Managed service contract options review

The project issues
Salisbury District Council’s (SDC) support contract with BIC for managed ICT services was due to terminate in April 2006 and there was a need to consider the options and issues to be addressed. The IT department is now responsible for SDC’s E-government and Priority Outcomes so had scarce resources for this review and any recommendations. We were commissioned to examine the options and issues and prepare recommendations to be presented to Cabinet.

SDC relies on the existing contract for the support of critical applications, networks, servers and desktops, so its management board needed a clear decision in time to execute the option chosen.

The Socitm Consulting solution
From the initial meeting it was evident that SDC’s preferred option was to extend the existing agreement. We therefore proposed to focus on the pros and cons of this option. We produced a checklist of issues that needed to be considered from the legal, technical, commercial and service perspectives regarding an extension, within the context of local government in UK and ICT support services.

The first deliverable was to briefly highlight the issues that would arise from extending the existing agreement. This was to form a checklist for the full report and as a basis for decision as to which issues to consider and in what depth, bearing in mind the budget for the review.

Interviews were held with key IT staff and evidence requested and information on the supplier researched. We also provided comparative charge rates, and examined SDC’s current ICT and E-government strategies as critical background to the review.

Our initial report confirmed it was legal to extend the contract as this option was included in the original OJEU advert and in members’ approval. However, the report highlighted a number of contractual points to be discussed with the supplier.

The final report highlighted the evidence provided in support of the recommended extension, and an executive summary was provided as the basis for a report to Cabinet.

The benefits to the client
We were able to undertake the review when SDC was short of resources, and to contribute an independent external perspective and broader market perspective. We provided a structured review of the issues and presented the evidence in a logical manner which supported a clear set of recommendations. The recommendations were adopted by the IT Manager, and the IT section went on to negotiate changes to the agreement ahead of its renewal date.

Project identification
Client organisation: Salisbury District Council
Client contact: Les Wright, IT Manager, 01722 434399, lwright@salisbury.gov.uk,
Lead consultant: terry.street@socitm.gov.uk
Project no: 5304