. Listen to staff, to customers, to leaders you respect. Leadership is much easier when you know what is important to people, what motivates them, what goals they are trying to achieve. You will only discover this by asking questions and active listening.

For example, I meet with each of my direct reports twice a month. They set the agenda, so I can understand what is important to them. I host breakfasts with high performers and ask them what we could do better. I meet with each of the 27 deputy ministers individually, twice a year, to ask them how things are going and what we could do better. I listen to them talk about their goals and what they need to be successful in achieving their organizational mission. I always have a question period at the end of any talks I give to groups of staff – to hear what is on people's hearts and minds.

Listening is a key to becoming a better leader.

The other keys are focus and delegation. For each day, week, month, and year I pick a small number of key issues to focus on. If you have 25 priorities, you really have none. Identify the three to five things that, when done well, will make the most significant difference in moving you towards ultimate success.

Urgent work is often what is important to someone else. It needs to be done, but it seldom helps move you forward, it just chews up your time. I try to delegate whatever won’t help me achieve the key priorities. We have someone who specializes in worrying about the urgent matters, fixing things, and someone else who is responsible for change. They have to work together, but have separate mandates and accountabilities. Firefighters and construction workers aren’t the same. The racing car driver doesn’t change the worn-out tires.


McKerlie has given considerable thought to his leadership style. Several hand-written thank you notes were in his out basket the day we spoke. He believes in being a cheerleader, in creating the conditions, the culture, that allows people to do their jobs.

My leadership style – I understand that it is all about people. The change in culture has to start with the fact that you put people ahead of everything else, that you reinforce the strong messages. To have a service-oriented culture you must focus on your people. If we do those things right, the people get the job done. We have such bright, passionate people here. You don’t get into government service for the money, you get in because you really believe in the work, and believe that you can make a difference. It’s great to work with passionate people. I am surrounded by bright people. This business is all about people. A great organization is only great because of leaders and staff who recognize excellence and celebrate success.

I want to be a lifelong learner. In the 1990s I completed a Dalhousie University MBA part time. Next year I will be taking the Harvard Executive Program. I read two management books a month – my recent favorites are Thomas Friedman's The World is Flat and Adrian Gostick’s The Invisible Employee. And I read several management magazines each month.

Improvement for me comes from trying and learning. I’ve learned almost as much from failing as succeeding. My goal is not to fail, but I’m not afraid of failure because it can be a great teacher.

See the October 2005 issue at www.netgov.ca for an interview with Denis Desautels on accountability and leadership in IT.