Our Services
The path to success
Procurement and vendor selection
Social care in the UK is dependent upon a small and diminishing number of case management system suppliers. Choosing the right product is more critical than ever; as is developing good working relationships with suppliers to achieve greater value from limited budgets.
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The initiation of a procurement exercise can be a daunting prospect for any local authority, given the large number of stakeholders that will influence and be affected by the final decision. A decision that could impact your organisation for a generation or more.
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At Clockwork Innovations, we believe the procurement phase presents a unique opportunity to fully test the market and ensure your organisation is selecting the technology that is best aligned to your culture and supports your strategic vision.
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A vendor agnostic consultancy, we offer unbiased, impartial advice and guidance regarding all aspects of the procurement process. We partner with you to learn your culture and understand the pinch points of your existing systems. We work with key stakeholders to develop bespoke tender documentation which is tailored to your needs. We take care of market engagement, work collaboratively with you to evaluate tender returns, and handle all post-tender activity, including contract negotiations.
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Our aim is to fully tailor the procurement process to drive digital technology solutions that align with your wider strategic objectives. Whether you’re looking for coaching and general advice or support with the entire procurement cycle, our team of experts can help.
Implementation services
The ability to produce good quality social care IT solutions has never been easy or quick. It is a broad, complex and constantly evolving requirement. Social care system implementations are notorious for exceeding timescales and going over budget. Some fail completely. Given the overall organisational impact of these projects and the inherent risk and exposure, it is important to partner with industry experts who understand the business and specialise in the delivery of digital care solutions.
At Clockwork Innovations, our goal is not simply to implement a new technology solution, but rather to increase efficiencies, reduce risks, and streamline processes. It's about enabling the business and designing systems and processes that work for the people that use them. In short, it is about freeing up practitioners and business management operations to do what they do best!
Whether you’re looking to implement a new system or maximise the benefits of your existing system through digital innovation, we partner with you to provide implementation support at any stage of a programme. From light touch project health checks to end-to-end, full lifecycle project management; we listen to your needs and collaborate with you to create an approach that works for you. Whatever stage you’re at in your implementation journey, Clockwork Innovations can provide flexible, scalable support to ensure your implementation is a success.
Business analysis & process modelling
The business of social care relies on dozens of interconnected processes and pathways – everything from assessment and support planning to care service delivery and financial processing. Many of these processes are becoming increasingly complex and difficult to navigate, increasing pressure on practitioners and undermining quality across the sector.
At Clockwork Innovations, we understand that mapping your business processes is often the first step to improving them. It lets you easily visualise processes and understand their complexities, enabling you to gain better visibility into business operations so you can create efficiencies at scale.
Our Business Process Modelling (BPM) service helps bridge the gap between people, process and technology, enabling nontechnical people view a process landscape across different departments. Our role is to ensure that the key functions within the business are not only performing at an optimum but also working in harmony with other essential operational processes.
To achieve this, we undertake a complete and detailed review of where your organisation is now, either working across a range of business operations or focusing on one specific area. An extension of your in-house team, we partner with you to streamline processes and co-produce the future goals for the business, addressing the desired outcomes for each business area.
Once future goals are agreed, the next step is to make it happen! We have a wealth of experience working with operational teams across adults and children’s social care. We take pride in our innovative thinking and ability to maximise business and system output.
System Design & Configuration
Many local authorities considering new technology have outgrown their current systems and are using a patchwork of spreadsheets, Access databases and workarounds to hold the business together. At Clockwork innovations, we help these organisations move to a more rational, logical and strategic model.
Fortunately, social care case management systems increasingly offer a high degree of local configuration and we understand that bespoke, local changes to any ‘out of the box solution’ are inevitable, as not all social care departments operate in the same way.
Clockwork Innovations takes a holistic approach to designing your system. We provide advice, support and resource to design, build and deliver bespoke, innovative digital solutions. From form and workflow design and build, to collaborative working platforms and integration with partner agencies, we take advantage of the latest technologies to streamline processes and deliver tangible benefits to operational teams across the social care business.
Testing
User Acceptance Testing (UAT) is the stage of an implementation where users test systems and processes against real-world scenarios to see if it actually does what it’s intended to do. It is a critical phase in any digital transformation programme, particularly in social care where processes and pathways are increasingly complex and interconnected.
