When you needed something yesterday

It’s a question we ask often “When do you need that by?” and sometimes it is met with a date in the not-too-distant future and others it is a case of ‘yesterday?’.

To support our customers with the amazing work they have, and continue to do, Delt have become very good at taking a deep breath, asking exactly what they need and getting to work (at sometimes what feels like lightning speed). I’m always impressed to see how quickly the wheels can start spinning when everyone is working towards a collective goal.

That was exactly what happened when the request came in from Devon CCG for a way to manage Covid-19 vaccination bookings for thousands of front-line key workers. This came with a couple of caveats,

1. It needed to be ready and live within 3 days to support the rapid roll out of the first vaccination doses.
2. It had to be relatively budget friendly.

 “An easy one then?” from me feeling slightly nervous but followed by getting stuck straight in. This ended up leading into a very rewarding piece of work and an incredible collaborative team effort mainly done through a MS Teams chat simply titled “Help!” and a lot of virtual meetings and cups of coffee.

The first challenge was identifying what tool could could provide the best solution and be up and running – fast! Luckily, I had done a bit of work earlier in the year, for the customer, supporting their Flu Vaccine programme for staff. We had used the Microsoft Bookings tools for this, so that seemed like a good place to start.

Nothing is ever that easy though, right? The spanner in the works was that this was for members of the public and coordinated across multiple hospitals who all had different requirements for the information they got sent and when they needed it. We settled on expanding the functionality of the Booking tool with the Power Automate tool. As both of these were available within their existing Microsoft subscriptions it simply meant reusing what was already available. Big win all round! 

This led to many hours of working with their Digital Team to get the flows and data export that was needed. As anyone who has developed in this way before, and by that, I mean fast and with constantly changing requirements, you will appreciate that it is an emotional roller coaster. There is nothing quite like spending ages trying to get a flow or bit of code to work to get that final wonderful movie moment where you see the words Test Successful on the screen.

In the end, I am proud to say, that we produced a solid booking system with integrated reporting that was up and running in just 2 days; and ready to go live in 3. By the 4^th day hundreds of people had used it!

I talk to a lot of people in my role about the power of the tools available to them and being able to use them in different ways, but it was great to get stuck in and utilise them to have real impact during such an important time. I would also admit that I quite enjoyed the pressure of it and having to problem solve quickly, I guess that’s part of the reason I volunteer as a policer office in my spare time… but that’s a story for another day!

Helen Day-Cocking; Product Manager, Modern Workplace

Photo by @veri_ivanova on Unsplash

A Small Cog in a Big Machine

Vaccinating the entire UK adult population as quick as possible strikes me as quite a daunting task. If it was up to me, I wouldn’t know where to start. But thankfully that isn’t the case. There’s a whole load of dedicated healthcare professionals who know what to do and are dedicated to tackling the greatest challenge, the country,  has faced since World War 2. There are so many cogs turning in the overall vaccination machine to make this work, it is impressive that it is in place and working smoothly. The UK is currently the 3rd highest in the world in terms of the percentage of doses administered to its population. And I find that pretty impressive.

When I think back to November last year when Delt were appointed to be just one small cog, in the overall vaccination machine, to ensure that the IT for the Primary Care Networks’ mass vaccination sites, within Devon, was arranged, set up and ready for the start. Ok, I do know where to start with that, and I knew that the teams at Delt could  do it. With a large proportion of the sites not being located at GP surgeries but rather at leisure centres, bowling greens, perhaps even a function centre with a bar. The scale of the task certainly didn’t pass me by and it was going to take some planning but I felt certain we would make it work. Above all else, this had to happen in a few weeks as programme would be moving at pace. I’d better strap myself in. This is going to take some doing.

And so, the work started to gather as much of the requirements together as possible. What locations were the vaccinations going to take place in? Do they already have a network that can be used? Is it fast enough to handle, potentially, a lot of users? How many laptops do they need? They need barcode scanners as well?! It was a lot of information to gather in a short period of time. Luckily, I was not alone and had Joe Unwin from the PMO co-managing the project with me. We were able to split the work up between us and get a solid picture as to what was needed.

Before long, we had laptops ready to go and scanners being delivered. We had brokered deals with other organisations to use their networks at their sites. We had bought additional 4G routers as back up plans (and there can never be enough back up plans!). By mid-December, the first week of sites going live with vaccinations had arrived and, with the help of some very dedicated members of our Service Desk, we were delivering IT equipment out to sites and having one final check before the big day. From that point onwards it became a bit of a blur. There was so much activity throughout the rest of December that we didn’t have time to pause for breath. But looking back, we played our part in getting the IT ready for all these sites, enabling them all to go live and come away unscathed without any insurmountable IT issues. 20 sites all up and running with the IT all in place and no major problems (I’d better touch wood when I say that…). Achieved by the dedication of numerous teams and individuals across Delt who put in the hours to make sure we were able to put in place what was needed and be ready to support them afterwards.

