Richard Collings Email & Phone Number

London, United Kingdom

Independent consultant working mainly on long term engagements in the voluntary and public sectors. Clients included: Arts Council, RSPCA, Charity Finance Directors Group, Coeliac UK, Natural England, Practical Action, the UK Refugee Councils. See below for details of selected projects

Sidmouth & London

Retained to assist with the future development of The Donkey Animal Management system (see below for details) looking at further operational improvements (which become clearer and easier to implement now that the users understand how the system works), the implementation of a mobile capability which can be used by the vets, farm staff and welfare advisors in the field (literally!) and a new separate system to support the advocacy work of The Sanctuary across the UK, Europe and Internationally

Sidmouth

Retained by The Donkey Sanctuary (TDS) to guide the implementation of their new Animal Management System (see Projects for further details)Working closely with all the project stakeholders , I was responsible for • Putting in place an agile iterative approach which focussed on ensuring the effective engagement of managers and users in the both the design and trialling processes with a focus on the early delivery of trial versions which enabled the users to provide effective feedback based on practical hands on sessions• Establishing an overall User Story Map for the project in conjunction with both the managers and the Development Partner, based on organisational priorities, the need to reduce risk and technical priorities• Working with managers and users to review and redesign working practices to take advantage of the capabilities of the new platform, which involved the collaborative generation of use cases, business process models and design mockups• Working with the Development Partner to establish the technical approach both at the architectural and detailed levels to ensure that the designs could be easily implemented within the constraints of the Microsoft Dynamics CRM platform• Writing detailed user stories and acceptance criteria to reflect the outcome of the design workshops with the users and the technical discussions with the Development Partner• Guiding and supporting the testing process • Running hands on workshops with the users to trial each new release • Providing second level support to the in-house training and support team during go live, dealing with the more complex procedural and technical issues• Working with the Systems Manager and the Development Partner to find solutions to the issue identified during the testing, trialling and go live processes

Sidmouth

Was chosen after a competitive tender to assist The Donkey Sanctuary with an option evaluation and solution selection exercise to choose a new integrated Animal Management SystemThe new system had to replace multiple existing systems and had to provide an integrated solution capable of addressing complex and specialist requirements across TDS's animal welfare, veterinary, husbandry and rehoming workKey elements of the approach for which I was responsible included:• Undertaking a high level discovery exercise to prepare materials describing the key requirements for the new system• Careful evaluation of wide range of options to ensure selection of a platform and partner able to deliver a flexible solution capable of meeting TDS's needs over an extended period• Exploring with key stakeholders how the new system could support new and more efficient ways of working• Preparation of business case for Exec and Trustees to provide reassurance in relation what was a major investment for TDS• Effectively engaging managers and users in the procurement process to ensure that they were able to make informed choices in evaluating the alternative options and were supportive of the final choice• Guiding a lightweight agile procurement process in which the suppliers developed fragments of the system to demonstrate capability and understanding• Working with lawyers and procurement staff to draw up and negotiate an agile fixed price contract Outcome: original requirements proved very stable with only minor changes occurring during the course of the project; and chosen platform and development partner provided a more than satisfactory solution to those requirements, with no significant issues emerging during the course of the project

Glasgow, United Kingdom

Scottish Refugee Council was another member of the consortium of refugee agencies which commissioned the development of a shared case management database (see Refugee Council entry below for details). Was retained by SRC to guide the extension of the system to deliver a holistic approach to case management which integrates outcome and objective tracking into the day to day work of the advisors. This extension supported their work helping clients, who have just been awarded refugee status, in building their lives and contribution to UK society.The work was supported by the Big Lottery Fund which included a separate academic evaluation of the project. This evaluation identified the case management system as playing a significant role in gathering evidence to support their work in improving policy and practice. Quote from one adviser: "It makes it feel worthwhile what we’re doing, not just to help people get their benefits and their house, but there’s information and lobbying going on in the background, the whole thing’s just fantastic, it’s going from client level right up to policy and Scottish and UK government.”

London, Birmingham And Leeds

Contracted in a series of engagements to assist a consortium of refugee agencies (including the Refugee Council) with their case management processes and systems. Initial piece of work (for the Asylum Support Partnership) involved an exercise to look at the feasiblity of establishing a shared coding structure and a mechanism for sharing data that would enable statistics to be aggregated across all the partners. This then lead to a further series of engagements assisting the consortium with the scoping, specification and implementation of a shared case management system (see Projects below for details).

London, United Kingdom

Was initially involved in a project, lead by Nicola Gunn, to develop a strategy for Continuous Professional Development for CFG. Provided input on the potential role of digital and collaboration technologies in supporting this strategy. Was subsequently asked to help with development of CFGs website strategy (see Projects below)

Horsham, United Kingdom

Was engaged over a number of years (but not continuously) to undertake a range of different IT projects including:* review of existing case management system* procurement of new call centre and case management system (see Projects below)* development of a new digital strategy covering all the activities of the organisation* review of their call centre applications (see Project below)* review of their systems implementation processes*

London, United Kingdom

Worked on a variety of different projects at different times. These included: developing their first Information Systems Strategy (for the whole arts funding system) in 1993; acting as analyst and database designer on the ARTIS grant management system (see Projects below) and undertaking a study to look at the feasibility of building an online information resource for arts marketeers - now launched as CultureHive

Peterborough, United Kingdom

Was retained by English Nature (which became part of Natural England) to scope, specify, procure and rollout a range of e-Services (see Projects below) over a two year period. Was subsequently invited back, during the formation of Natural England, to undertake a strategic review of the information systems requirements of their Coasts and Seas work (also described below)

London

Worked in Finance and Media Divisions. Clients included: Citibank, Chase Manhattan Bank, Barings, BSB, BBC, Arts Council. Roles included: business system design and implementation, project management, strategic consultancy.

London, United Kingdom

Partner in small IT consultancy providing consultancy, software development, training and support services to the voluntary and local government sectors. Clients included: National Association of Citizens Advice Bureaux, The Samaritans, Greater London Council

London, United Kingdom

Worked on business application development for British Library and various other clients

London

Working with disadvantaged young people in the inner city

Master Of Arts (Ma), Engineering, First Class Honours

Final year subjects included an industrial sociology option which influenced much of my thinking about work and project organisation.

Education record

Education record