Strengthening and Innovating Internal Capabilities

To be able to keep up the pace and continue delivering a first class service to its customers, MITTS Ltd has adopted strategies and tactical approaches that aim to automate certain processes and revive economies of scale

The network infrastructure, hardware, business systems and related services required to support the business of Government have over the years grown dramatically in both size and complexity. By contrast, the number of engineers, administrators and specialists needed to man this operation has remained quite the same.

To be able to keep up the pace and continue delivering a first class service to its customers, MITTS Ltd has adopted strategies and tactical approaches that aim to automate certain processes and revive economies of scale.

Service Management: all at one go!

2004 stands out particularly for a number of initiatives that have come to fruition after a long period of detailed planning, research and preparation. The Service Management Programme, for example, saw the roll-out of the new Service Management System that would allow the Service Management Department functions, especially the Service Call Centre, to benefit from a tool that offers the functionality and resiliency worthy of a complex ICT service organisation such as ours.

The process for selection and procurement of the system began as early as mid-2003, until the successful bidder was awarded the contract in March 2004. After a period of very challenging contract negotiations, the new solution was implemented in August to take advantage of the week-long summer recess. But prior to that, service management policies and procedures had to be defined. As many as 220 members of staff were trained for the adoption of these policies and procedures and on the system itself. Data was collated, cleaned, prepared and migrated from legacy systems into the new one. The Configuration Management Database (CMDB) data too was inventorised, cleaned, prepared and migrated to the new system.

After a week of intensive rehearsals and simulations, the system went into live operation with Incident, Problem and

Change Management modules all at one go, along with a CMDB with 7,800 configuration items.

Don Page and Tony Brough, from Marval Training & Consultancy Limited, had this to say about us in their Strategic Review Document dated 1/2/2005:

"The work carried out to-date in the creation of the MITTS CMDB can already be classed as a leader in its field. Marval have been so impressed with the approach and continued improvement in MITTS that we would like to nominate MITTS for the ITSMF Service Improvement Project of the Year award and also put them forward for the BCS awards."

Besides allowing faster logging of calls, categorisation of incidents and reporting facilities, the Service Management System allows common incidents to be linked to prevent duplication, and prompts the Service Call Centre officer with a check list, advice and FAQs related to the particular incident being handled. Approximately 6,000 incidents are handled by the Centre every month, with nearly one-third of these calls resolved over the telephone. The teamwork, dedication and commitment shown by all the players that pursued this exciting experience has been extraordinary.

A Quantum Leap in Network Management

MITTS Ltd completed Phase 2 of the Network Management Programme. The previous phase had achieved visibility of all the network components and allowed pro-active and real time detection of network faults before these could result in network downtimes. The second phase achieved centralised control of the network. This was done by deploying tools that allowed software updates, upgrades and configurations to be done centrally, remotely and in batch mode. With less technical staff needed for on-site interventions, the net results have been an optimisation of economies of scale and a decrease in the overall cost of ownership. The Malta Government Network is monitored round the clock by our 24x7 Command and Control Centre. Any problems in the network are automatically recorded on the Service Management System to which the Network Management System has been integrated.

The third and final phase, planned to be completed in 2005, is directed to integrate all the software tools deployed, address non-standard based legacy components that have not yet completed their duty life cycle, and improve the automation of remote network fault detection and resolution.

Launch of the Client e-Services Portal

After the successful launch of the first phase of the Employee Portal in April 2004, the MITTS Ltd Client Portal was concurrently launched in August 2004 to enhance the online collaborative experience with our clients. The facilities offered on the portal include the publication of announcements, the provision of important links, and the logging of as many as 50 different types of Requests For Service (e-RFS) which may range from a very basic service such as an email, internet or system login account, to a more articulated service such as a new Local Area Network (LAN) design.

Customers who authenticate themselves on the Portal can submit their requests on line. These are then forwarded for approval to the relevant authority through a workflow process that ensures that requests are passed on to the correct implementors for actioning within a specific time span. Requesters may also track the status of the request from submission to final closure. The integration of the eRFS application with the Service Management System has led to much faster and more accurate processing of requests. Thanks to this system, the paper-based process for the submission of Requests For Service was completely phased out by November 2004.

In 2004 approximately 3,500 users in the Public Service have been migrated to the new architecture covering network domains across the Ministry for Social Policy, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry for Investment, Industry and Information Technology, the Office of the Prime Minister, the Ministry for Rural Affairs and the Environment and the Ministry for Gozo. It is planned that the entire EMA project will be concluded by the end of 2005.

The third phase of the MITTS Ltd Portal, planned for mid 2005, will consist of the roll-out of the Supplier Portal. Through this system, suppliers too will be able to benefit from a similar collaborative experience currently being offered through the Client and Employee portals.

