e-Contract Management Guidance project

1. e-Contract Management Guidance project Peter Duschinsky, Project Manager James Johnston, Consultant The Imaginist Company

2. Agenda eContract Management Systems in practice • Introduction and a summary of our current findings • Case studies: • Deborah McNulty, Gateshead Council and NEPO • Andrew Maisey, Torfaen County BC and Welsh Purchasing Consortium • Panel discussion

3. Introduction • e-Contract Management represents the single area of e-Procurement that has yet to be addressed by NePP • Whilst much effort is put into preparing for procurement and the tender/buying cycle, contracts are often poorly managed, leading to legal, financial and under-performance problems • e-CM allows a more proactive control and consistent approach to the procurement process • The introduction of the National Procurement Strategy and the Gershon Efficiency review has elevated e-CM higher up the local government agenda

4. Scope of e-CM guidance project • Establish guidance so that local authorities can accesspractical support and relevant information on ECM solutions • Provide an understanding of technical solutions and estimated costs • Deliver comprehensive, structured and easy to use guidance • Open dialogue with Procurement practitioners in local government to determine the type of service and assistancerequired

5. About us • The Imaginist Company is a leading independent consultancy specialising in helping public sector organisations change and adopt modern systems to realise the benefits of e-government • We have led best practice for local authority e-procurement over the past 5 years: • We delivered the NePP Supplier Adoption strand and have an excellent track record in the development of best practice guidance and case studies • We have worked with a number of collaborative groups of LAs to help them plan and implement e-procurement • We have assisted over 100 LAs, including 50 as part of the NePP Support for Authorities project - with very positive results

6. Phase 1: Research • Definitions • Consult Regional Centres of Excellence (RCEs) • Consult and seek detailed information from eCMS solution providers • Consult IDeA, OGC etc • Develop functional comparison database • Report progress at NePP Conference

7. Phase 2: Development of Materials • Comprehensive and practical ‘how to’ guide, to include: • Definitions and how eCMS tools can complement other e-procurement solutions e.g. e-sourcing, e-tendering • The benefits of e-CMS and how e-CMS adds value to the procurement process • Useful tips/lessons learned for successful implementation • Advice on suitability of e-CMS for different types of authority and groups of authority • Specific advice on collaborative implementation of eCMS • Solution provider contacts and reference points

8. Phase 2: Development of Materials • Technical review of eCMS solutions being used by local authorities, including: • Comparative functionality chart • Compliance to standards, integration capability, scope for future inter-operability • 3 case studies, showing how e-CMS added real value • Model eCMS project implementation plan • Collaborative implementation map • Costing models and business case template

9. Initial findings - 1 • Huge potential for savings – but double counting is rife! • There is little understanding of the capabilities of e-CMS and even less activity - it has been difficult to identify real examples of eCMS implementation that have moved beyond the initial stages • Part of the problem is that there is no clear understanding of where e-CMS starts and finishes re e-Sourcing • The main misconception is that e-CMS is positioned to start after the contract has been signed – the focus is almost always on implementing e-tendering

10. Initial findings - 2 • e-Tendering automates highly visible manual processes in use in all authorities - eCMS is more difficult to justify as contract management is not currently being fully enforced • Fewer than 15% of authorities have a complete contract register which is a key building block for good contract management • RCEs see eCMS as a critical element in collaborative e-Procurement and some, including Y&HCE, NEPO, are actively addressing the issue

11. Initial findings - 3 • eCMS solutions on the market are, in the main, enhancements to existing Portal and Tendering applications • Different solutions offer different benefits eg risk management • Provision for relationship management will probably be one of the key differentors when building the functional comparison chart

12. Collaborative stakeholders e-Contract Management Buyers Suppliers FMS, operational & legacy systems Positioning eCMS

13. Case study presentations • Deborah McNultyGateshead Council and NEPOimplementing the Due North system • Andrew MaiseyTorfaen County BC and Welsh Purchasing Consortiumimplementing the Alito system

14. Panel discussion - key questions • What do we mean by CMS? • What are the benefits of good contract management? • Who is implementing eCMS? • What are the barriers and how do we overcome them?