Only 20 per cent of civil servants believe their department has the skills to manage IT suppliers, according to a survey.
Research by techUK said that although most civil servants considered IT to be critical to delivering business plans, they doubt they have the right skills and culture within their departments to enable digital transformation of public services.
So why is this the case, is it any different in non-public sector organisations and how can the problem be addressed?
In Government organisations there is a great emphasis on procurement playing a lead role in supplier management with centralised procurement organisations seeking to leverage scale and buying power and apply best practice in procurement, adhering to EU procurement regulations (OJEU) designed to ensure fair and open competition. While this approach has many benefits the nature of it is that the processes are far from agile, taking time to complete with the process itself adding cost. The IT solutions marketplace is by contrast fast moving, with new solutions and services appearing and changing rapidly.
In the private sector there is evidence to show that IT more often takes the lead. That is not to say that all is rosy there either, studies there have suggested that senior executives there feel they are not necessarily getting value for money.
To grasp IT opportunities and also get best value requires a knowledge of what the market can offer, a clear appreciation of the business needs and priorities and an ability to work closely with suppliers to help them apply their product and service offerings to specific organisational need. It also requires the commercial skill and ability to apply solid procurement practices in an agile manner to make sure that the most appropriate supplier option is chosen, best value is achieved and commercial agreements are implemented that achieve a win for both buyer and supplier.
This is difficult, if not impossible to achieve when the skill sets required are divided between IT, business functions and procurement departments and procurement processes are long winded and cumbersome.
ITSS addresses these issues by leveraging the experience and skills of senior professionals with strong business knowledge and acumen, extensive experience of applying IT Solutions and services to drive organisational performance, a deep knowledge of the IT market place together with commercial acumen and an ability to apply procurement best practice.
