Vivista

	James has brought structure, discipline and knowledge of large IT programmes. He also has the necessary political skills to operate in a volatile and heavily political environment. He quickly gained the confidence of all the stakeholders and generally conflicts have been substantially reduced
	Bruce Brain, Chief Executive, Vivista

It took it IT consultancy Vivista several years to develop the NSPIS Case Preparation and Custody Programme, which will revolutionise the way the police deal with criminal cases by helping them manage an individual's case from arrest to completion of the
court process.

But the complexity of the challenge of implementing the programme across the police forces in England and Wales prompted Vivista to look outside the organisation for
someone with the appropriate expertise and experience.

Impact Executives fielded James Shapland, an IT specialist with a background in business change and systems integration gained in blue-chip organisations such as the BBC and PricewaterhouseCoopers.

As interim programme manager, Shapland had to manage the relationship with the Police Information Technology Organisation (PITO), the programme's primary customer, and to ensure that the programme was delivered, implemented and integrated with the different police forces' own systems as effectively as possible. He was also responsible for delivering support and consultancy.

Because it is linked to Home Office objectives on the Criminal Justice System and the police service as a whole, the programme is high profile and highly political. Through PITO Vivista reports to the Home Office, which has a steering group focusing exclusively on the project. Shapland also liaises with the National User Group, the
Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) and with Criminal Justice IT (CJIT), which manages the programmes in the Criminal Justice System.

Shapland's exclusive focus on the programme since he joined Vivista in September 2003 has given it much-needed momentum. The system is now operational in 23 police forces, with complete roll-out scheduled by the end of March 2006.

It is testimony to the success of the assignment that Vivista made Shapland’s role
permanent, giving him the title of Criminal Justice Programme Director.