Fast forward to now (March) and the rate of vaccinations is still speeding up. I’m over 40 so I hear my time for a jab will be soon. And when I roll up my sleeve and try not to pass out at the sight of a needle, I will think back to the previous 4 months and how impressive the overall machine of the healthcare sector has been to put this all in place. And I am glad that Delt has been able to play its part by being even just a small cog in this machine.

Andy Fleming, Project Manager

Photo by Bill Oxford on Unsplash

Why I love Working in Technology… and you should too!  

When asked what I wanted to be when I grew up as a child, I would have said something between zookeeper, doctor and dancer depending on the time of the day. To be honest if you asked me today, I still probably don’t know but I do currently work in a field I enjoy and feel like I make a difference… which I think is really all that matters in the end. I have met and worked with incredible women. From those who are technical wizzes and code like they speak another language, others who are passionate about teaching digital skills and how much impact it can have on people’s lives and then those like me who solve problems and tell stories. However, what I can say with some certainty is there are not enough of them! I want to try and encourage women and girls to get into technology if I can, and I hope sharing some of my experience compared to what I thought it would be like can help do this.  

I have always been a nerd, the 3 science at A levels then studied Zoology at university variety, but I still never really considered working with computers. I even fished out an old report card the other day to find I had failed IT, so that wasn’t a strong start for my future career. I think one of the things that meant I never considered it, and might be the same reason for other girls and women out there, is the misconceptions I had around it like… It is a male dominated industry, so I will not fit in. I like to be creative, and computers are boring. I love working with people and want to make a difference and technology is all about machines.  

The first one is still true in some ways, it is a bit of a male dominated industry, but this is not by design and it is changing. The barriers are being broken down everywhere around what a “traditional” career looks like for women. I have always felt welcome in the tech community, there have been some obstacles and a couple of moments where someone has commented on me having a role that might have previously been a filled by a man, but I do not take that negatively. I am always proud that I am walking a new path and helping make change. If I can inspire a few others along the way even better.  

One of the main reasons I love my role is how creative I get to be. A large part of what I do is storytelling; listening to what problems people want to solve or the things they can’t do and telling them stories of how the future could be. I also know that coding is an art form, enterprise architecture is design work and innovation is all about ideas and thinking creatively. I think the roles in technology are also far broader than I ever imagined supporting the ever-changing nature of it. As a result of that you can find a way to be creative and carve out a role that you really enjoy. There can no longer be a set path when the destination is always changing, and the jobs around today weren’t exactly in the career booklet when I was at school.  

My final reservation was about people. I am a people person and a problem solver and what drives me is making meaningful change and helping people. Working in technology allows me to do that. It may all be run by machines, but it is useless without the people it aims to help. I see the real impact that modern technologies can make on people’s lives from the small everyday improvements, like using digital tools to manage their workday better, to big life changing moments where technology helps people be independent at home. I talk to people every day and I share stories with them and help solve their problems, and for me, that is what I love about this industry. This is also why I want to encourage more incredible women to join and be part of shaping the future of technology.  

Helen Day-Cocking
Product Manager, Modern Workplace

Photo by Jude Beck on Unsplash

Our People Are Amazing

Once upon a time, in a place not so very far away, but a long, long time ago, I used to be good at something. I can’t remember what it was but it was useful enough that people used to give me money for doing it. Some time later I became a manager and thus the slow journey of deskilling began. By the time I become a middle manager, my skills were limited to dealing with people problems and complaining that if it wasn’t for people, my job would be much easier. Time passes and the deskilling continues to the point where the only useful role left for you is a CEO. Now all I have to do is manage the people, who manage the people, who do the work. As we have good middle managers, this leaves me very little to do, which is frankly, probably for the best.

On Employee Appreciation Day I wondered if my employer appreciates the little bit I actually have to do. After all, Delt is a limited company which means it has ‘corporate personhood’. Many of the things people can do, companies can do in their own right. I assume that this includes being appreciative, but on further reflection, I cannot think of an example where the company has said thank you. Well, I guess that’s the downside of being a CEO.

As a real, rather than corporate, person (even if not an especially good one), I can certainly recognise, enjoy and show appreciation for the good qualities in the people who work with us.

Delt helps People Do Amazing Things, which has to be one of the best jobs you can have but knowing this is our mission statement isn’t quite the same as that being recognised by those we help, or those who work alongside us. In the latter case, I do try and remember to thank our team on a regular basis, not just on Employee Appreciation Day. I recognise that without every one of our employees we simply couldn’t do what we do. There are days we do things well, there are rarer days where we do things less well and, whilst frustrating, that’s usually not from a lack of effort. For my part I am very aware that my job is to Help the People who Help People Do Amazing Things. In my own right I don’t do anything very useful any more but our company does. Without our employees, nothing would happen. No good days, no bad days, because on our own, those of us who have the privilege of leading wouldn’t be able to do anything. Trust me when I tell you that I truly appreciate that.

Giles Letheren
Chief Executive Officer

Photo credit Heart photo created by cookie studio