DCC’s IT chief works to deliver the “wows”

Marc Stackhouse is the first to admit that he had to ask, “What’s Defence Construction Canada?” when a headhunter approached him about doing some consulting work for DCC in 2008.

Once briefed, Stackhouse, who moved on to become head of DCC’s IT group in April 2009, realized that coming to DCC would be a great opportunity and a welcome change after 21 years in the private sector. “Not one to write code eight hours a day,” Stackhouse says, he had spent his career up until that point working in various business and manufacturing settings, most recently as the general manager of an international digital print and web solutions company with presence in Ottawa and the United States.

In light of the exponential growth in DCC in recent years and the increasing number and sophistication of services it offers DND, Stackhouse arrived at an ideal time to look toward developing tool-based solutions to help DCC employees do their jobs better and to be proactive in meeting DND’s needs.

Stackhouse and his team are looking at how they can support DND with common IT solutions, such as a standard and more timely approach to invoicing across the country, and contribute to national projects by helping clearly defining IT requirements and suggesting systems and approaches that could facilitate DCC’s work. Stackhouse notes that IT is “now at the table” for projects such as this, since there is a recognition within DCC that “IT is not just about computers on desks” anymore.

A current priority for Stackhouse is updating DCC’s Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system—its overall approach to IT services—which is more than a decade old. “We want to update and enhance how we do things today and start to deliver solutions for people,” says Stackhouse.

Stackhouse acknowledges that a perennial challenge in the IT world is producing the “wows,” as he calls them—the instant reactions from users that a new tool or system really will be useful. Nonetheless, he wants “to push the envelope as best we can. For example, could we use personal digital assistants to make useful, site-specific information available to our employees in the field?”

Recognizing that the IT group needed to better understand its users and their needs, Stackhouse has recently visited various DCC locations across the country to meet managers and employees to learn about their business requirements. He will also be assigning members of his IT team to each region, as a channel for regular feedback and input.

Looking around Stackhouse’s office, it’s clear he and DCC are already a good fit. Over his desk is a large painting of a vintage airplane, a link to his father’s 35-year career in the air force. “I told my dad that working at DCC is the closest I’ll ever come to enlisting,” he says with a laugh.