Three local governments in London, collectively known as the 'tri-borough' councils, are on the hunt for fresh IT vendors to support their digital services.
The tri-borough shared IT procurement framework is a groundbreaking collaboration between three London boroughs - Westminster, Hammersmith and Fulham, and Kensington and Chelsea - aimed at optimizing IT services and purchasing. The partnership, established in 2011, aims to save a total of £40 million a year by 2015/16 through shared services including IT, HR, and finance.
One of the major initiatives under this framework is Programme Athena, although specific details about its progress or scope within the tri-borough IT framework are currently limited. The programme aims to build a single instance of Oracle, SAP, Agresso, and finance software Cedar for the boroughs to use, potentially increasing the value of the IT services to £1.1 billion if offered to other boroughs in London.
Outsourcing projects by London boroughs, including those under such frameworks, have faced criticism and controversy. Concerns typically revolve around delivery delays and budget overruns, issues with service quality and responsiveness, reduced local control and accountability when services are outsourced to private providers, and staff redundancies and changes to working conditions for in-house teams impacted by outsourcing.
However, no specific controversies concerning Programme Athena or tri-borough projects were found in the search results. The IT procurement framework, valued at over £3.1 million, has been tendered and is open to other boroughs in London. The framework includes three lots - distributed computing, service desk, and data centre services - with the aim of appointing one supplier for each lot, although a single supplier could win all three.
The tender for the IT procurement framework requires successful suppliers to demonstrate the ability to provide streamlined ICT services, improved process efficiency, cost-effectiveness, capacity for self-service where appropriate, improved efficient reporting, identified savings, and quality of service. The tender lots have values ranging from £1.5 million to over £1 million.
Westminster County Council will begin using the new ICT services from November 2014, with other boroughs gaining access to the new services from October 2016. The tri-borough shared services partnership represents a significant step towards optimizing IT services in London, demonstrating the potential for collaboration to achieve efficiency and cost savings in the public sector.
The tri-borough shared IT procurement framework, with a value exceeding £3.1 million, offers an opportunity for other London boroughs to join, raking in a potential £1.1 billion worth of IT services if Programme Athena's software is offered to all boroughs. Despite concerns about outsourcing projects in the industry, such as delivery delays and budget overruns, the tendered framework demands high standards from potential suppliers, aiming for streamlined ICT services, improved efficiency, and cost-effectiveness.
