Contractors

[somabc]

NHS bosses may not appoint a replacement for Fujitsu as one of three regional contractors leading the health service's troubled £12.7bn IT systems overhaul following the Japanese firm's decision this week to walk away.

 

This is being called for by disaffected trusts across the south of England who want to pick their own suppliers.

 

Months earlier consultancy firm Accenture had walked away from two £1bn regional contracts, leaving just Fujitsu, BT and CSC as lead contractors

 

NHS bosses may not replace contractor after Fujitsu's walkout | Society | The Guardian

 

Could this be a sign that all is not well in IT outsourcing, wonder how it will affect BSF?

[Satch]

It might have more to do with the NHS.

 

Schools certainly aren't as big has hospitals and maybe the NHS just wasn't making the contracts appealing for contractors in a business case. Although I doubt we will ever know the truth.

 

If you have an IT infrastructure and need staff to keep maintaining it, its easily obtained. Just not if your the NHS.

 

I would be very surprised if it will have any affect on BSF.

[torledo]

NHS bosses may not appoint a replacement for Fujitsu as one of three regional contractors leading the health service's troubled £12.7bn IT systems overhaul following the Japanese firm's decision this week to walk away.

 

This is being called for by disaffected trusts across the south of England who want to pick their own suppliers.

 

Months earlier consultancy firm Accenture had walked away from two £1bn regional contracts, leaving just Fujitsu, BT and CSC as lead contractors

 

NHS bosses may not replace contractor after Fujitsu's walkout | Society | The Guardian

 

Could this be a sign that all is not well in IT outsourcing, wonder how it will affect BSF?

 

the NHS IT programme is very different....with these regional structures, the variety of different IT contracts for different services....BT doing both the n3, and looking after a contract to deliver applications in atleast one of the regions....the delays have been primarily in providing these application systems...patient records applications and the like. As the article says the national data spine (N3) and the mgmt of the IT infrastructure is less of a problem than getting these troublesome apps out on time and working.

 

 

No such issue with schools, although you could argue VLE's are those apps that could prove troublesome to implement and rollout for the manged service providers and perhaps the whole federated identity/SSO thing that the winning MSP's now have to think about.....altough individual authority VLE's and SSO implementations are a lot more straightforward than some of these NHS apps that have proven to be so costly.

 

the parallels however are very interesting, in the same way that schools won't get the IT funding if they opt-out of BSF and go with an alternat supplier, i believe the health authorities have to pay compensation to the regional operator if they go elsewhere for they're applications and IT service....in effect paying twice because they refuse to put up with the shoddy 'free' service as provided from one of BT, CSC, and previously accenture and fujitsu. ALthough it appears with the departure of fujitsu the authorities will try and claw money rather than pay out for incomplete systems.

 

It's a terrible situation surgeries, hospitals and nhs trusts find themselves in..

having little choice but to put up with a service that was forced on them. IF the programme is beocming so fragmented (And it looks as if it is) it may be good news as the authorities can finally get some much needed autononmy as to what systems and what suppliers they choose. Rather than continuign with the centrally agreed programme that just hasn't worked. Wonder how long it'll be before BT give up on a contract or two....bt are in the global IT services business, but their bread and butter is the infrastructure - should have stuck with N3 and adding value through providing additional services ontop of that rather than flying into the hornets nest of application delivery and regional contracts.

Edited May 31, 2008 by torledo