CENTRAL ADMINISTRATION

Information technology is indispensable in public administration but it is rare for legislators, executives and other key players of the sector to possess all the necessary competencies in IT, legal issues and public administration all at the same time. In most cases, this border area requires external expertise. The area of public administration management comes to the fore when public administration needs to develop a new database, develop a new or existing IT system, or possibly interface existing systems.

Our team meticulously plans how specific goals will be achieved, for example the implementation of a new electronic administrative procedure. We define the legal framework that is necessary to implement and operate the new system; develop the legal framework, the operational model, the technical content of the public procurement procedures, the unique user-specific features and functions of the system, the implementation plan and the document templates; manage system testing, troubleshooting and risk management.

Our services:

  • Development of the Administrative Management Concept;
  • Development of the Administrative Management System Plan;
  • Public Administration Management Consultancy;

Act L of 2013 on the electronic information security of central and local government bodies obliges the authorities covered by this law to audit and develop the security level of their IT systems. Our services efficiently help these authorities create and further develop their IT security in accordance with the information security law.

Information Security Audit

On 15 April 2013 the Hungarian Parliament adopted the information security law that is applicable to central and local government bodies. The law obliges central and local government authorities to develop their IT system’s security level.

The main obligations in the first phase are the following:

  • nomination of the person responsible for the security of the IT system,
  • elaboration of the IT security strategy and policy,
  • classification of the IT system in the appropriate safety class,
  • classification of the entire organisation in the appropriate safety class.

Our complex service portfolio ensures that the central and local government authorities will meet all the obligations related to the information security law. Our experts prepare the nomination of the person responsible for the security of the IT system, elaborate both the IT security strategy and IT security policy. In order to offer high quality services, our working methodology is customized in accordance with the client’s needs.

Our audit methodology contains:

  • the assessment of the current IT security level,
  • gap analysis of the discrepancies between the current situation and the situation obliged by the law, identification of the activities that are necessary to achieve the desired level of IT security (task, deadline, responsible, resource).

In addition, the preparatory analysis includes:

  • the review and evaluation of the existing IT contract portfolio,
  • the development of the SLA type contracts,
  • the elaboration of the disaster recovery plan,
  • the identification of the IT risks,
  • the assessment of the IT support system.

Following the examination of the current status, our experts prepare the nomination of the person who will be responsible for the IT security, elaborate the job description and support the selection procedure. In the first phase, we make proposals for the main structure of the IT security strategy and the working methodology. The working methodology for developing the IT security policy is the same as that used for strategy development; we always pay special attention to the quality assurance of the elaborated documentation.

The existence of an IT strategy is essential to ensure the successful operation of public administration bodies. Nevertheless, existing IT strategies are often unsatisfactory or might not even exist in written form – such a strategy is very difficult to follow and implement.

With the conscious application of strategic management, organisations become capable of implementing their own strategies and also of preserving their achievements thereby ensuring a continuous improvement of efficiency in IT. We support our clients’ efforts by using the „Public Sector Balanced Scorecard” (PBSC) model – a planning and controlling methodology based on a balanced system of objectives and indicators, tailored specifically for public administration.

We pay special attention to:

  • a precise needs assessment;
  • the development of the vision, elaboration of the future management and technical concept, identification of appropriate priorities;
  • the elaboration of the action plan;
  • the determination of the main requirements related to the necessary investments and resources that will be utilized;
  • practical and financial feasibility;

IT related consultancy services

Our IT related consultancy services cover almost all fields of IT system development and operation.

In IT development projects we provide consultancy services in all stages of the process, from concept design to system installation. In the planning phase this primarily means concept design and the specification of technical requirements; the most important elements of the implementation phase are quality assurance of products and processes, testing, system delivery and acceptance, preparation for maintenance, support for deployment and training.

The failure of complex projects is prevalent worldwide, namely that the main factors of success – meeting the deadline, remaining within the budget allocation and realising appropriate quality developments – are not achieved properly, which is frequently caused by low quality project management. Our mission is to contribute to successful investments by our partners through our high-quality project management services.

 

Strategic consulting 

Strategic consulting connected to the developments of our partners is an important element of our services. We actively contribute to the development of project ideas and support the preparation phase of the project.

With our experience and expertise we contribute to the following:

  • feasibility study examining the political, economic-financial, legal, technical and environmental circumstances of the project;
  • ensuring compliance with corporate level strategic objectives;
  • expert preparation of the sponsorship possibilities of the project.

