From 2017 to 2021, in 6 releases across 4 stages, we successfully moved all the products we administer to new systems and processes, improving the services available to customers.
Transformation has involved changes to every aspect of the way Inland Revenue operates, including policy settings, processes, our operating model and people capabilities, and technology. Within the same timeframe as the major releases, we delivered other significant changes including:
- Recentring our organisation design around customers and their needs, with new intelligence and knowledge management tools enabling us to make the best use of the information we hold.
- Extending our digital borders to allow customers to reach us in new and different ways including through third parties.
- Deploying new knowledge management and information sharing systems across the organisation including advanced search functionality for our people.
- A complete redesign of our external website creating greater opportunities for customers to self-serve.
- Optimising, updating and replacing all heritage business technology including replacement of workplace technology, giving our people a better user experience and allowing for more flexible working.
- Delivering a new enterprise support services platform which helps our people work more efficiently and effectively.
While the learning curve was particularly steep at the beginning, we continued to learn and improve our approach and practices right up to the end of transformation. This led to unexpected outcomes such as our decision to go live remotely for our final release – something we would never have envisaged or been able to achieve without the experience and what we’d learned in previous releases.