The Office of Government Commerce has teamed up with
supplier organisation Intellect to launch a series of measures
aimed at avoiding the public sector IT disasters of the
past.
As part of the scheme, Intellect has developed an IT supplier
Code of Best Practice, which establishes a clear set of standards
that public sector organisations can expect from their suppliers.
Other initiatives include partnering guidelines and Concept
Viability; a new service from Intellect to assess technology risk
in specific public sector IT projects.
The scheme’s impact will be judged in the level of success
achieved by future government IT projects, according to OGC chief
executive Peter Gershon.
"The ultimate test is about whether we improve our success
rate," he said. "I think we might also measure it in terms of
whether we reduce the gap between the number of times a client goes
to the market and is surprised by the response they get - either
because the bids come in too high…..or are not fully compliant in
some way."
John Higgins, director general of Intellect said, "The payback
comes ultimately in reduced cost of procurement, more successful
procurement and more successful projects."
UK government has a chequered track record of implementing major
IT projects. At the end of 2001, for example, the government’s
Individual Learning Account programme collapsed spectacularly amid
allegations of fraud and mismanagement.
In 1999, problems with the implementation of a new IT system at
the Passport agency resulted in a backlog of 565,000 passports,
delays of up to 50 days and queues outside passport offices.
The new code of practice launched by the OGC and Intellect
contains Ten Commitments, which establish official standards of
professionalism for suppliers. These cover areas such as risk
management, skills, and programme management.