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Category Archives: Procurement
← Older postsHow to Create an Evaluation Framework for Procurement Tenders
April 2, 2013
In a recent post we outlined our four step minimum risk procurement strategy in which we discussed the creation of an evaluation framework. This is something that I cannot stress the importance of enough — not only is a good evaluation framework the only way to accurately measure the relative merits (or otherwise) of submitted tenders, it is a necessity for public sector organisations with regards to transparency and the
Posted in Procurement, Public Sector, Risk Management | Tagged evaluation framework, evaluation matrix, procurement tenders | Comments OffHow to Address the Dangers of Pensions in Strategic Commissioning Procurement
March 26, 2013
Professional Pensions recently reported that the procurement of library services by Croydon Council has been severely hamstrung by issues relating to Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) contributions. Although John Laing Integrated Services (JLIS) was selected as the preferred bidder in November 2012, the procurement process has recently taken a major step back due to an “unexpected” change in their bid. There is a strong moral to this story that should
Posted in Procurement, Public Sector | Tagged lgps, local government pension scheme | Comments OffERP Procurement: Discovering the Method That’s Best For You
March 19, 2013
Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) procurement is an area that I find fascinating. Undertaking to purchase one system that spans the entirety of an organisation’s processes is both ambitious and risky — it promises enormous reward but is ready to trip you up if you don’t handle the process properly. In purchasing and implementing ERP software you are essentially stripping down your organisation’s infrastructure and building it up again from the ground
Posted in Contract Management, IT Contract, Procurement, Risk Management | Tagged cloud computing, due diligence, erp, procurement, project management | Comments OffG-Cloud Procurement: The Importance of “Caveat Emptor”
March 12, 2013
The government’s G-Cloud programme recently celebrated its first birthday and its success (or failure) still seems to be in the balance. On the one hand you have the G-Cloud programme director Denise McDonagh stating that “most big government departments have bought services from the Cloud” and citing “significant buy-in from local government.” Meanwhile, the numbers tell perhaps a different story with just 0.04 percent of all government IT spending taking place
Posted in IT Contract, Procurement, Public Sector | Tagged cloud store, g-cloud | Comments OffA 4 Step Minimum Risk Procurement Strategy
March 5, 2013
When it comes to the world of procurement, the old phrase “prevention is the best cure” comes to mind frequently. The fact is that most faulty or failing supplier relationships are the result of a poorly executed pre-contract process. With the best will in the world, a poorly-constructed contract is going to lead to miscommunication between both the client and the vendor which is likely to result in dissatisfaction down the line.
Posted in IT Contract, Procurement, Public Sector | Tagged business outcomes, due diligence, evaluation matrix, procurement strategy, revenues and benefits, supplier relationships | Comments OffHow to Reduce the Risk of Your Strategic Partner Using Sub-Contractors
February 28, 2013
Last week we featured 2e2′s administration in an article about disaster avoidance. However, the 2e2 story offers up more than one moral that we can apply to the practice of outsourcing. Yes — 2e2 failed as a prime contractor, which acts as a reminder of the importance of carrying out effective due diligence in any outsourcing contract. But in another circumstance, it also failed as a sub-contractor, which in turn
Posted in Procurement, Public Sector | Tagged due diligence, prime contractors, sub-contractors | Comments OffMulti-Sourcing: 7 Steps to Reduced Costs and Improved Services
January 29, 2013
Multi-sourcing offers a huge opportunity to both the public and private sectors in terms of achieving (and even surpassing) desired outcomes. The reasoning behind this is rather simple — it is, in principle, a far more streamlined and efficient version of outsourcing. Whilst “traditional” outsourcing hands the entire service to a main contractor, multi-sourcing utilises multiple “best of breed” providers, each with specific skill sets, all managed by the client. However, the
Posted in Contract Management, Outsourcing, Procurement, Project Management | Tagged contract management, governance, intelligent client function, man marking, multi-sourcing, relationship management | Comments OffBest Practice When Contracting for Agile Projects
December 13, 2012
Agile project management is very much in vogue at the moment. This comes as no great surprise — the concept of simplifying and streamlining a process is instinctively appealing. Agile seemingly promises to deliver a better product in less time than the more traditional waterfall approach. However, agile project management is not necessarily a silver bullet. Successfully administrating an agile project from beginning to end requires a great deal of discipline and
Posted in Contract Management, IT Contract, Outsourcing, Procurement, Project Management | Tagged agile, agile contract, procurement, project management, waterfall | Comments OffShould Local Authorities Overcome Their Fear of Strategic Commissioning?
November 14, 2012
Although Councils are tasked with slashing budgets whilst maintaining (or even increasing) the quality of public services, the endorsement of strategic commissioning as a potential solution is seen by many councillors as dangerous ground upon which to tread. In fairness, their reticence is understandable. We recently reported that Cornwall County Council leader Alex Robertson was ousted from his role in the wake of his attempts to finalise a hefty strategic commissioning contract.
Posted in Cut Costs, Managed Services, Outsourcing, Performance Improvement, Procurement, Public Sector | Tagged due diligence, procurement, strategic commissioning | Comments OffCloud Computing Procurement: 6 Steps to a Beneficial Outcome
October 31, 2012
A couple of weeks ago I revealed how all too many cloud computing contracts (and more specifically, Infrastructure as a Service agreements) result in completely unacceptable outcomes for the buying organisation. The key issue is typically a fatal misalignment between the buyer’s desired business outcomes and the terms of the agreement. You expect a system that can fulfill your specific business outcomes, but the vendor is tasked with providing infrastructure. That
Posted in IT Contract, Outsourcing, Procurement | Tagged cloud computing, iaas, infrastructure as a service, procurement | Comments Off ← Older postsGet Free Updates
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