eContract Management Guidance project

1
e-Contract Management Guidance project

• Bill McNulty, Project Director, NePP Board
• James Johnston, The Imaginist Company

2
Agenda

• Day 1 Contract management and e-CMS
• Introduction and a summary of our current
  findings
• Workshop discussion, led by Bill McNulty, to
  explore the key issues and set the agenda for the
  next phase of work
• Day 2 eCMS 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
  YHCE, 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
Positioning eCMS
13
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?