Background
Agile Byte was requested by a Government client to review and and advise on re-procurement of an existing set of IT security monitoring services. The services in question had been operated under a set of service management and contractual arrangements that had remained largely unchanged for over 5 years. Procurement rules and good practice dictated that the services should be subject to re-procurement and our Government client looked to Agile Byte to define a project which could support this goal.
Solution
Agile Byte provided project management, business and technical analysis to support the project. We also provided procurement expertise to assess existing standard service propositions available in the market place to establish the scale of the procurement exercise required to replace the client’s legacy services.
Our analysis quickly identified that existing supplier service definitions and associated requirements were incomplete or unclear. In particular, we established that aspects of the current service, which were delivered by multiple suppliers and using multiple product sets, overlapped. We also identified that ownership of the service had become an issue over time, with no single business representative assuming responsibility for the overall service and its outcomes. More detailed analysis was then undertaken, working with suppliers to identify specific gaps and overlaps in service provision which would need to be addressed in any newly procured service. The results of this analysis was validated with a cross section of business representatives and a formal report on findings and recommendations presented to senior business stakeholders.
Amongst the report recommendations, Agile Byte identified that there was a mismatch between a particular set of non critical monitoring services being provided. On one side of a service/supplier boundary, a 24x7 service was being provided and paid for, but this was not being matched on the other side of the service boundary. Business representatives agreed that a business hours only service was required.
Outcome
Subsequent re-procurement of the services was able realise the cost savings associated with the over servicing of requirements, that Agile Byte had identified. The savings amount to well over £1m over an 18-month period of service operation.
Our client also acted on another major recommendation from our report, reviewing business ownership and appointing a permanent long term business owner.
