PaulWP

Ok - going to be tough to convince you so: The court case-when I left the industry in 2020, I don’t believe the Bromcom case had started. I came to know of it through a comment from Finnemore Consultants who I follow on LinkedIn. The circumstances of the case were interesting, and how things transpired was even more interesting, but only from a procurement perspective, not the particular parties involved. I had no axe to grind and there was no incentive, to do it other than my own. At that stage, I had no interest in getting back into edu so I wasn’t even trying to get my name back out there. My Blog - again, as I mention right at the beginning of my blog, I only came by the subject via a few of my mates from the Wisdom Partnership, and the article author Finnemore Consulting. And yes, at that stage I considered making a play for getting my name out there again. It wasn’t a difficult subject to address, at least from my point of view. So I posted my blog, got a lot of impressions and a few likes, so I am sure Bromcom will have picked it up from that. They asked if they could refer to it on their Edugeek page/site and from there it’s all history… Re Edugeek - My bad, I had forgotten all about my account - I favoured Twitter and LinkedIn at that time. Now I know what I am getting into, I will wear my battle armour from now on. You mentioned about spreading the word about procurement, if it was me that was doing that spreading the word, it would never be about products, I tend to not know them well enough, so for me it would be more about practicalities and compliance with using frameworks. If there are blatant cases of poor procurement practise then yes, where I am capable of commenting, I will. I kind of think I know where you are coming from regarding your concerns but hey, sometimes cynicism just can’t be broken. My next Blog, which I will have hopefully finished tomorrow is nothing to do with MIS/Bromcom/Procurement, but it does relate to Edu but a massively different way to what I am use to. Oh and I will try and de-corporatise my language in my blogs/articles in future. I have a question: ‘why does Bromcom have a bad rap? I thought their product was good?

It's memorable. I've lived most of my life in Yorkshire, so it wasn't as offensive as the South think it is. Even in my girlfriends family, everyone call me it. The double-barrelled bit was a pain though

Hi dmj, not a racial slur as far as I am concerned - its been my nickname for a very long time (my full name is Paul Wyatt-Pike). If it offends anyone then I apologise and will remove.

Hi Garacesh, I just wanted to share a bit about myself and my experience in education, so you can get to know where I come from a little better. I'm not a practitioner of education, but I've been involved in and around the industry since the 1980s, right up until 2022. Ultimately I'm a salesman and I'm really proud of what I've achieved in the education market for myself, my colleagues, and the many schools, trusts and LA's I've worked with. As a result of a major project in Wales for the Welsh Government and Welsh Assembly I co-founded an IT procurement framework called Think IT (now Everything ICT), which has been DfE approved for quite a while. The whole point of the framework was to make it easier for education clients to procure 'stuff' and protect them with the framework's terms and conditions that suppliers sign up to. During my time there, I met loads of suppliers from all areas of technology and services, so I know and come across a lot of people. Nowadays, I work with my girlfriend's family property business. Regarding my sudden appearance on Edugeek and the overlap with Bromcom, it was just one of those things. I saw an article on LinkedIn that piqued my interest, and I knew all the parties involved, so I made a comment. If you get a chance to read it, you'll see that I've been impartial, with no direct finger-pointing. I simply pointed out what I consider to be the risk, how it had come about, and how to avoid it in the future. Just to clarify, I wasn't involved in the court case at any point, as you seem to be under the impression of. Honestly, I would've commented the same way no matter which parties were involved. My blog on LinkedIn about Ethical Procurement is based on something I saw on a share/repost from people I knew. As I'm trying to reintroduce myself back into the education world, it presented itself as an opportunity for me. Mark from Bromcom asked if he could mention my blog on their Edugeek page and that's how my involvement restarted. Regarding your comment about me not knowing much about MIS, you're totally right. I know enough to explain what it is, but not how it works. As for Bromcom, people have already said in this thread that their product is good, so I don't think they need anything from me. Maybe it would be worth reaching out to them and seeing how they could create some sort of appropriate working group, although I can't imagine it would be easy with the potential for so many competitors in a room together.

Hah, I'm glad I am not in it. If you look on my LinkedIn profile, you will see that my comments are based on my procurement experiences and not about individual suppliers...and no lecture intended

Hi Steve, Just responding to your mention on integrity, ethics, fairness, and transparency, I wanted to address your concerns directly. My involvement, if it was me you were referring to, in the court case was motivated by a genuine concern about the procurement methods used. My stance was independent, and I was advocating for better procurement practices in education that are fair, transparent, and unbiased. I had no affiliations with any supplier in the market, and my observations were impartial. I hope this clarifies my position, and I welcome further discussions to maintain transparency and mutual respect. If you had read my recent blog on LinkedIn, hopefully you will see that I continue to advocate for fair practise when it comes to procurement. Cheers Paul

Good afternoon Mr. Ben, hopefully my North Yorkshire dialect is too obvious. I get your concerns about the complexities of procuring MIS products and the challenges in aligning them your Trusts needs. While your proposition regarding contractual obligations and associated penalties is interesting, its practical execution may be inherently fraught. Operating with a system that doesn’t meet all organisational needs can inevitably lead to inefficiencies, potentially compromising the overall functionality and performance of the trust for a period of time. The effect of such suboptimal operations can be profound, impacting not just the immediate workflow but also the long-term objectives of the organisation...and a very dodgy relationship with your supplier! If your requirements are absolute and there is only one supplier, then I suggest you find a DfE approved framework that provides a single source supplier that will work with you. They will serve as a pivotal conduit, ensuring compliance and overseeing the implementation and management of MIS, in adherence to agreed performance and service levels. While my familiarity with MIS solutions is very basic, I do recognise the imperative nature of a thorough and compliant procurement process. It is crucial to maintain an unbiased and transparent approach throughout, thereby avoiding any semblance of a skewed process. The objective remains to achieve a symbiotic alignment between the Trusts needs, best value and the offerings of the MIS vendor. I agree that it is worth having a group to continue these conversations and to challenge (not complain) and reshape your approach to vendor relationships, and maybe work together to help develop innovation - I am only saying that as I haven't got a clue if there is such a group. I'll probably get my ear bent for this response but...

I'm grateful for your reference to my blog, Mark—your acknowledgment is appreciated. While the blog primarily contextualises Management Information System, its core focus is on procurement, equity, and compliance across all public sector procurements. I welcome comments and insights from all readers of the blog, whether they agree or differ with my perspectives—I understand that viewpoints can be diverse and varied.

Seren is a lot more than Impero's suite of products..... Seren has created a huge interest because it isn't just a tech solution, it is entirely designed to meets the challenges for todays schools from education, solution and commercial perspectives. It has been installed in the Federation since September and has done nothing but improve the school at all levels..... rather than take my word for it - why don't you speak to the school and see what it has achieved in such short period of time. If you are NAACE - look them out as one of the Federations change champions will be showing it working