Pavitt is no stranger to a challenge. At TfL he conducted an exhaustive review into how the business structured IT with one mantra in mind: “What’s the cost, what’s the numbers, what’s best?” This resulted in a fundamental shift in the negotiating of outsourcing contracts, with the emphasis moving away from a headline number and towards flexibility; creating a shared infrastructure (placing 65% of TfL's systems on a shared common technology platform) and business processes ultimately resulting in an optimised system with a leaner budget. 

Prior to his arrival, TfL spent 60% of its IT budget on 17 outsourcing contracts covering the bulk of its IT infrastructure and services, from desktop management to helpdesk. Upon his departure, 15 of the 17 contracts have been brought back in-house, cutting costs by 40% and desktop and support costs by 61%.

Pavitt’s arrival at HMRC will therefore prompt questions as to whether the organisation will consequently be taking a different approach to outsourcing. However he rejects suggestions that he is a serial insourcer, instead stating that he adopts the required solution for each unique situation:

“I try to get the best for the organisation I work for - my job is not to “reinsource”, but instead to redraw the line and find the best vehicle for what the organisation is trying to deliver. I used to be part of ITNet so I see it from both sides. I’m not a serial insourcer. What annoys me is that in the massive rush to outsourcing 10 years ago we often lost the commercial ability to manage the project. The strategy, the architecture, the governance, the thinking, the intelligence were all outsourced, so after a year you sit back and think “Every time I breathe I’ve got to pay extra for it”, and CEOs begin to wonder what IT actually do.” 

“If the contract has the right level of flexibility, this encourages business process change, thus enabling contracts to become structured agreements which encourage shared infrastructure - you can therefore save money whilst retaining control. For example IT across three or four different departments can all bind their mobile messaging platforms together, optimising the heavy lifting of fix, install, resolve and engineering, allowing the business to start seeing IT as a broker and facilitator. In TfL this corporate approach was used externally, customers can look at their mobile and see where the latest tube train is to the second, and be able to look at a GSM map.”

Looking forward to his newest challenge, Pavitt admits that HRMC is an organisation facing some tough requirements:

“HMRC has to collect tax efficiently, whilst targeting and paying credits to the appropriate customers as efficiently as possible. The pressure is on to make sure that every penny is spent as cost effectively as possible. My job is to get the right level of cost effectiveness into the IT organisation, and more importantly to enable the business to perform better – be that in enforcement, collection or granting credit. These are large volume jobs where IT can play a pivotal role.”

When asked about the future Pavitt speaks of a “massive frustration” within the IT sector that we have not yet been able to realise the full benefits of the last five years of technology:

“We are so busy looking for the next “sexy” thing sold to us by Gartner, Forrester or the IT providers that we haven’t wrung the potential out of the technology currently available. The 101 of IT is making it work effectively, with projects being broken down into manageable chunks – I think that IT should take the time to focus on Thin Client, Virtualisation and VoIP for the next few years before businesses get frustrated at seemingly unending investment without the promised return, starting to think inside the already purchased ‘box’.”

“A lot of people bought Oracle or SAP licenses and got massive functionality, yet never took the time to use it. If businesses become more willing to change process in order to exploit current strength we will be able to fully cash the cheque written over the last five years before we start writing the next. The industry is currently clamouring about Cloud computing, predicting that if we do not invest “then the world will end”. You know what, it probably won’t, and if we can consolidate our current costs and resources, then I believe that we can face the future on much stronger foundations.”

Whilst looking forward, Pavitt has the following thoughts on data security:

“At a technical level, the realisation around data management has become much more important in organisations and in IT. You must be able to consistently classify data types, manage them, put in place protocols, enable access and then restrict it with passwords. The problem with any data is the “human factor”; this can be negated to some extent by processes (education on responsibility, repercussions etc) - and lack of tabloid headlines does indicate that this is having an effect - but the risk will never go away unless you can get rid of human intervention”.

Given all that Pavitt has achieved, it is interesting that when asked about his proudest accomplishment at TfL, he immediately points to his team:

“The thing I’m most proud of is the culture of the IT team, and how the broader organisation’s perception of my guys has changed completely. Before the team felt marginalised, with the emphasis on outsourcing and back end support, there was little recognition from the rest of the organisation. Now we are very visible, implementing the most up to date technology, bidding for services and taking on significantly more work across the Greater London Authority. There is a huge demand for our services, and I have a tremendous pride in what we have achieved.”