ICT Managed Service – friend or foe? Conversation number 3

The BSF ICT managed service has had a lot of mixed press of late. We discuss why this is and what can be done to ensure you get the managed service you want.

Stating the obvious in BSF

Have just been penning some thoughts on what a local authority and those about to embark on a BSF procurement should think about. This might seem like motherhood and apple pie, but surprisingly often forgotten in my humble experience!

• Be clear what you want
• Its OK to change your mind, but do communicate this with the bidders
• If it isn’t written down it wont happen – (and hasn’t been budgeted for)
• Don’t just send ICT folks to ICT meetings
• Let your thinking evolve during dialogue but remember to reflect the changes in the output spec
• Dont accept a locked down managed service ..it doesnt have to be
• Don’t re-buy what you already have
• Remember, bidders like to sell what they have sold before.
• All bidders can answer the docs well, look for evidence during dialogue of what they write.

Separate ICT BSF Procurement

It is speculated that Partnerships for Schools wish to change the procurement model and potentially separate the procurement of ICT from that of the LEP and construction under certain conditions from Wave 7 onwards.  This is supposedly to accelerate progress and spending, thus allowing educational transformation to be started early from an ICT perspective.

It is no secret that both RM and Microsoft have been lobbying Jim Knight and P4S for this for sometime.  P4S have always stated that they wanted to retain joint procurement as it ensures that ICT and buildings are closely integrated.  However, with the pressure from the recession it seems that any form of accelerated spending seems the order of the day.

At BSF Conversations we believe that this is a VERY BAD idea and undermines one of the key aims of BSF.  You only need to look at a number of schools being delivered right now from separate procurement processes to see how poor the integration of the building and ICT is and how much money and potential has been wasted as a result.

Furthermore, the proposed model of selecting the ICT partner and then getting them to work with the two remaining bidders to ensure that there is some integration is, in our humble opinion, fraught with danger.  Most ICT suppliers have preferred construction firms / consortia.  It would seem almost super human to put these allegiances completely to one side.

If ICT spending must be accelerated then the one thing that could meaningfully be procured in advance could be the Learning Platform.  However some forward thinking Local Authorities, such as Wolverhampton and Sandwell,  are approaching this by seeking to contract the Learning Platform within 12 month of Financial Close, thereby getting transformational services delivered early whilst still ensuring the the buildings and ICT are tightly integrated.