Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Good afternoon.
I am Ron Parker. I was appointed president of Shared Services Canada in July 2015.
I am accompanied today by my colleagues John Glowacki, chief operating officer, and Manon Fillion, director general of finance, to discuss the Auditor General's report that was tabled in Parliament on February 2 and to take your questions and comments.
But first, I would like to briefly outline SSC's history and mandate.
SSC was created to modernize information technology infrastructure services to ensure a secure and reliable platform for the delivery of digital services to Canadians.
This followed, as Mr. Ferguson noted, the Auditor General's report of 2010, which drew attention to the aging systems of the Government of Canada and the risk those systems were of breaking down and jeopardizing services to Canadians. Shared Services was created to standardize, consolidate, and re-engineer the federal IT infrastructure into a single shared IT enterprise. The department aims to deliver one email system; consolidated data centres; a reliable and secure telecommunications network; and 24-7-365 protection against cyber threats across the 43 departments, 50 siloed networks, some 400 data centres, and 23,000 servers.
This year the Auditor General has noted limited progress in the key elements of Shared Services Canada's transformation program. This report recommends that the department develop a strategy to meet partner legacy and transformation service needs; develop agreements with partners setting out service expectations and reporting commitments; provide partners with more information on IT security, protocols, guidelines, and standards; and prioritize, allocate, and report on funding commitments and realized savings.
Shared Services Canada accepts these findings. They are timely, and they echo the feedback I have received from partners, stakeholders and staff.
In fact, the department has made tangible progress on each of the recommendations. That said, some aspects of the AG's report deserve comment.
Shared Services Canada's service management strategy has already been finalized and shared with our partners. We've established service level expectations in five priority areas: email, mobile devices, video conferencing, application hosting, and the Government of Canada-wide area network services. Service level expectations cover such areas as service hours, service availability, and the time to restore services.
Regarding the email transformation initiative, the challenges in migrating email systems vary by department. Readiness to migrate also varies by department. As such, the costs of migration differ by department, and additional costs may be incurred. Migrations were also put on hold in November 2015 while the vendor addressed the system's stability and capacity issues.
Finally, regarding security, as noted in the Auditor General's report, it's important to remark that the Auditor General did not test the effectiveness of our security controls. Rather, as he's just said, he focused on the communications with partners and whether security's roles and responsibilities were adequately documented.
SSC's transformation plan represents an unprecedented exercise in orchestration and synchronization. As we move forward, we are placing increased emphasis on client service, sound financial management and ensuring accountability.
We also face some challenges.
At the enterprise level, work is proceeding more slowly than anticipated. The complexity of the challenges has caused some delays, and some procurements are taking longer than planned. In addition, the capacity of industry to meet our requirements varies, and we have important funding pressures arising, in part, from stronger than forecast demand growth.
To address these issues, we are focusing on a three-pronged approach.
First, our staff are our priority. They are our strongest asset. Their support, commitment, and drive are a very precious commodity, like gold. I want to recognize the Herculean work to remake the delivery of IT infrastructure services supporting all types of services to Canadians. They should be very proud.
First, at Shared Services Canada, service excellence is part of the DNA of our staff, and we must make it easier for people to deliver the services through providing new tools, new processes. This, of course, is a major concern for our customers as well. Improving customer satisfaction is key to Shared Services' success, and is key, at the same time, to improving staff morale. We will strengthen service delivery through new service strategies and the standardization of processes.
Second, the department will update the transformation plan in fall 2016, with the participation of Shared Services Canada's employees, customer organizations, central agencies, and outside experts. We want a conversation about the scope, pace of implementation initiatives, and the cost of the plan, while ensuring that the legacy systems continue to deliver programs and services to Canadians.
Third, we recognize that some legacy infrastructure will remain operational longer than we'd originally anticipated. We will therefore continue to reinforce the legacy infrastructure to prevent outages in the delivery of services to Canadians.
In conclusion, I want to stress that since its creation, Shared Services Canada has made progress in modernizing government-wide IT systems.
We are moving forward with renewed vigour, while absorbing the lessons learned over the last four years, along with the recommendations for ongoing audit and evaluation work.
Ultimately, the IT services SSC provides are an integral part of a vision of a 21st century public service. They complement the Government of Canada's commitment to improve digital services to all Canadians.
Thank you.
