Industry news

With the public sector asking for more from their outsourcers, providers are having to find new ways of working together to bid for projects. This is happening in a variety of ways, for example consortia, joint ventures or partnerships. A few weeks ago, I wrote about how to pick a partner. Last week I discussed how to work with them to build a winning bid. This week, I’ve included some top tips on working effectively with your partner once you’ve won the contract.

1. Use the transition to reboot your relationship at a senior level

Shifting from “bid mode” to “delivery mode” brings with it a number of changes: to the team structure, the activities and often the location of the team. Use the opportunity to have a full and frank conversation. Ask yourselves the challenging questions looking back at the bid phase: what went well? What went less well? What are the lessons for the delivery phase? What do you need each other to do differently for the delivery phase to succeed? And, looking forwards, ask yourselves the challenging questions about what being delivery partners means in practice: Who faces off to who? How will you manage the client? How will you deal with disagreements? Don’t be afraid to plan for things that might go wrong and how you’ll deal with them – they will. The best partnerships survive because they can work through things that go wrong.

2. Continue to invest in the joint team

During the bid phase, your teams will have worked together. They will have shared the excitement of the development stage, the frustrations of negotiations, and the glory of being a member of the winning team. It’s crucial to continue this team spirit into the delivery phase, after all, it’s your people who will ultimately make the contract a success. As with building any team, developing a shared view of what success looks like and how the team should work together will form a solid foundation. All the conversations you’ve had at a senior level about your ways of working are similarly useful to have at a more operational level. And remember that building a joint team is a process, not an event, and one that requires regular investment.

3. Build in regular performance and contract reviews

Partnerships are most likely to come under pressure when one partner feels the other is reneging on the deal, whether as part of a formal contract or an informal understanding. This is particularly true around performance and / or delivering contractual obligations. Planning out a series of milestones with target performance levels can set expectations and focus each partner to deliver their responsibilities. Building in a regular review of performance and contracts will give both sides an opportunity to raise any issues or risks arising with the delivery of the service. If something or someone is not working as they’re meant to, it’s crucial to be able to communicate openly and honestly about problems and work to solve them together. Rather than letting a problem drag on, nipping it in the bud is much better for the long-term relationship. A regular review provides the space to do so.By investing in your relationship, the team, and regularly reviewing performance, you will lay the groundwork for a successful partnership.

Josie Cluer is public sector lead at Moorhouse, the transformation consultancy.

The BBC has tendered for a digital services framework for the development of mobile applications, online services, interactive TV and a range of other digital services.

The contract is believed to be worth as much as £5.4 million and would replace contracts held by Magnetic North, Do Tank, Collective and VML London, which are coming to an end.

The contract specifies that suppliers “may be required to work across aspect of the BBC’s online portfolio”.

The head of market engagement at BBC Future Media said that the digital services framework would be familiar to suppliers who had registered with the Government Digital Service Store (GDS).

Applications for tender will need to be received by the 2pm deadline on 16th May.

BBC announce new outsourcing tender programme

MPs to grill BBC staff on failed procurement system

Ofcom has found that while broadband speeds are rapidly increasing across the country, there remains a wide disparity in superfast connections across the country.

The average fixed-line broadband speed was found to be nearly five times faster than average speeds five years ago, however superfast broadband services were available in only select parts of the country.

A survey by Ofcom found that many rural and some urban areas still had limited access to superfast broadband connections.

Ofcom chief executive Ed Richards said: “There is more work needed to deliver wider availability of broadband and superfast broadband, particularly in rural communities but also in some locations within cities to enable wider access to fast internet.”

Despite the uneven service offerings across the UK, Ofcom found that the country had the highest coverage out of the five top EU economic countries.

Mps critical of lack of transparency in BT rural broadband contracts

Wales goes superfast

Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) have seen the highest rates of outsourcing activity in four years according to new research.

Both the quantity and value of outsourcing contracts have increased year-on-year according to new research published by the Information Services Group (ISG).

The research found that the current values of contracts in the EMEA region had increased by 29 per cent year-on-year to €2.4 billion.

Outsourcing growth according to the ISG has been driven a several ‘mega relationship’ contracts which have helped to raise the market value average.

ISG partner and president John Keppel, said: “Although these larger contracts have a strong role to play in the market, the smaller deal size brackets will continue to grow more sharply as enterprises opt for greater flexibility and more specialized services from a greater number of providers. Multi-sourcing, increasing competition among providers and lower technology costs will continue to be the factors that drive the market for the foreseeable future.”