During the preparatory phase we provide support in the following:

  • stakeholder analysis;
  • detailed elaboration of the targets;
  • preparation of the project schedule, detailed financial and resource plan.

Risk management

We contribute to the formation of the necessary internal organisational arrangements, to the preparation of operating procedures of the project and to the design of the exit strategy.

Programme Management Office

To ensure high quality support of our partners’ projects we undertake the operation of the Programme Management Office (PMO). During its operation, the PMO provides the following services:

  • continuous monitoring of implementation of developed plans;
  • measuring the fulfilment of quality requirements;
  • financial controlling services;
  • efficient operation of internal and external communication processes.

Additional services:

  • administrative support of the project managers;
  • preparing reports for the senior management;
  • development of document templates and methodologies for the project;
  • preparation and compliance of the project documentation order;
  • fulfilment of project closure tasks;
  • appropriate dissemination of the results;
  • quality assurance of the project;
  • coordinating the collection and systematisation of experiences gained during the project.

Thanks to our broad knowledge of EU policies, we successfully support the professional work processes shaping central cohesion policy. Utilising our programming, monitoring and evaluation expertise, we provide research, analysis, planning, strategic consulting and management services to our EU and domestic/foreign government clients involved in development aid.

Cohesion policy auditing
Using a number of classic consulting methods, we help our clients gain a comprehensive picture of the program and projects they implement in order to achieve greater efficiency and impact. We make proposals for possible intervention points and methods. Our evaluation methods are: data analyses, case studies, online surveys, stakeholder analyses, interviews, workshops with stakeholders, relationship analyses (network analyses), map displays.

Supporting cohesion policy planning

Learning from the experiences of previous support systems, we use various consulting methods to help our clients allocate sources of funding more efficiently and along a better intervention logic. As former colleagues of managing authorities, collaborating organisations and government bodies, many of our experts have extensive in-depth professional experience in cohesion policy planning and implementation.

Cohesion policy measurability and monitoring

Examining the relevant EU regulatory environment, we develop the statistical methodology for measuring indicators, then determine the value of the indicators.

Cohesion policy development

We review existing processes and make proposals for process optimisation exploiting synergies and minimising or fully eliminating unnecessary process steps. We examine the tasks of each organisational unit, assess the relationships between them, and make proposals for more efficient operation. We provide expert support for the implementation of operational programs and facilitate the conduct of evaluations.

In certain cases we also organise themed trainings for our partners.

Our services in organisation development date back more than a decade. We developed our own organisation and process development methodology based on our experiences gained in public administration and the requirements and methods of the private sector. In our work we strive to lay the foundations of a complex process management which will help our clients create a transparent process system that can be constantly updated in line with their needs. This ensures that the management, professional and administrative processes that form the basis of corporate operations are up-to-date and run efficiently.

In our approach, development is a complex task shaped by external variables such as the legal environment, shareholder’s expectations, existing organisational strategies, organisational development goals and the organisational culture. During the organisational development task, the organisation must be examined together with the tasks, processes, supporting IT infrastructure, human resource capacities and competencies as well as existing internal policies. Organisation development interventions could not be successful without the comprehensive management of all the above elements.

Our main organisation development activities are the following: 

Elaboration of organisational and functional strategies:

After the review of the company’s goals and organisational structure, our experts specify long-term objectives and the necessary resources and development goals that assure the achievement of these long-term objectives. The organisational and functional strategy will be elaborated after the assessment of the company’s mission, its unique internal and external environment as well as its market opportunities. The future operating scope of the company will be determined by taking into account the market and consumer demands.

Establishment and reorganisation of the organisational structure:

What makes an organisation unique is that it has a specific goal and its resources are used in order to achieve that goal. In our organisation development projects, we review the organisational structure, identify the tasks to be undertaken (defined by the law, shareholders’ decisions or internal policies) and assess the distribution of tasks between the organisation’s departments in order to make proposals for modification if necessary. As a result of systematic change, the efficiency of the organisation increases. A simpler, more transparent structure leads to clearly defined responsibilities, shorter communication channels and as a result, the company’s operation becomes faster and more efficient.

Process development:

Our process-based approach includes the quantitative and qualitative analysis of the activities, lead times, elaborated documents and related reporting activities. The basis of the whole organisation development project is the process-focused approach. This approach views a series of activities as a single unit and focuses on the analysis of the intra-organisational processes and on the interactions between them.