One of the main issues with UAT is that it tends to take place at the end of a project – when it’s often too late, too difficult or too costly to fix any issues. Often it is rushed with poor participation from end users who are already stretched to the limit with busy day jobs and simply don’t have the time or capacity to commit to this all-important stage.
At Clockwork Innovations, we believe user testing should be baked in at all stages of the project lifecycle. It should be a continuous process, testing as you move through a project, identifying faults and inefficiencies as you go. We are passionate about connecting all aspects of technology, systems and processes and interrogating them to ensure everything is seamless and works in the intended way. We want to make sure everything – people, processes and technology – are aligned and working in complete harmony, including any local and statutory reporting data.
Our team of experts boast a wealth of experience in social care system testing. We manage all aspects of the testing process, including:
Analysis of business objectives, product requirements and key deliverables
Test management and planning
Preparation of test data
Script writing, scenario verification and test case development
UAT initiation, end-user recruitment and onboarding
Test data analysis
Defect management, reporting and triage
Supplier liaison and negotiation
Training
We believe that everything starts with people. Engaged people create positive work cultures and our services can help to ensure that digital change and new ways of working are introduced in a way that engages your people throughout the transformation journey.
At Clockwork Innovations, we provide training and development solutions to help social care departments maximize the effectiveness and potential of their systems and their people. Using a variety of delivery methods: classroom, virtual instructor-led, on-demand digital training, blended learning, floor-walking - we support practitioners, managers and business management operations to do their job efficiently and effectively through appropriate, role-based training, learning and support.
We help social care departments to deliver digital transformation through a skilled workforce that is empowered to reach its full potential and ultimately deliver a great service to the people they work with.
We offer a wide range of onboarding services including:
Comprehensive Training Needs Analysis and development of a bespoke strategies and plans
Front end training (classroom, virtual, floor walking)
Basic and advanced systems administration and config training (classroom, virtual)
Bespoke user guides, recordings and online training materials
Set up and configuration of training environments
Bespoke skills transfer sessions
Data migration
Data migration is the complex process of selecting, preparing, transforming and moving data from one location to another is a key aspect of any system replacement project. The process is often regarded as one of the most challenging and expensive projects an organisation will undertake, especially in social care where the risk is high and the consequences of failure can be catastrophic.
At Clockwork Innovations, our business and technical consultants have huge experience in data migration across both adults and children’s social care. We understand the challenges involved in both moving and validating the data, reducing the risk of delays or data loss.
Whether you’re looking for your someone to manage the full migration process or seeking some light touch scope and definition work to underpin your in-house migration team, our comprehensive process ensures the migration projects we undertake are delivered on-time, within budget and with complete transparency and quality control.
Project Auditing and Recovery
Social care system implementations are notoriously complex; fraught with unforeseen challenges and issues that can cause delay. Many projects go over budget and take longer than expected to deliver. Whatever stage you’re at with your implementation, our project auditing and recovery service gives you confidence that your project is being performed as efficiently and effectively as possible.
Independent oversight
Our independent verification & validation service allow us to take an objective view and identify high-risk areas. Our independent oversight and unbiased evaluations help you mitigate risks and prepare contingency plans. While most consulting firms have financial ties to certain vendors, we are independent and can audit any vendor or internal project plan. We protect your organisation’s interests by reviewing your vendor’s deliverables and project management processes.
Execution
We conduct periodic reviews that evaluate if your project is being executed appropriately. This includes a review of project documentation and practices that assess the following:
Are requirements being met?
Are appropriate techniques being used to manage the project?
Is the project governance appropriate, proportionate and performing as it should be?
Is the project resourced appropriately?
Are standards and industry best practices being used in the project?
Benefits Realisation
While project auditing is critical from a technical and budgetary perspective, the bigger question is whether you will actually receive the benefits you set out to achieve? With our independent verification and validation services, we ensure your project is designed to yield expected benefits by . . .
Understanding your project objectives
Examining your business case and benefits realisation plans
Assessing if expected benefits are likely to be realised or if adjustments are necessary
Get back on track
We make recommendations for best-in-class execution project recovery by assessing implementation practices such as:
Project management techniques, including activity tracking, budget and schedule control, status reporting, etc.
Configuration practices
Test strategy, test planning and test execution
Data quality and data migration strategy and planning
User training development and execution
Deployment and go-live planning
Executive engagement and buy in
Definition of future state processes
Change management planning
Employee engagement and buy in
Ensure Success
If the success of your implementation is uncertain – or there is a high risk of project failure – our project auditing and recovery services can help you get back on track.