Colin Beveridge

Current

• Chairman and Chief Integration Officer at The Better Practice Forum
• Strategic Adviser and Troubleshooter at Colin Beveridge

Past

• Strategy Consultant at Hadley Grant
• IS Director (Interim) at Highways Agency
• General Manager IS (Interim) at Remploy

• Columnist/ Commentator (Freelance) at Computer Weekly
• Strategic Planning (Consultant) at G.U.S. Group
• Strategy writer & workshop facilitator (Freelance) at National Computing Centre
• European IT & Operations Director (Interim) at R.L. Polk
• Head of Communications Infrastructure (Interim) at BACS (Bankers Automated Clearing Service)
• Director of IT Strategy & Exploitation (Interim) at Anglian Water Group
• Head of IS (Interim) at Powergen
• European Services Manager (Interim) at Kellogg's
• Programme Manager (Strategy Consultant) at DHL International
• Roll-Out Manager (Contract) at British Telecom
• Distributed Systems Manager (Interim) at Pearl Assurance
• Distributed Systems Manager (Interim) at Norwich Union
• Bid Manager (contractor) at Siemens Telecom
• Strategy Consultant at Barclays Stockbrokers
• Implementation Manager (contractor) at Dept. of Health
• Freelance Project Management/ Quality Assurance Consultancy at ICI, Shell, BP, Mobil, ITT, Courtaulds, DHL, Wolseley, DEC, Systime, Midland Bank, British Rail

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16 more...

Education

• The Open University
• The Open University

Recommended

6 people have recommended Colin

Connections

454 connections

Industry

Management Consulting

Websites

• My Blog
• Twitter
• The Trillion Dollar Bonfire

Colin Beveridge’s Summary

Colin Beveridge is a strategic adviser and troubleshooter who has helped many major organisations to resolve their problems with information strategy, business relationships and organisation.

He has an impressive record of leading and delivering complex change and he is particularly keen to help organisations that want to empower their business change agenda and need truly effective information systems to support business agility.

See more at http://www.colin-beveridge.com

Colin Beveridge’s Specialties:

Strategic advice, troubleshooting relationship, organisation and programme difficulties. Delivering complex change.

Colin Beveridge’s Experience

• Chairman and Chief Integration Officer

  The Better Practice Forum

  (Think Tanks industry)

  November 2007 — Present (1 year 9 months)

• Strategic Adviser and Troubleshooter

  Colin Beveridge

  (Management Consulting industry)

  January 1998 — Present (11 years 7 months)

• Strategy Consultant

  Hadley Grant

  (Privately Held; 1-10 employees; Information Technology and Services industry)

  April 2006 — July 2007 (1 year 4 months)

  Confidential strategic consultancy assignments. Clients included high-tech start-up and niche consultancy.

• IS Director (Interim)

  Highways Agency

  (Government Agency; 1001-5000 employees; Government Administration industry)

  October 2005 — March 2006 (6 months)

  Divisional Director (Senior Civil Service equivalent), reported to Executive Director (Information). Managed a division of c200 staff, responsible for corporate information systems.
  Achievements: organisational design for wholescale re-organisation of the Information Directorate (my division plus other functions). Transition to new org. model. Translation of strategic agenda into a forward programme of work.

• General Manager IS (Interim)

  Remploy

  (Government Agency; 5001-10,000 employees; Non-Profit Organization Management industry)

  September 2004 — September 2005 (1 year 1 month)

  General Manager of shared IS function for 12 diverse business units and other corporate functions. Reported to Executive Director (Finance). Remploy is a mini-conglomerate of diverse businesses, ranging from employment agency services, through B2B services, to manufacturing of school furniture, household products and high-performance clothing etc. etc.
  Achievements: ERP upgrade (major), introduction of high-availability/ high-resilience infrastructure. Re-organisation of techno-centric IT function into customer-focused Information Services function. Introduction of ITIL best practice model.

• Columnist/ Commentator (Freelance)

  Computer Weekly

  (Information Technology and Services industry)

  2001 — 2005 (4 years)

  Launch columnist for the Computer Weekly website, writer of the popular series of articles: Behind Closed Doors and regular contributor to the Thought For The Day feature. Over a hundred hard-hitting pieces on topics of technology management and organisational behaviour.

• Strategic Planning (Consultant)

  G.U.S. Group

  (Public Company; 10,001 or more employees; Retail industry)

  May 2004 — June 2004 (2 months)

  Strategic Planning assignment for confidential business initiative. I was the head of profession in a multi-disciplinary planning team. Reporting to Executive Directors from parent group board.

