This meeting was a meeting of the Joint IT Committee, a committee that oversees the shared IT service of Brent, Lewisham and Southwark Councils, known as Shared Technology Services (STS). Two reports were scheduled to be discussed: an update on the performance of the Shared Technology Service, and an update on the Cyber Security status, threats, and mitigations identified in relation to the Shared Technology Services.

Shared Technology Service Update

The report pack included for discussion an update on the performance of the Shared Technology Service.

The report provides an update on the performance of the service in several key areas.

The report states that the Shared Technology Service has:

• seen a drop in its Service Level Agreement performance, meaning it is meeting its targets for resolving IT problems less often
• made progress migrating Brent and Lewisham to a new mobile phone provider
• finished migrating all servers that were due to move from the old VMware environment to the new Nutanix system
• awarded the Laptop Refresh contract to CDW
• begun pilot schemes in Brent and the London Borough of Greenwich to migrate laptop management to Microsoft Intune
• awarded the Managed Security Operations Centre contract via the government's G-Cloud framework
• begun work on the procurement of its Service Desk Telephone Support

The report also details the performance of each of the council's IT services. In particular it mentions:

• that eight priority one incidents occurred in this reporting period, two of which were not resolved within the target time

  In this reporting period (July 2024 to October 2024), there were eight P1 incidents related to STS infrastructure, six of which were resolved within SLA.

• that the volume of calls is growing, due in part to an increase in the number of staff that are using the service, and in part to the age of their laptops

• that, as part of its programme of continuous improvement, the service is trialling a new way for staff to ask for help from the on-site team, and is looking at improving the induction process for new starters. It is also planning to buy a new, more comprehensive IVR system¹

  Shared Technology Service Cyber Security Update Report

  The report pack includes an update on the Cyber Security status, threats, and mitigations identified in relation to the Shared Technology Services.

The report provides an update on the Shared Technology Service's cyber security arrangements.

The report states that:

• Shared Technology Services is preparing to present its Cyber Security Strategy to the Joint Committee in its next meeting.
• Shared Technology Services has been working with Crowdstrike on their identity protection tool.

The report pack also includes the minutes from the previous meeting of the committee, which was held on Tuesday 19 March 2024.

The minutes record that the Committee:

• noted the Shared Technology Service's performance
• noted that the London Office of Technology and Innovation (LOTI), an organisation set up by the London Councils group to share best practice in the use of digital technologies, was in the process of benchmarking Shared Technology Services against other local authority IT services
• requested a report on the procurement process for the laptop refresh project
• requested a report on the Shared Technology Service's approach to using biometrics as a security feature² The minutes also state that, before moving into closed session, the Committee considered a report on the Shared Technology Service's Cyber Security status, threats, and mitigations. The minutes do not reveal the contents of this report.