OGC pushes business continuity and mitigation in latest ICT procurement plan

Cliff Saran

Thursday 13 August 2009 11:31

The Office of Government Commerce (OGC) has published a model contract for public sector ICT procurement to cover carbon reduction, mitigation plans, open source and business continuity.

The document is part of a series of OGC measures to support the public sector in its ICT buying decisions.

Version 2.3 of the Information Communication Technology (ICT) Model Services Agreement and Guidance covers major or complex ICT-enabled business change projects. The free-to-use solution includes significant updates in the key areas of financial distress and security management.

The OGC said the model contract aims to achieve better outcomes for projects with complex ICT procurements, as well as saving time and money.

David Shields, OGC programme director said, "The success of projects or programmes requiring ICT support depends on those services being contracted in the most appropriate and efficient way. The ICT model contract we have developed with industry bodies and other stakeholders can provide assurance."

Last month, the OGC published the "traffic light" status and recommendations of Gateway reviews of 23 high-risk IT-related projects.

Contract updates
The new version of the contract features updates to two of the schedules: Schedule 7.4 (Financial Distress) has been revised, with a new obligation on key subcontractors to report and plan to mitigate the effects of financial distress. Schedule 2.5 (now named the Security Management Plan) includes a number of revisions to help improve the contract structure and balance and to provide guidance and links to relevant government initiatives, including the Digital Continuity programme, the Carbon Reduction Commitment, the Cabinet Office's Open Source Software Government Action Plan and the OGC/NAO Good Practice Contract Management Framework.

Contract updates

The new version of the contract features updates to two of the schedules:

Schedule 7.4 (Financial Distress) has been revised, with a new obligation on key subcontractors to report and plan to mitigate the effects of financial distress.
Schedule 2.5 (now named the Security Management Plan) includes a number of revisions to help improve the contract structure and balance and to provide guidance and links to relevant government initiatives, including the Digital Continuity programme, the Carbon Reduction Commitment, the Cabinet Office's Open Source Software Government Action Plan and the OGC/NAO Good Practice Contract Management Framework.