Sign in / up

back to article Scotland Yard defends single supplier IT gig with Insight

London's Metropolitan Police has defended its use of a single supplier procurement standard after it penned a four-year deal with IT hardware outfit Insight, claiming it could yield cost savings of up to ten per cent over the contract's lifetime. The previous buying arrangement that London cops had with SCC under the Sprint ii …

COMMENTS

House rules Send corrections
This topic is closed for new posts.
  1. Will Godfrey Silver badge
    Unhappy

    Gives a whole new meaning to Cops & Robbers

    1 0
  2. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    "forecast £15m to £25m annual spend,"

    Wow, accurate forecasting there then. Let's guess which end it will be closer to.

    3 0
    1. Vordicae
      Reply Icon

      Depends if they have a change of Boss about halfway through who decides to can the project and stuff up all the ipads as they are engraved with each Coppers name and number ...

      Stranger things have happened in the public sector :)

      2 0
    2. Salts
      Reply Icon

      I noticed this also, coupled with savings of 5-10% so we just need to do the sums

      25m - 5% saving = Tax Payer Shafted

      15m - 10% saving = NaN

      0 0
  3. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    I did a stint at a City Council...

    ...that had a single supplier agreement with Insight, and was able to see the prices that were billed.

    To take an example, I remember USB memory sticks were sold at around 4 or 5 times the cost that they were available for on Amazon, and at least twice what you could buy them for as an unregistered user on Insight's website. Nobody could explain to me why it was so expensive, and why departments of this (publicly-funded) authority couldn't just go out to PC World, buy stuff for half the price, expense it, and save the public money.

    I absolutely guarantee that this single supplier agreement will cost not save money. Private companies (correctly) see the public sector as a signer of blank cheques.

    3 2
    1. Vordicae
      Reply Icon

      Re: I did a stint at a City Council...

      wow,

      that council must be suffering without your amazing experience and in depth procurement analysis !

      have they been sending you letters begging you to return and save them from themselves and rescue the entire Country from it's fiscal woes ?

      0 3
    2. Yet Another Anonymous coward Silver badge
      Reply Icon

      Re: I did a stint at a City Council...

      when your departments policy had been the plot of an episode of Yes minister 30years ago - you know you are "failing to achieve excellence"

      1 0
    3. Optymystic
      Reply Icon

      Re: I did a stint at a City Council...

      I did donkey's years at several councils. I loved being told to buy my own supplies by the so-called corporate IT people, because they were required to go through the so-called corporate, so-called best value contract.

      0 0
  4. Steve Knox

    If you're going to lie, lie big.

    ...claiming it could yield cost savings of up to ten per cent over the contract's lifetime.

    If you're making unverifiable claims, why not say "up to ten thousand per cent"? It's just as meaningful.

    2 1
  5. All names Taken
    Paris Hilton

    It is tricky...

    Some of these public money contract seem hatched elsewhere with the local bods merely following the hints from afar (no local democracy there then is there?)

    On the other hand were a single supplier able to supply diverse hardware, softwares, firmwares, servers ... it could avoid a lot of warranty issues with hardware bods blaming network bods blaming software bods blaming hardware ...

    I suppose we have to trust decision makers?

    0 0
  6. Barnie

    More importantly what OS & Software is running?

    Regarding the hardware I cant see them requirement much is the way of grunt i.e a basic spec should be enough. I expect the majority of costs will be whatever is running on top any ideas on what this may be?

    0 0
  7. All names Taken
    Paris Hilton

    I'd guess that there is some sort of integration locally, nationally, internationally multiple times, mobile on the road kit, lab stuff, materials published for use in court (apart from text documents that could include images, movies, videos appertaining to criminal acts or the execution of officers doing their duties), integrating with courts and doing all of that accountably with scrutiny and upholding confidentialities ...

    On the other hand if USB dongles are being invoiced at some colossal rate above over the counter prices there would appear to be a substantial due diligence issue screaming to be formally addressed?

    0 0
  8. JaitcH
    Unhappy

    Open, advertised purchasing can't be beaten for value

    Given the Yard's new notoriety for accepting bribes and payoff's, this type of contract has to be viewed with the greatest suspicion.

    Widely promoted, open Requests for Tender against properly specified equipment demands that allow many tenders to be made are by far the best way to go.

    0 0
This topic is closed for new posts.

Other stories you might like