Building an Enterprise Management Architecture for Government

The Enterprise Management Architecture (EMA) project is one of those projects that focus on the hidden aspects of the ICT infrastructure, and because of this are not given the merit they rightfully deserve. In reality, this project has a profound effect on the quality and robustness of the wide area network, or the MAGNET as it is better known, as well as on Desktop and Office Automation (OA) services provided to the Public Service. Its ultimate aim is that of reducing Total Cost of Ownership through the consolidation of OA server hardware and the streamlining of support capabilities and logistics, mainly by implementing a Standard Desktop Configuration across the Public Service. With the new architecture in place, Windows network domains can be consolidated and managed centrally. Thanks to a powerful set of services and tools, and the right policies in place, MITTS Ltd is now in a position to offer capabilities such as centralised and automated software distribution, remote desktop troubleshooting and software and hardware configuration inventorisation. Indeed some of these are already available or are being piloted. Domains that have been consolidated will also benefit from business continuity services through an identical active-active fail-over set-up at the company’s Active Data Centre that is planned to come into being in the relatively near future as part of the MAGNET II project.

In 2004 approximately 3,500 users in the Public Service have been migrated to the new architecture covering network domains across the Ministry for Social Policy, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry for Investment, Industry and Information Technology, the Office of the Prime Minister, the Ministry for Rural Affairs and the Environment and the Ministry for Gozo. It is planned that the entire EMA project will be concluded by the end of 2005.

Capitalising on MAGNET II: Consolidation and Reduction of Total Cost of Ownership

In reality, the major upgrade of the wide area network to MAGNET II, the EMA, the Service Management System (SMS) and the Network Management System (NMS) are all closely related. MAGNET II represents the foundation that will lead to an Enterprise Architecture for Government. The EMA is the second architectural layer over which MITTS Ltd will be able to roll out and consolidate all central and site-based ICT services. The SMS and NMS are the services that will continue to execute their remote monitoring and trouble-shooting functions, but with the added advantage of greater visibility, increased proactiveness, higher bandwidths and above all the resiliency and redundancy features of MAGNET II.

In 2004, MITTS Ltd has tested and commissioned the MAGNET II fibre optic infrastructure and networking components that were laid out by the consortium entrusted with the work. Migration of all the 55 Government sites connected is targeted for completion by mid 2005. This will be a major milestone that will open the doors for the implementation of VoIP technologies across Government, and the realisation in earnest of the ICT consolidation programme. The thrust of this programme is to maximise MAGNET II by centralising the vast majority of ICT services into two resilient locations, the Corporate Data Centre and the Active Data Centre. These two Data Centres, though housed in separate locations, will function effectively (in active-active mode) as one Data Centre.

The primary benefit of consolidation is a reduction of the Total Cost of Ownership in the provision of ICT services

to Government, since ICT resources can be maximised through economies of scale achieved by deploying Storage Area Network (SAN) and Network Attached Storage (NAS) solutions. Used in combination with active-active Data Centres, higher service up-times become a logical conclusion.

Throughout 2004 MITTS Ltd has consolidated a number of servers within its own operation and has successfully completed two important pilot consolidations covering a number of client sites: the new redesigned and fully redundant Document Registry system platform, and the consolidation of a number of Office Automation servers affecting users at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, at the Ministry for Investment, Industry and Information Technology and at the Ministry of Finance.

Entrenching Enterprise Architecture as a Core Business

Enterprise Architecture (EA), for an organisation such as MITTS Ltd operating a complex heterogeneous environment, is of fundamental importance and criticality. In the absence of a sound EA, the establishment of a coherent and consistent merging of various technologies and responding to business strategic needs, domains spanning functions such as Business Applications, Data, Network, Hardware and Operating Software such as Operating Systems, Database Management Systems and so forth, will be impossible to attain.

MITTS Ltd has since 2001 invested considerably to embed the skills and methodologies to have a sustainable EA function entrenched as a core business.

It can be stated that in 2004 this goal has been met – a task that is not as simple as it may sound. The challenge in future years is to ensure that this important function retains the critical mass that the Company successfully reached in 2004.

Securing the MAGNET

The Security and Risk Management Department in 2004 finally came into its own. The process of capacity building initiated in 2002, when the company strategically established security as a core business, was realised in 2004. The department, which has a resource body of fourteen compared to four in 2002, was set up as a result of a reskilling of the existing staff complement.

The Security and Risk Management Department earned its kudos in 2004 when it successfully ensured that the Government Communications Centre with the EU, together with the appropriate security procedures, obtained the appropriate accreditation from the Council of Europe InfoSec. Moreover, in addition to mobilising itself in preparation for security certification in ISO 17799, the Information Security and Risk Management Department successfully implemented anti-virus software updating mechanisms which are so critical for business continuity today. In September 2004 MITTS Ltd hosted its first Taskforce – Computer Security Incident Response Teams (TF-CSIRT) international conference. This event heralded international recognition of Malta’s role and contribution in the concerted fight against security threats, and constituted a major manifestation for the local ICT community to step up its efforts to co-ordinate national initiatives and improve information-sharing capacities in this regard.

2004 was the year that ushered Malta’s entry into the European Union. Faithful to its commitment to support the business of Government, MITTS Ltd has been key to a number of critical application related projects designed to support and facilitate the new economic and political circumstances