Case Study

Transforming Government IT from Utility to Strategy

CONTEXT: The Cost of Disconnection

King County IT (KCIT) is the backbone of a government serving two million residents. But in 2013, that backbone was at risk of snapping. The organization was a federation of silos, with IT staff isolated within individual county agencies.

This decentralization created redundancy and stalled modernization, making the shift to the cloud nearly impossible. The department was viewed largely as a "help desk," a cost center to be managed rather than a strategic lever to be pulled. We needed to consolidate these fiefdoms into a single, customer-oriented enterprise department, unifying 450 employees and a $200M budget behind one mission.

INTERVENTION: Leading with Narrative

Technology changes quickly; people change slowly. To facilitate the move to the cloud, we focused less on the code and more on the consultative value of the IT professional.

  • The Narrative Shift: We flipped the script. We stopped talking about "tech support" and started talking about "Strategic IT." We defined IT not as a fixer of broken printers, but as an enabler of government effectiveness.

  • Broad Engagement: We didn't just merge org charts; we introduced a Consultative Business Model. This shifted the conversation with stakeholders from "what do you want?" to "what do you need?", moving the County to a shared services model.

  • Developing Leaders: You cannot command modernization; you must coach it. We deployed a leadership development program for the 22-member Senior Leadership Team, equipping them to manage the ambiguity of transition and evangelize the new narrative.

RESULT: Efficiency as a Service

By treating the consolidation as a culture change project first and a technology project second, we achieved outcomes that technical upgrades alone could not deliver.

  • Fiscal Impact: $5M in annual savings.

  • Operational Agility: Cloud, Modernized legacy applications, & Service Catalogue

  • Cultural alignment: Visual performance management - aligned daily IT operations with County-wide initiatives.

THE TAKEAWAY

In the digital age, IT is not just plumbing; it is the nervous system of the organization. By developing leaders who could navigate the human side of technical change, we proved that the most critical “operating system” in government is the culture of the people running it.