When faced with the task of sourcing a new provider for an important and complex project, there are many points that need to be seriously considered. However, in our experience, there is one key area in particular that is consistently…

Far too many outsourced relationships fail to achieve the expectations of at least one of the parties involved in the process. And, no doubt, this was a driver behind the creation of the first International Standard for outsourcing – ISO…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

With so many pieces in play on the metaphorical chessboard of complex service-provider relationships, to ensure success in achieving your business outcomes it is important to know how each will move. Who are the advocates, the obstructers and the fence-sitters?…

Supplier relationships can be complicated, they can be messy and they can at times be self- destructive. Poor planning, insufficient research, ambiguous contracts and conflicting agendas – all can contribute. These errors or omissions don’t even need to be substantial…

With the 2015 general election rapidly approaching, understanding the politics behind public-sector outsourcing is essential for organisations that are considering tendering soon for these lucrative, though often very complex, relationships. Things seem to be getting quite politically polarised – Shadow Secretary of…

It was only last week that we were (or so we thought) reporting on BT’s latest public sector partnership issues with One Connect and Lancashire County Council… and yet it’s BT’s relationship with Liverpool County Council that is in the…

In 2007, when Southwest One was formed as a joint venture between private sector Goliath IBM, Somerset County Council, Taunton Deane Borough Council, and Avon and Somerset Police, many pointed to it as a trailblazing move: an exemplar of how…

The perception of honesty and integrity in the outsourcing sector has been shaken in the wake of the negative media coverage of Serco and G4S and the announcement on 12 Dec. that both firms lost their tagging contracts. While many…

As I recently read through yet another Public Accounts Committee (PAC) report uncovering yet more failures of Government procurement and project failures, I found myself wondering whether the squandering of the public purse is ever going to be addressed with…

As everyone knows, the public sector has never been a great ‘financial bonus giver’. After all, we’re just that little bit less likely to vote for any politician who openly supports the provision of financial bonuses paid via the public…

So, here we are again. The rumpus of big public sector outsourcing (although not necessarily just in the public sector) has hit the headlines with both Christopher Hyman (CEO, Serco Group) and Richard Morris (CEO, G4S) both falling on their…

In recent years the massive tectonic plates of change have shifted significantly from a status-quo where organisations have been comfortable with long-term, hands-off arrangements with outsourced service provision across a variety of disciplines to one where every aspect of the…

The statistics are overwhelming; nearly 50% of strategic vendor relationships end in failure. If matters have come to a head and no matter what you’ve tried, your strategic vendor is simply unable to achieve the business outcomes you expected, then…

Most organisations, whether in the public or private sector, are under extreme pressure to cut service costs – and quickly. But they also remain under pressure to keep service levels as high as they possibly can. And minimise complaints from…

Outsourcing, managed and commissioned services are prone to relationship problems, with around half failing due to partners not performing to client expectation. You will be well aware that a lack of performance kills trust, but may be less aware of…

Every now and then I will come across an article about outsourcing that gives me pause for thought. One such article was published in The Guardian back in January this year. The article referred to a review designed to improve the…

With the best of intentions, strategic partnerships and major projects can still falter. Such failings are typically down to a lack of quantifiable goals or a failing in the translation of business outcomes to contract terms (which are typically easily…

It’s a common situation. An organisation is very disappointed with what they perceive to be a failing provider relationship, unsatisfactory service delivery from a strategic provider, and they want out of the contract. They appreciate that exiting a service provider,…

I am always on the lookout for mentions of service commissioning in the media, and at the end of last month I sat down to watch a Dispatches special, Getting Rich on the NHS. The programme highlighted Virgin’s involvement in public…

Cornwall County Council leader Alec Robertson was ousted from his role last week in the wake of his attempts to finalise a hefty strategic commissioning contract. Robertson planned to outsource various Council services in a deal worth £300m. This followed…

According to a Gartner survey, 53% of organisations that have outsourced reported challenges relating to a lack of project/programme management skills. Or to put it another way, they had no experienced outsourcing governance. When considering outsourcing, the creation of a Governance Team is…

Local authorities have been badly hit by the austerity measures being put in place by Central Government. That fact has been apparent for several years. Not only are authorities dealing with an increase in demands from their constituents, they are…

You’ve decided that you want to outsource, but you haven’t decided which of the outsourcing methods is the best. You have internal processes that are functioning well, and outsourcing seems the next logical step in terms of reducing overheads and…