• Strategy writer & workshop facilitator (Freelance)

  National Computing Centre

  (Non-Profit; 51-200 employees; Information Technology and Services industry)

  November 2002 — April 2004 (1 year 6 months)

  Series of monthly articles in NCC membership magazine, developed concept of a Sustainable Strategy Model. Editorial board member of industry initiative to create a new dynamic programme management methodology. Author of two NCC publications: "Guidelines for Aligning IT with Business Strategy"; and "Aligning IT with Business Strategy - a Best Practice Guide." Devised and presented a series of public workshops: Aligning IT with Business Strategy

• European IT & Operations Director (Interim)

  R.L. Polk

  (Privately Held; 1001-5000 employees; Automotive industry)

  September 2003 — April 2004 (8 months)

  Reported to European President and European Chief Operating Officer. Responsible for provision and delivery of all information services, supporting broad variety of strategic business units across Europe. Operations director for B2B business operations (business intelligence, strategic planning, electronic auctions, commercial services, including web-hosting). Polk Europe had grown by acquisition of previously competing businesses and needed re-organisation from the legacy, autonomous businesses, into a coherent structure based on line of business units.
  Achievements: rationalisation of European IS function, safe transfer of services and knowledge (national and international migration). Introduction of third-party capability (data centre) and virtualisation of hardware.

• Head of Communications Infrastructure (Interim)

  BACS (Bankers Automated Clearing Service)

  (Privately Held; 201-500 employees; Financial Services industry)

  June 2000 — April 2001 (11 months)

  Reported to CIO. Responsible for economy-critical communications infrastructure (UK cheque/ credit clearing service).
  Achievements: established new department and working practices, transitioned economy-critical infrastructure network to new architecture. Contributed to forward strategic initiatives. End to end management of (corporate infrastructure) outsource provider transition process (statement of requirements, RFI, RFP, vendor and bid evaluation, contract negotiation, procurement, secondary TUPE).

• Director of IT Strategy & Exploitation (Interim)

  Anglian Water Group

  (Public Company; 1001-5000 employees; Utilities industry)

  February 2000 — June 2000 (5 months)

  Reported to CIO. Supervised operational performance of 200+ service provider (CSC) and AW staff. Provided strategic advice and operational support for newly appointed [non IT] CIO. Sat on the Group Risk Management Board, overseeing all (not just IT/ IS) operational risk. Responsible for identifying and assessing potential e-commerce opportunities.

• Head of IS (Interim)

  Powergen

  (Public Company; 10,001 or more employees; Utilities industry)

  February 1999 — December 1999 (11 months)

  Reported to Group IT Director. Line management of c600 staff (Powergen and 3rd party: Perot). Initially engaged as Head of IS for newly acquired retail consumer business (East Midlands Electricity). Subsequently re-assigned as Head of IS for Powergen (group) to cover secondment. Responsible for provision of global IS services and assimilation of acquisition (East Midlands Electricity). Profit Centre operating model, supporting Powergen group companies and 200+ external companies (Powergen was then one of IBM's largest VAR's).
  Achievements: assimilation of acquisition (EME) infrastructure and services into Powergen IT. Subsequent decentralisation of Powergen IT function (staff and services transitioned to various group business units). Y2K Business Continuity Plan.

• European Services Manager (Interim)

  Kellogg's

  (Public Company; 10,001 or more employees; Food & Beverages industry)

  November 1998 — February 1999 (4 months)

  Reported to European CIO. This was a short interim assignment to cover maternity leave. Responsible for all Information Services in support of Kellogg food product production and distribution. Management of c250 staff (Kellogg and EDS).
  
  Achievements: improved provider (EDS) performance and introduced standardised performance metrics (scorecard) to IS functions across Europe.

• Programme Manager (Strategy Consultant)

  DHL International

  (Public Company; 10,001 or more employees; Logistics and Supply Chain industry)

  April 1998 — October 1998 (7 months)

  Reported to European IS Manager. My remit was to define a Common Operating Environment (standard desktop/ server architecture) for EMEA (109 Countries); prepare the business case for each country and establish a programme for implementation.
  
  Achievements: established and managed technical and commercial work-streams, including vendor negotiation and technical architecture. Negotiated programme funding (c$50m) from stakeholders, (country by country). I prepared the EMEA business case which was approved by the EMEA Exec Board. I then worked with the DHL operations team to establish an effective implementation (roll-out) model for the COE.

• Roll-Out Manager (Contract)

  British Telecom

  (Public Company; 10,001 or more employees; Information Technology and Services industry)

  January 1998 — March 1998 (3 months)

  Reported to Network Renewal Programme Manager. This was a trouble-shooting/ turnround assignment. The roll-out (by BT for Coopers and Lybrand) had begun three months before my arrival and was experiencing very serious problems (financial and organisational). My remit was to improve the daily delivery of the roll-out and to unblock the historical log-jam of disputed client payments (£2M+).
  Achievements: I very quickly (second week) resolved the daily delivery issues, achieved consistent procedures for same day proof of delivery and organised a structured unpicking of the historical proofs of delivery to facilitate client sign-off of previously disputed invoices, thereby creating positive cashflow for the programme. I remained with the programme until the main roll-out was completed.

