Improving Supplier Contract Management
Mr Kevin Nacey, Head of Finance
“Even when you think you have a good relationship with your systems supplier, are you sure you’re getting the best deal you could get? Even when you’ve been with the same systems supplier for a number of years, can you demonstrate to others that you are getting value for money? We all encounter problems in any major ICT project but do you know whether these really are “just teething problems” or “only to be expected” or should you be tolerating any of the problems you experience? You owe it to yourself, and of course to your employers, to be the best client you can be and so I engaged BPG to see if they could improve our existing contract management approach. BPG provided excellent advice and pointed out where we were deficient in documentation and experience and explained the supplier’s obligations to SCC based on what the supplier had proposed to us. As soon as we put BPG’s assistance into practice, our supplier immediately sat up and took notice and took SCC as a client more seriously. The result was that our problems began to be resolved and both sides understood their respective position so much better. A good relationship became a very good one and BPG’s charges for their advice were recovered fourfold in savings from additional costs that we may have paid out to our supplier. We now feel confident that we can demonstrate to our stakeholders that we are following best practice and getting value for money.”
