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.

In 2011, SSC received financial resources through a one‑time transfer from other departments. Costs associated with the evergreening of infrastructure were not completely accounted for and there was no mechanism to cover fluctuating costs and few incentives to control growth of demand. This circumstance resulted in SSC having limited funding to invest in modernization projects, department‑wide tools and processes, and staff training and recruitment. To fund its projects, SSC had to divert funds from the evergreening of aging IT assets (which usually require replacement every five to seven years) and allow maintenance contracts to lapse. In essence, SSC had to apply a “break-fix” approach to maintaining legacy infrastructure.

To help address some of these challenges, Budget 2016 provided the following investments to SSC:

$383.8 million over two years to stabilize critical systems in data centres, networks and storage units
$77.4 million over five years to strengthen cyber security and ensure better protection of government networks and systems against various threats

Evergreening: The practice of replacing technology and computing devices on a scheduled plan to proactively maintain continuity of services.

Break-fix: The practice of using equipment until it breaks down at which time it is either repaired and returned or replaced.

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.

Risks	Risk Response Strategy	Link to the SSC’s Core Responsibilities	Link to Mandate Letter Commitments or to Government wide and Departmental Priorities
Resource Capacity There is a risk SSC will not have adequate financial and human resources in place to improve the delivery of services to partner organizations	To address this risk, SSC will undertake the following: Implement recruitment and retention strategies Finalize the organizational design and classification of all positions within SSC Explore streamlining organizational structure and costs, adding resource capacity, and reinforcing accountability Implement a national accommodations strategy aimed at consolidating SSC employees in locations throughout the country and encouraging virtual management Work with central agencies to develop a new funding model for SSC based on benchmarks and a comprehensive inventory of SSC’s IT assets	Email and workplace technology Data centres Telecommunications Cyber and IT security Customer relationships and service management Internal services	Mandate Letter Renewal of SSC so that it is properly resourced and aligned to deliver common IT infrastructure that is reliable and secure
Aging IT Systems There is a risk older IT systems will fail and interrupt services to partner organizations	Conduct a comprehensive inventory of SSC’s IT assets Require data centre hardware purchases to include sufficient warranty/maintenance coverage	Email and workplace technology Data centres Telecommuni-cations Customer relationships and service management Internal services	Government of Canada Information Management / IT Modernization Priority Stabilize legacy (SSC) SSC Departmental Priority Modernize Government of Canada IT infrastructure
Leading Change There is a risk SSC will not be able to effectively lead organizational and cultural change, hindering innovation, employee engagement and the quality of service delivery	Support engagement and wellbeing at SSC by reporting on employee feedback, promoting employee dialogue, empowering leaders to create healthy workplaces, and developing action items to address internal employee surveys Provide leadership development training, including change management to SSC managers Increase change management services throughout the organization by providing change resources to high priority projects, change management training to employees, and change consultants to support SSC work when needed Create new effective communications resources to support managers’ communications with their teams Develop and deliver human resources training and information sessions to employees, managers and senior leaders across the Department Offer advisory services to teams/leaders in difficult situations	Email and workplace technology Data centres Telecommuni-cations Customer relationships and service management Internal services	SSC Departmental Priority Build and enable the workforce
Service Management There is a risk SSC’s capacity and tools for service management are insufficient to support excellence in the delivery of services to partner organizations	Continue to monitor and track customer satisfaction with the objective of reaching a customer satisfaction index value of 3.6 by the end of the fiscal year Continue to improve mechanisms for identifying, monitoring, following up on, and resolving customer issues Continue to improve mechanisms—both formal and informal—for sharing meaningful information with customers Develop and implement a customer service culture strategy at SSC Complete procurements for an enterprise service management tool Conduct service reviews for all priority services Develop a departmental directive on service management designed to provide consistent direction on SSC’s organizational approach for service management, including the governance process and the management of services through their lifecycle	Customer relationships and service management	Mandate Letter Renewal of SSC so that it is properly resourced and aligned to deliver common IT infrastructure that is reliable and secure Government of Canada Information Management / IT Modernization Priority Service management (SSC, Public Services and Procurement Canada) SSC Departmental Priority Improve service delivery
Project Management There is a risk SSC’s capacity and tools for project management are insufficient to complete projects on time, on scope and on budget	Implement earned value reporting and other processes Hold project management review meetings on a regular basis Implement a robust project governance framework to support a renewed Organizational Project Management Capacity Assessment level	Customer relationships and service management	Mandate Letter Renewal of SSC so that it is properly resourced and aligned to deliver common IT infrastructure that is reliable and secure Government of Canada Information Management / IT Modernization Priority Service management (SSC, Public Services and Procurement Canada) SSC Departmental Priority Modernize Government of Canada IT infrastructure Improve service delivery

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Date modified:: 2023-10-31

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Operating Context