ISG outsourcing index sees outsourcing contract value soar by 89%

The UK government has moved to break down its defence equipment procurement programme as it seeks to privatise the procurement process.

Previous attempts to sell off the multi-billion pound programme which covers land, air, sea and combined arms, alongside HR and finance services, had been met by obstacles.

The breakdown of the procurement operation is designed to facilitate the uptake of services by the private sector and will help to meet specialist procurement requirements according to a MoD spokesman speaking to Reuters.

The government had originally planned to have one private contractor for all defence procurement services however the plan was scrapped when only one bidder was left in the running after a number of companies pulled out of the bidding process.

The government is expected to send out notices to interested parties over the coming weeks.

MoD outsourcing strategy revealed

MoD moves to cut £1.5 billion from procurement fund

The G-Cloud is helping buyers achieve significant savings with the cloud’s director Tony Singleton saying that buyers are saving 50 per cent on average.

The announcement comes as the Government Digital Service (GDS) prepares to release a report on the G-Cloud and what success the procurement portal has had in generating public sector savings.

The government procurement cloud service has recorded £124 million of sales so far, with the governments SME focus appearing to have succeeded, with 59 per cent of sales going to small and medium businesses.

Mr Singleton said in a blog post that the: “G-Cloud is about more than sales; it is about transforming the way the public sector buys cloud-based services, and it is one of the frameworks supporting a wider business IT transformation.

GDS moves to combine digital marketplaces

Whitehall departments move to share information across government

Indian outsourcing giant Infosys has posted full year sales growth greater than analyst expectations following a series of outsourcing contract successes.

The second-largest software services firm in India reported that net profit rose by an unexpected 25 per cent to $496 million in the January to March quarter, above analyst expectations, with the company signing 50 new clients during the quarter.

The profit announcement saw a four per cent increase in share price with Infosys now forecasting a nine per cent revenue increase for the financial year.

The increase in profits comes despite a slowdown in the Indian outsourcing market and a recent fraud investigation in the U.S.

Infosys secures contract extension with Philips

Infosys reportedly wins a $98 million contract with TNT

Continued economic uncertainty is helping to drive IT transformation according to analyst firm Gartner.

Gartner said that IT programme and portfolio (PPM) leaders should prepare for increased transformation projects and greater expectations of results, as businesses react to economic pressures.

Gartner vice president Robert Handler, said: “Today, due to the turbulent nature of business, supporting strategic initiatives and adapting to market changes brings greater scrutiny upon all PPM leaders”.

Gartner said that their prediction is driven by increasing pressure on innovation as businesses emerge from the recession.

GPs are to receive a £50 million investment designed to increase the use of digital services in order to support patients.

The Government has announced the creation of the £50 million GP Access Fund which is designed to offer patients the opportunity to have consolations facilitated by digital services such as Skype, email and online booking services.

The GP Access Fund is designed to support 1,147 practices, providing improved GP care to patients with mobility problems or in remote locations by increasing opening hours and allowing for alternate means of GP contact.

The Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt said: “Moving nearly a million people onto proactive care plans is one of biggest changes that we need to make in our NHS. People want to know that their parents and relatives will get constant care if they have a long-term condition.”

He added: “offering more services online will also make it far easier for millions of hardworking people and their families to fit seeing a GP around their busy lives.”

Digital strategy launched by Cabinet Office

Delay to NHS patient data sharing scheme

The internet of things (IoE) has the potential to generate at least $613 billion for private-sector businesses according to Cisco, with £17 billion being generated in the UK alone.

The internet of things which includes concepts including smart meters and machine to machine communications has been predicted to be worth $8.9 trillion by 2020 according to analyst group IDC.

The internet of things is expected to become a key component of government digital initiatives including national services such as the NHS which are expected to improve record accuracy and availability.

In a report, Cisco said that there was growing: "realisation of the IoE in the UK and how this vision will play a key role in fuelling the British economy for years to come".

Committee recommends application of the Freedom of Information Act to outsourcing contracts

Phil Smith, chief executive of Cisco UK and Ireland, said: “this is just the beginning of an amazing future. As connections become smarter, faster and more insightful, we will only see more imaginative and ambitious applications of the IoE, which will quite literally change the world."

Internet of Things receives £45 million investment pledge