Opinion: Councils cannot transform on infrastructure they do not control

Across local government, transformation has become an operational necessity. Councils are redesigning services, exploring artificial intelligence and seeking efficiencies in response to sustained financial and workforce pressures.

Yet these ambitions depend on the infrastructure that underpins them. Councils cannot introduce modern services effectively if every new system must be layered onto ageing technology, inflexible contracts or digital environments they do not fully control.

At Havant Borough Council, modernising our infrastructure was about more than replacing technology. We wanted to create the flexibility and control needed to support wider transformation.

When scale restricts flexibility

Like many smaller councils, Havant had historically been part of large shared and outsourced ICT arrangements. These brought genuine benefits, including access to expertise, capacity and economies of scale that would have been difficult to maintain independently.

However, they were not always flexible enough for an organisation of our size. We needed to move quickly, respond to local priorities and introduce solutions suited to our staff and residents. Within a much larger arrangement, securing that agility could be challenging.

Parts of our technology estate had also aged. We remained reliant on server-based applications, older operating systems and traditional landline telephony. Although the council continued delivering its services, the environment was not providing the platform we needed for our next stage of transformation.

An ICT service can remain operational without being ready for what comes next. If technology makes every new service, integration or change more complicated, it becomes a constraint rather than an enabler.

Procure for the council you want to become

Our procurement was based not only on replacing an existing contract, but on understanding what Havant would require in the years ahead.

We developed a comprehensive specification covering infrastructure and application support, Microsoft 365 tenancy management, cloud enablement, cyber security, telephony, networking, Wi-Fi and service-desk provision. 

In a complex infrastructure refresh project, councils can be encouraged to begin with the available technology and work backwards, but procurement should start with the organisation’s operating model, its users and the services it needs to deliver.

For Havant, the goal was to combine access to the expertise and resources of an experienced provider with the flexibility and personal attention that a smaller council requires. We selected Exponential-e because they demonstrated an understanding of both.

There is no single correct sourcing model for every council. What matters is being precise about the required outcomes. A new contract should not simply preserve the same environment under another supplier; it should create the conditions for improvement.

Managing change against a fixed deadline

The implementation was ambitious. Within a period of months, we moved staff, councillors and applications out of the previous environment and into new cloud-based arrangements.

At the same time, we introduced new laptops, upgraded devices to Windows 11, changed our printing infrastructure and replaced landlines with Microsoft Teams telephony. We also had a fixed deadline for leaving the existing environment, so the programme could not slip.

Changing so much at once created inevitable logistical challenges. Every user, device, application, server and connection had to be considered, while new support and cyber security capabilities were established around them.

Strong engagement at every level was crucial. Problems were addressed quickly, senior people remained involved and the council never felt like a small customer competing for attention.

But that did not mean it required little work. A quiet transition is often the product of considerable effort behind the scenes by project teams. When staff continue working and residents experience no interruption to services, however, that quiet is one of the clearest measures of success.

Infrastructure enables wider transformation

The immediate benefits were visible in the tools available to our workforce. Staff and councillors gained modern devices, current Microsoft application features, Teams telephony with secure access and cloud-based integrations.

The strategic benefit was what the infrastructure allowed us to do next. Havant was undertaking a wider transformation programme involving new planning, licensing, customer service and waste systems. The modernised environment became the foundation to support those changes.

It has also put the Council in a stronger position to adopt Microsoft Copilot and explore other uses of AI. Councils understandably want to examine how AI could improve productivity and services, but its success depends on the environment behind it. Introducing advanced tools into a fragmented or ageing estate risks adding another layer of complexity.

Infrastructure modernisation should not therefore be viewed solely as an IT programme. Its real value lies in giving the wider organisation the ability to change.

Control without doing everything in-house

As councils become increasingly dependent on cloud platforms and external technology providers, retaining control over their data and core digital environment is becoming more important. For us, data sovereignty is not simply about where information is hosted, it is about owning our tenancy, licenses and data so the council can determine its own direction without being locked into a particular environment.

One of the most significant changes for Havant was taking ownership of our Microsoft tenancy, licences and data. Under the previous arrangement, we were tied to an environment we did not fully control, limiting our ability to determine our own direction.

We now own those core assets while drawing on external expertise to manage, secure and develop them. This provides control over our data and digital future, supported by capabilities that would be difficult for a council of our size to maintain entirely in-house.

Ownership does not mean doing everything yourself. It means understanding where control sits and avoiding arrangements that make future change prohibitively difficult.

Councils should ask who owns their tenancy and licences, where their data sits, how dependent services are on individual suppliers and how easily systems could be adapted or migrated. These may sound like technical considerations, but they determine how quickly an organisation can respond to new policies, security threats, resident expectations and emerging technologies. 

Technology that’s invisible

One year into Havant’s new arrangement, perhaps the strongest indicator of success is how little noise the technology generates. Staff and councillors have the tools they need, can work flexibly and are supported by an environment that operates reliably in the background.

Our experience showed that modernisation is about more than moving applications to the cloud or introducing newer devices. It is about restoring flexibility, retaining control and creating a platform on which wider transformation can happen. For councils under pressure to deliver more responsive and efficient services, those foundations are where meaningful change must begin.

Featured Image Credit: Havant Borough Council