• Distributed Systems Manager (Interim)

  Pearl Assurance

  (Public Company; Insurance industry)

  June 1997 — December 1997 (7 months)

  Achievements: created new department and established new working practices.

• Distributed Systems Manager (Interim)

  Norwich Union

  (Public Company; Information Technology and Services industry)

  May 1996 — June 1997 (1 year 2 months)

  Achievements: created new department and established new working practices.

• Bid Manager (contractor)

  Siemens Telecom

  (Public Company; Telecommunications industry)

  January 1996 — May 1996 (5 months)

  Led successful £MM bid for pan-European VSAT comms network to 14,000+ (Ford of Europe) sites.

• Strategy Consultant

  Barclays Stockbrokers

  (Public Company; Financial Services industry)

  February 1996 — April 1996 (3 months)

  Definition of new systems strategy for Field Force (Financial Advisers to High Net Worth Individuals).

• Implementation Manager (contractor)

  Dept. of Health

  (Government Agency; Government Administration industry)

  May 1995 — January 1996 (9 months)

  I acted as the senior on-site representative of the Dept of Health IS Division. Responsible for planning and implementing the amalgamation of the systems and infrastructure of two Regional Health Authorities into a new Regional Executive Office of the National Health Service.
  Achievements: I implemented the entire new estate (rather than the 75% target), within budget and ahead of schedule.

• Freelance Project Management/ Quality Assurance Consultancy

  ICI, Shell, BP, Mobil, ITT, Courtaulds, DHL, Wolseley, DEC, Systime, Midland Bank, British Rail

  (Information Technology and Services industry)

  1984 — January 1995 (11 years)

Colin Beveridge’s Education

• The Open University

  MSc , Information Systems , 2007 — 2008

  Postgraduate research project: A systematic approach to Balanced Scorecard evaluation.

• The Open University

  Postgraduate Diploma (Information Systems) , Majors: Technology Strategy; Software Engineering , 2005 — 2006

Additional Information

Colin Beveridge’s Websites:

• My Blog
• Twitter
• The Trillion Dollar Bonfire

Colin Beveridge’s Interests:

Conference speaker; writer/ columnist; systems thinking; viable systems; sustainable strategy; system dynamics; crazy golf (the way I play it); Leeds United. The Krypton Factor.

Colin Beveridge’s Groups:

Fellow of the Institute for the Management of Information Systems (FIMIS)
Chartered Fellow of the British Computer Society (FBCS CITP)
Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts (FRSA)
System Dynamics Society
UK Systems Society
Society for Organisational Learning
Mensa
SCIO (Systems and Cybernetics In Organisations)
The Better Practice Forum
Elite group of the British Computer Society
Computer Weekly 500 Club
The Real Time Club
The Infrastructure Forum (1999 - 2001), Great Work Places, IT DIrectors Forum

•    eOffice
•    Mensa
•    Executive Suite
•    Friends of the Institute for the Management of Information Systems
•    On Startups - The Community For Entrepreneurs
•    Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce
•    Systems Thinking
•    The Enterprise Architecture Network
•    CIO/CTO Leadership Council
•    Consultants Network
•    Technology Leaders Association
•    Speakers and Panelists
•    MindManager Enthusiasts
•    IT Directors' Network
•    CXO (CEO, COO, CKO, CFO, CMO, CAO, CVO, CDO, CRO, CLO, CSO & CTO) Community
•    FastTrack 100 (6,500+ members!)
•    CIOs.com: Chief Information Officer Network
•    Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Network
•    Executive Interim Network
•    Business Strategy & Competitive Strategy Forum
•    Best Practice Exchange
•    Network of Organizational Change Managers
•    CIO Forum [Academic]
•    BCS ELITE
•    Tweeple
•    BCS Membership Group
•    BCS Chartered IT Professional
•    Management Society
•    Global Executive Exchange
•    The Better Practice Forum
•    Shell
•    UK CIO, CTO and IT Directors
•    System Dynamics Group
•    OUTSIDE OF THE BOX THINKERS
•    Harrogate-Forward►►
•    IT Directors of London
•    Online Information & IMS Exhibition and Conference
•    STRATEGY PROFESSIONALS NETWORK
•    Real Time Club
•    Professional Keynote Speakers - by Jorge Olson
•    Enterprises *as* Systems - Enterprise Systems Theory
•    Strategic use of IT
•    Business-Focused IT and Service Excellence
•    The Global CIO & Executive IT Group (An MIT Sloan CIO Group)
•    Senior Management Network
•    National Computing Centre Collaboration Forum
•    what's next?
•    Business Scene
•    #ciofuture
•    Gilb Seminar 2009

Colin Beveridge’s Honors:

British Computer Society Member of Council (elected by professional members)
ELITE Committee (elected by members)
Advisory Board - UK Innovation Initiative
Judge - Best Places to Work in IT Awards

Colin Beveridge’s Contact Settings

Interested In:

• consulting offers
• new ventures
• expertise requests
• business deals
• reference requests
• getting back in touch