  • We identify and rationalize value creating and non-value creating activities.
  • We clarify the implicated persons’ rights and responsibilities.
  • We map the existing processes and the interactions between them in order to elaborate the process inventory and process context diagram.

During the process development the documentation tools will be selected in accordance with the client’s needs and the size of the process. The flowcharts are created in SmartDraw, Visio, PowerPoint, and on demand in accordance with the ARIS methodology. The minimal content of the flowcharts: roles, process steps, relations, inputs, outputs and the portrayal of the tools that were used. The conventions approved by the client are described in the Convention’s manual.

Elaboration and modification of the internal policies:

The organisation’s processes and operating structure are formed in accordance with the external regulatory environment, organisational strategies and tasks. The internal regulator’s functions are the provision of information, the assurance of intra-organisational integration and cooperation, and the stabilization of the internal operations. For stable operation, the transformation of the internal control is also necessary after the process development. During the development process we assure the consistency between activities, processes and regulatory environments. Our goal is to create a unified internal regulatory system that assures the consolidation of the internal regulatory system’s levels, the rationalization of the number of different regulatory types and the eradication of existing redundancies, thereby creating a unified transparent regulatory structure.

Introduction of it support:

The IT infrastructure assures the basis of organisational functioning and efficient task fulfilment. During the organisational development projects we identify the IT functions that support the processes that assure the organisational goals’ achievement. Our experts identify the development and rationalization options that help the client organisation perform daily work activities more efficiently. Our goal is to have IT solutions that support the organisational processes and facilitate organisational performance.

Competencies development:

The outputs of the organisational development projects are only useful in the long term if they are incorporated into the client’s organisational culture. The operation’s efficiency requires the existence of human resources with adequate competencies. The assessment of the competencies needed to operate the processes, the communication of the project development results and the development of the competencies together assure that the newly created processes, organisational elements or IT support activities will become part of everyday work and achieve the targeted result.

The Administrative Management System Plan presents the modelling of the legal and data management processes in accordance with existing legal regulations as well as the complete logical system of individual procedural steps and processes.

From an administrative point of view, the Administrative Management System Plan is a helpful tool for the IT department in preparing the IT documentation (which needs to be completed before starting the specific IT tasks).

We provide many of our clients with expert system designs with high added value that are essential to building a software application.

Based on the functional needs of the client, the document prepared by our experts includes:

  • the development’s purpose;
  • the processes that the application must support;
  • the application’s components that serve the required functions;
  • a description of those elements of the legal environment that determine the processes and operation of the application;
  • a description of the operation expected from the application in line with the client’s needs.

This requires an accurate knowledge of the customer – client’s – operation, goals and tasks. It is also important to determine how the software application fits into the customer’s operating mechanism and organisational framework, and – based on the available IT infrastructure – how it can be implemented and how its operation can be maintained.

We put great emphasis on the quality assurance and audit of the projects and their outputs during and after its realisation. The purpose of quality assurance is to identify project-like operation, problems and the risks endangering the project’s goal, as well as to support risk management. We assess the quality of all products produced during the project and, if necessary, we make proposals for their content and form design. We monitor the operation of the project, evaluate the efficiency of the established project organisation, the applied information flow processes as well as the administrative order.

Unique problems require unique solutions. Leveraging the latest technological advances, we contribute to the development of smart solutions that answer the everyday problems of our clients efficiently. Our goal is to provide our partners with fully comprehensive project management support and to support the development of synergies between different industries and competencies.

Our experts provide support in the analysis, development and quality assurance of Administrative Management System Plans. Through sector-specific consulting, we also help government bodies make decision-making more efficient. We put special emphasis on the comprehensive review of IT operations as well as on the analysis of IT security. We provide Information Security Consulting and assist in the audit of IT application architecture and software management. Our portfolio also includes IBIR reviews, data asset assessments and the development of BCP and DRP plans.

The globalizing world has radically altered the fundamentals of security organisation. We believe that employee safety is a cross-border obligation, that is why we have experts who provide professional support to guarantee employee safety. Our complex travel security service includes all the elements that are essential to the safety of our partners’ employees, from pre-deployment preparation to emergency support to reintegration. Currently, the flagship of our security organisation is under development which, uniquely in Hungary, provides our service through an IT platform.

Our experts provide support in the complex conception of physical, logical and human security infrastructures, in the design, organisation and optimization of processes, as well as in comprehensive analyses.

Case studies


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