Funding for maintenance of the IOMS system was received at the conclusion of the OPR exercise in 2003 and was defined as meeting IT needs at a “restore and maintain” level of functionality. The financial implications of the decisions made as a result of the IOMS Review Project regarding the future of the IOMS system can be contained within this funding level.
The proposed work plan is affordable and assumes:
Capital expenditure for changes to the system has been included in the IT work programme and is at a level where depreciation can be funded within the IT budgets. This funding will enable the on-going development of IT systems to meet changing business needs. The IT work programme and associated budgets are approved by the Department’s general managers annually.
The assumptions behind the OPR funding level were that the IT systems (including IOMS) would be maintained at market levels until 2008, when this would be reviewed.
There are a number of outstanding funding risks that the existing maintenance and capital funding will not be sufficient to support. These were identified during the OPR exercise. The risks are:
There is also the risk of major organisation restructures, which may impact costs. In all of these situations, separate business cases will need to be developed for funding.
The review in 2008 will establish if IOMS will need to be replaced at the end of its life in 2012, and will cover any capital requirements of such a decision in the business case at that time, if appropriate.
Effectively the approach taken in this strategy to maintain and enhance the existing system removes the need for additional funding at this time, and the work identified can be managed within existing budgets (excluding the risk of legislative change, or major organisation restructure).