Helpful tips to make your strategic supplier relationships work really well

For some, IT project partners, vendors and suppliers can be a source of pain. Some IT Project Managers may even be on the brink, considering a partnership termination. But, as some will attest, termination is time-consuming, costly and bitter; where…

It’s hard not to be susceptible to good marketing, but when it comes to bringing in someone who claims to be an ‘expert’, they need to be serious about their claims. Why? Because by representing themselves as an expert who…

To get your project back on track, clear communication with your vendor is critical. Following the key steps below will help to ensure that both sides are clear about your expectations, that the system will be fit for purpose once…

If you’re looking into re-aligning your IT project, you may find it hard to figure out where to begin. To help, we’ve charted 6 steps below, which if you follow in the right manner will help you to get your…

Understanding how your IT project got off track will help you to realign your project and relationship; helping to deliver more value. The chances are, both you and your vendor contributed to the issues, but don’t take it to heart…

When it comes to hiring ‘legal’ it usually means things are starting to, or already have, gone awry. So when hiring an IT lawyer or technical expert, you need to be clear about your objectives and outcomes from the beginning.…

Research advisory organisation, The Standish Group, reported in their now infamous Chaos report that just 33% of all IT projects are completed on time and in budget. And though these reports started nearly 20 years ago, the updates they provide…

A date has been set for Cornwall Council to meet BT in the High Court. On 1 December 2015, both sides will have the opportunity to explain just why the ten-year £300m outsourcing contract that bound them together was ended…

Public sector organisations don’t usually sue other public sector organisations; it’s practically unheard of. So what has brought Solent NHS Trust and Hampshire County Council to blows? According to a recent LGC report, the two organisations are suing each other…

When a civil servant in the Ministry of Justice spotted some discrepancies in Serco’s paperwork during routine contract renewal processes, nobody could have quite imagined what impact this was going to have – both on the UK Government and Serco.…

When the reportedtroubles started for Serco in the spring of 2013 the snowball effect seemed to have had a serious impact on its business. With the media questioning the company’s culture and character, the high-profile legal questions that were being…

When the tagging scandal of 2013 hit Serco, it was reported that nobody could have believed that this organisation could fall so far and so fast. Awareness of the ‘overcharging’ story is now so widespread that we don’t need to…

As regular readers of our articles will know, I tend to continually emphasise the importance of a strong Intelligent Client Function (ICF) team. I don’t do so without cause though because the evidence we see day in and day out…

Much has been written about Serco of late. It’s an interesting story for the news media, and those in the outsourcing world, because it’s a tale of success and loss, legal issues and leadership changes alongside the question of whether…

On the ‘What We Do’ section of their Home page, the CCS state: “The Crown Commercial Service (CCS) brings together policy, advice and direct buying; providing commercial services to the public sector and saving money for the taxpayer.” Saving money…

Image courtesy of Rafael Matsunaga Serco has been going through a bit of a rough patch recently, to say the least. Since Rupert Soames took over last year, with plans to clear the decks and see the once dominant outsourcing company…

We often emphasise the importance of effective due diligence before entering any outsourcing contract – in our work with clients and their strategic partners, and in our articles about optimising those relationships. As we all know, appropriate pre-contractual due diligence…

The utopian view of public sector services being run in-house by the public sector in a manner that all believe to be in the best interests of the population at large, seems to be a distant and hazy memory. This…

Whatever your personal political leaning may be towards the subject of austerity, in post-election Britain, if you work for a public sector body, significant adaptations still need to be made. Belts that may have seemed already uncomfortably tight after years…

Two weeks before the 2015 general election, David Cameron visited Halifax to assure residents that the A&E department of the embattled Calderdale Royal Hospital would not face closure. “After the election we want to do what we’ve done with other…

Factoring in supply chains, there are 5.4 million people employed in the public services sector in the UK, generating an estimated £113.5bn in revenue in 2012/13 (or 7.2% of UK GDP). It is, therefore, surprising that for a sector in…

How to plan a negotiation in an exit strategy? Many would assume that all that’s needed is to follow the roadmap set out in a contract or to prove some deviation from a contractual obligation so then the relationship could…

Does it matter if the average member of the public trusts the border control agency in charge of immigration into our country? What about trust in those running local GP surgeries or some of our NHS services? Then there are…

The complexity of strategic partnerships can be such that when one side finds itself unable to deliver on expected milestones, even the most minor concerns have the capacity to snowball into project-threatening issues if left unchecked. Don’t remain in the…

If you’re even the slightest bit politically inclined, or you happened to have switched over to the leader’s debate on TV last week, the real ‘hot potato’ subject of note was the private sector outsourcing of NHS services. This is…

The early termination of any major commercial relationship for a high-visibility organisation will inevitably cause ripples in the marketplace. The effects of which – like the infamous ‘chaos theory’ that starts with a butterfly flapping its wings – are difficult…

The biggest risk in a new service delivery partnership Without exception, the single largest key challenge in moving into a new strategic partnering arrangement with a service provider is a lack of clarity and quantification over both parties’ expectations and…

In an ideal world, the relationship you have with your outsourced strategic partners should be a collaborative one. Working together you will better be able to identify how to improve operating practice, reduce service fees and recognise where best to…

In recent months, two major examples have been reported in the media which indicate that some relationships were made to last longer than others – the Department for Work and Pensions’ (DWP) decision to extend their relationship with HP and…

After nearly seven years working on the decommissioning of Sellafield, one of the UK’s largest nuclear sites, the Nuclear Management Partners (NMP) – a group of private sector companies who have been collaborating to manage and oversee the decommissioning process…

“Government contracts with profit-driven firms must end, says Labour policy chief” reported Civil Service World, “Strip companies of government contracts, Labour policy chief says” was the Telegraph headline. Surely, after the weeks the Labour party have had recently, trying to…

Private sector service providers take a hefty 50% bite out of the public sector’s total annual expenditure on goods and services. The likes of G4S, Serco, BT and a few other members of the exclusive Massive Outsources Suppliers’ Club receive…

As 2014 nears its end, we’ve taken time to reflect on the important issues we’ve highlighted over the last 12 months, the hot news we’ve reported on, and the lessons we’ve all learned in that time. And, when we looked…

As news circulated about Serco’s fourth profit warning in a year and plans for a rights issue to the tune of £550m to stabilise their battered and beleaguered balance sheet, we have seen an increase in contact by some of…

Information technology services are by far the most common reason for outsourcing, managed services, and strategic commissioning across both the private and public sectors. In our experience, it is also one of the most contentious, being synonymous with poor service…

Given the rumours, murmurs and announcements of the last few weeks, BT Global Services’ (BT GS) customers are undoubtedly all asking themselves the same questions – are BT going to sell off their outsourcing division? This question keeps arising as…

Anyone who knows me will appreciate that for good or for bad, I’m a strong advocate of the work of the National Audit Office (NAO). Yes, at times they can be a little overcritical, as those running complex strategic relationships…

It is notoriously difficult to get visibility of the quantified value transformational outsourcing agreements are (or are not) providing.. By their very nature these agreements are complex, as is the management of the relationships that must be formed to ensure…

We have already gone into quite some detail about the new EU Procurement directive due to hit our shores in the very near future – in fact, Cabinet Office consultations suggest that early 2015 is now more likely for their…

Responding to criticisms from their overview and scrutiny committee that their first report in February this year, regarding the lessons learned from the Southwest One (SW1) venture, was not comprehensive enough, Mr Kevin Nacey, Finance Director from Somerset County Council…