While large single supplier outsourcing relationships were all the rage a few years ago, we are seeing clients increasingly opting for either multi-sourcing or bringing services back in-house. So the question remains for many organisations: whether insourcing, outsourcing or some form…

Outsourced relationships can often be punctuated with opportunities for controversy. Having dealt with improving the performance of over 500 outsourcing relationships, evidence continues to teach us that more than 50% of these high-value contracts fail to achieve their expected outcomes…

What is a ‘fit for purpose contract’? And how can it really drive collaborative behaviour? When it comes to complex projects and service delivery relationships, the aim of a fit for purpose contract is for it to provide the operating foundations to drive…

Many of our blogs refer to the importance of not only entering larger contracts in the right way but also the equal, if not greater, importance of managing these contracts and the providers they are with, once they are in…

Deciding to terminate a strategic supplier contract before the end of its contract term, is a major undertaking. It poses a real risk of disrupting your organisation’s operations. It is also a significant drain on your time and potentially very…

This is the second of two articles on the subject of the role of Intelligent Client Function (ICF) teams in managing the all too often complicated supplier/client relationship. The first article was titled ‘The 8 Intelligent Client Functions Skills to…

The vast majority of outsourced relationships and complex projects are lengthy entities, often lasting five, ten, twenty years or more. It is likely that what may have suited your strategic partnership in the beginning will have moved on with what’s…

Is this the end for PFI? In May this year an interesting article came out in the GCR (Global Construction Review) on the CIOB (Chartered Institute of Building) website, titled ‘Bye-bye, PFI: UK signals effective end of private finance initiative’.…

Many pressures beset those responsible for large-scale projects, forcing them to choose between a fastidious approach to procurement and project management, and meeting the time restrictions or budgetary constraints they are often required to work under. These are the circumstances…

The day to day pressures of managing a PFI contract tends to lead one to focus on operational issues, yet the importance of devoting considerable time and energy to keeping on top of PFI costs cannot be undervalued. Take a…

This article aims to offer some useful advice on how to handle the rather delicate negotiations required to provide clarity in what can be regarded as otherwise ambiguous contract terms, unclear expectations, roles and responsibilities between you and your supplier.…

Early Contract Lifecycle Issues is the sixth article in our series of seven covering the key principles highlighted by the National Audit Office (NAO) in its report on emerging best practice in commercial and contract management. 140 projects were reviewed…

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.…

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…

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?…

This blog post is the fourth in a series that has looked at some of the most significant upcoming changes to the EU Procurement Rules Directive* and discussed the possible impacts across the Public Sector. In this concluding post, we’ll…

The adverse financial ramifications of large PFI contracts that were negotiated in healthier economic times are only now becoming clear to many public sector organisations across the UK. Such agreements were entered into with the best of intentions and were…

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…