New strategy drives IT alignment with the goals of a major-city police service

The Ottawa Police Service (OPS) is responsible for protecting Canada’s capital – a city of over 1 million residents. This complex frontline organization relies on a relatively small IT team of 55 staff to keep its technology humming.

The role of CIO at OPS was a natural fit for Anna Beatty. After completing postsecondary studies in business administration with a major in Information Systems, she started her career managing the service desk for the City of Ottawa (formerly Regional Municipality of Ottawa Carleton) as it transitioned from mainframe to desktop computing. From there she moved into project and then program management, ultimately leading the City’s 120-staff business applications management team. In 2019, after a move to OPS, Anna stepped into the role of CIO.

Laying the foundation for leadership through holistic change

Soon after her promotion, Anna was given the mandate to make OPS a technology leader – no small feat in an organization that had historically focused on traditional “boots on the ground” approaches to policing and had decades of technical debt in legacy and siloed systems. What’s more, there was a lack of standardized procedures, metrics to measure SLA performance, and change management processes. Anna summarized the challenge: “We can’t become a technology leader until we put the foundation in place.”

When the pandemic hit, the OPS IT team scrambled to make remote work a reality. But Anna kept one eye focused on the future. She and her team began using Info-Tech as a resource for insights and research on IT intake and governance as well as application portfolio management (a priority her team was grappling with) that she could use to educate the business and her staff. She noted their progress: “We’re able to do a better job at IT project intake and at using our senior leadership team as a steering committee to help us prioritize.” She added, “We were really trying to change the picture of IT from being an order taker to being a true partner with the business.”

Info-Tech Workshop propels IT strategy planning

After three years of increasing familiarity with Info-Tech – and after the failure of a modernization roadmap process guided by another consulting firm – Anna decided to engage Info-Tech to lead her team through an IT Strategy Workshop. The goal was to develop a business-aligned strategy to achieve IT excellence and drive technology innovation.

Anna had been uncertain about the workshop format, but Info-Tech’s thorough and holistic approach, which involved substantial engagement and pre-work with the facilitator, changed her mind. “It was a pretty amazing experience coming out of that workshop in four days – and only one week later, to have a strategy that I could present to my supervisor,” noted Anna. The deputy chief reviewed her plan with a critical eye to ensure the plan did not have any gaps. He was satisfied that the strategy was rock solid. “You’re not going to believe this, but I don’t have any questions. This is excellent,” he told her.

The IT strategy has been invaluable in creating strong alignment on IT plans and priorities. “With the IT strategy in place, the senior leadership team understands that our IT mission, vision, goals, and strategic objectives are in direct alignment with the OPS’ strategic plan,” Anna explained.

“With the IT strategy in place, the senior leadership team understands that our IT mission, vision, goals, and strategic objectives are in direct alignment with the OPS’ strategic plan.”
– Anna Beatty, CIO, Ottawa Police Service

Preparation is everything

The success and impact of the IT Strategy Workshop was due in part to the quality of information gathering, research, and preparation done beforehand. Info-Tech had recommended that she start with the firm’s diagnostic tools, most importantly the CIO Business Vision diagnostic. This survey-based program captures IT stakeholder feedback to identify gaps and guide priorities. Completing such diagnostics enabled her to bring the maximum amount of well-founded, structured, and relevant information into the IT Strategy Workshop.

The value of an experienced, independent sounding board

Throughout Anna’s drive to turn the OPS IT directorate into a world-class technology organization, she has leaned on the support of her Info-Tech Executive Counselor, a fellow female IT executive who brings rich experience and relevant perspectives. “Being a woman in IT is a little bit of a unicorn,” Anna observed. “With my counselor, I felt that I was in good hands with someone who understood my challenges. I really benefit from being able to use her as a sounding board to get an independent assessment of whatever problem I’m tackling.”

Accelerating key initiatives with Info-Tech support

Now that her IT team has fully aligned itself with the wider OPS organization and its goals, Anna intends to focus more resources on critical initiatives like cybersecurity. She plans to once again bring the power of an Info-Tech Workshop to accelerate their efforts: “I don't have months to spend to find the answers or get a paperweight of a document that nobody understands. To be able to take the Info-Tech Workshop deliverable, present it to my supervisor, and he gets it in one go – that’s the value to me.”