Operating Context

Operating Context: Conditions affecting our work

The scale and scope of Shared Services Canada’s (SSC) mandate to modernize the government’s information technology (IT) infrastructure while simultaneously maintaining existing IT operations is ambitious compared to modernization initiatives in other public sector jurisdictions around the world. Success depends on several external and internal factors, including industry’s ability to supply the required solutions, SSC’s capacity to deliver services and projects, and the Department’s customers’ readiness to transition to the new infrastructure while still delivering on their own mandates and departmental priorities.

When SSC was created as a new department in 2011, it inherited IT assets and services with limited standardization and no asset baseline or inventory to serve as a basis for service‑level agreements. Furthermore, the quantity and complexity of IT assets to be transferred to SSC was underestimated. Consequently, SSC has not made as much progress as initially expected in consolidating and modernizing the government’s IT infrastructure.

SSC implemented a comprehensive, multi-year Customer Satisfaction Feedback Initiative to better gauge service delivery through the eyes of its customers. The Department saw scores improve across all of the questions since the feedback initiative was created in 2015. This improvement is in part due to the creation of the new Service Delivery and Management branch as a focal point for implementing SSC’s “service-first” approach. SSC also established the Project Management and Delivery branch, a dedicated branch for project management that is responsible for the entire project management lifecycle of all projects. As well, SSC launched a new change initiative to implement a service excellence culture across all aspects of the Department’s work.

In 2017, SSC completed an extensive review to ensure its plan to consolidate and modernize federal government IT infrastructure is sustainable, practical and aligned with industry best practices and capacity. The review included broad‑based consultations with government employees, the IT industry, its customer organizations, Canadians, and an independent external review commissioned by the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat, which reconfirmed the unprecedented scale, scope and complexity of the mandate SSC is working to deliver for the Government of Canada.

Despite recent increases in hiring (800 new hires at SSC between April 2017 and January 2018), SSC will continue to face challenges in recruiting and retaining staff due to a very competitive labour market, especially in domains such as cyber and IT security, project management and cloud computing. In response to these challenges, SSC implemented a People Strategy with targeted initiatives and innovations in staffing, training, and employee engagement and feedback. SSC is employing a range of staffing mechanisms to seek needed IT skills, including targeted external recruitment, and use of the Office of the Chief Human Resources Officer policy flexibilities such as the Interchange Canada Program.

Key Risks: Things that could affect our ability to achieve our plans and results

Risks to SSC’s IT infrastructure represent risks to the delivery of federal government services to Canadians because these services depend on an IT platform that is secure and reliable.

Ensuring adequate resource capacity to provide IT infrastructure, email, data centres and network services across government represents a key risk for both SSC and the Government of Canada in the years ahead. Maintaining Government of Canada IT infrastructure services while undertaking IT modernization initiatives will require an engaged employee base possessing a specialized skill set, as well as sustainable, and reliable funding. How well this risk is managed will impact whether SSC and its partners can fulfill the collective mandate to serve Canadians.

As IT systems age, issues emerge with technological compatibility, obsolescence and reliability. Older IT systems may fail, disrupting the delivery of services to partner organizations and Canadians. A situation like this may also result in unforeseen or increased costs, as well as a loss of confidence in SSC among departments and Canadians.

The magnitude of Government of Canada IT modernization, the pace of organizational and cultural changes, and the current workload present challenges to SSC and its dispersed workforce. Organizational and cultural change management strategies and initiatives are essential to lower the risk of failure and to address change fatigue and resistance by employees.  

SSC’s challenges have highlighted the need for a more holistic, customer-centric approach to providing day‑to‑day services, and delivering on modernization activities. SSC’s capacity and tools for service and project management are underdeveloped. The establishment of Government‑of‑Canada-wide standards for SSC IT services and the implementation of SSC‑wide service management tools and processes are needed to optimize the Department’s services and resources.  

SSC’s project management practices are maturing. A strong project management foundation and a project management strategy are required to provide project managers the right tools, training and access to needed resources to effectively and efficiently manage projects.

The following table provides more detail on the key risks facing SSC, and the Department’s associated risk responses. In addition to linking to the Department’s programs, the table also links each departmental risk to pertinent ministerial mandate letter commitments.