So who can you turn to for support? Who is familiar with these issues? Who can help you identify and manage the risks, focus on the business benefits and not get sidetracked? Who can help you express the key issues in language your executive managers and elected members will understand? At Socitm Consulting we don’t presume to have all the answers as each requirement is unique, so you will not find us imposing a standard solution upon you, though we do have standard toolkits, methodologies, templates and experience to ensure we add real value to your projects.

We do, however, understand the agenda and the conflicting pressures on authorities and on suppliers, so we can help engender an empathic relationship right from the wording of the contract advert through to setting the agenda for performance review meetings. Our experience is that while many public bodies are making efforts to strengthen the in-house procurement function, all can nonetheless benefit from expert external support, especially in the broader area of strategy and the narrower ambit of systems and technical infrastructure.

With regard to strategy, we have helped many organisations take a 'smarter' approach to procurement.  We address the basic issues like whether a new contract is required and, if it is, whether anyone else has a similar requirement. For new procurements we can facilitate vision workshops to clarify the outcomes required and the benefits that must be delivered. This feeds into the evaluation criteria and ensures the focus is firmly on achieving benefits.

Support for those procuring systems, applications and technology – or outsourced ICT services - is a special area of expertise. Buying ICT goes far beyond selecting a product, together with hardware, implementation and on-going support. Building the relationship with the supplier and making the necessary organisational adjustments are equally important, and we can help with these too. Even with commodity items such as desktop PCs, there are commercial and technical issues which make the involvement of experts advisable.

Our broad and deep experience of assisting public bodies with successful procurements of all sizes is at your disposal. Equally we can support the decision process, either by assessing your options or by assuring your own assessments. We can help identify and resolve the strategic issues, align the organisation and the technology, take advantage of lessons learned elsewhere, shorten timescales significantly and reduce the risk of a challenge to procurement decisions.

If you would like to discuss how we can help you or your colleagues in this area, please call us on 0845 450 0904, email consulting@socitm.gov.uk or use our online enquiry form.