The first V&A museum in the world outside London and the first ever dedicated design museum in Scotland, V&A Dundee aims to allow visitors to explore design creativity and experience the story and impact of design past, present and future.
Designed by internationally acclaimed Japanese architect Kengo Kuma, V&A Dundee stands at the centre of a £1 billion transformation of Dundee’s waterfront.
The Project
Design Dundee Ltd was charged with making the planned V&A at Dundee a reality. A charitable trust, the organisation was established as a partnership between the V&A, the University of Dundee, the University of Abertay Dundee, Dundee City Council and Scottish Enterprise.
The organisation’s IT infrastructure was initially provided and supported by Dundee City Council’s IT Department, however in 2015 Tullitec was commissioned to:
- analyse and document the information requirements of each business function
- formulate a comprehensive IT strategy and implementation plan
- work with V&A Dundee staff to ensure the successful execution of this plan, ensuring the delivery of IT which would meet the new museum’s requirements.
This exciting project required Tullitec’s consultants to take a 360-degree view of all aspects of the V&A Dundee’s planned operation, resulting in IT requirements which were wide-ranging and encompassed all aspects of the business. The resulting plan, colloquially known as the BSS (“Big Scary Spreadsheet”), comprised some 65 different elements across the full spectrum of IT operations, including:
- Customer, Supplier, Partner and Stakeholder Relationship Management
- Retail & eCommerce
- Inventory Management
- Online Strategy & Digital Exhibit Support
- Finance & Procurement
- Infrastructure & Connectivity
- Event Management
- Communications & Collaboration
- Reporting & Business Intelligence
- Security & Business Continuity
- IT staff recruitment & mentorship
Due to the tight construction timescales, the growing staff user-base needed to be either home-based or spread across multiple, temporary office locations during the build phase. Such an environment proved a perfect fit for Cloud-based solutions, supported by a number of key service providers to ensure business continuity.
Achievements
- Over a period of 24 months, Tullitec, working with internal and external resources, successfully delivered these projects, within budget and in time for the public opening of the museum in September 2018. In its first year V&A Dundee welcomed over 830,000 visitors, 330,000 more than the pre-opening estimate of 500,000 visitors, with an estimated economic impact of £23 million across Scotland and supporting 604 full-time equivalent jobs.
Testimonial
“Tullitec joined the project at a pivotable point. We had a blank slate and a limited amount of time and budget to identify, build or procure, and then implement all the systems and infrastructure required to support a new organisation through to opening a brand new international museum. George and the team provided crucial support to help identify all our requirements, tender and implement a number of projects, help project manage the “Big Scary Spreadsheet” and support the team with regular help and advice. Tullitec’s support was invaluable and a key element in the project’s successful delivery.“
Jamie Gray, Head of Digital & IT, V&A Dundee