UK govt Matrix is the mother of all ERP projects • The Register

The UK authorities has kicked off procurement of an ERP system for eight Whitehall departments which consolidates 9 completely different software program techniques – a mission doubtlessly extra complicated than a snake’s wedding ceremony.

Based on civil service chief working officer Alex Chisholm, the group, dubbed Matrix, is the “trickiest one” among the many 5 clusters of presidency departments every set to obtain new ERP techniques collectively, in response to the Shared Services Strategy first set out in March 2021. The method guarantees to avoid wasting £2 billion ($2.47 billion) on the again of a £900 million ($111 million) funding.

The technique particulars how eight central authorities departments – at present operating disparate ERP, HR and finance functions – will come collectively underneath a single SaaS ERP system.

Earlier this week, the Division for Enterprise, Power & Industrial Technique (BEIS) printed a prior engagement notice to start talks with suppliers who’re being supplied the possibility to construct a system to assist 46,000 customers.

It mentioned it was “conducting a single procurement course of… to find out the match for function consortium of suppliers.”

“At this stage, it’s envisaged that the procurement could end in both the award of modular and separable contracts for the suppliers that represent every consortium,” the discover mentioned.

For instance, the ERP and SI providers could also be awarded individually or a major contractor-to-subcontractor mannequin could come into play.

“The Programme… will design, develop, and procure the brand new applied sciences and capabilities which might be required to assist modernise their ‘again workplace’ techniques. It would ship a top quality, and good worth, system and assist service to assist streamline the transactions and actions that underpin the best way departments are run,” the discover mentioned.

However it belies the difficulties the Matrix cluster faces. For instance, the Division for Well being and Social Care went live with Microsoft Dynamics 365 in 2020, whereas HM Treasury went live with Oracle Cloud ERP in 2017.

To get all eight departments onto a single system, this system should grapple with the problem of who will get to maneuver the least relating to the selection of the long run ERP system.

The problem of resolving these competing pursuits has resulted within the Matrix group being cut up into quick movers and the next group. “The next group have to recognise their future convergence path to ensure they’re going to be a part of a single system sooner or later,” Chisholm told MPs earlier this month.

He informed Parliament spending watchdog the Public Accounts Committee that forming the group had already offered difficulties. “What unsettled individuals at an early stage within the cluster formation was the thought amongst these individuals who had comparatively up-to-date latest techniques, together with the Treasury, that they must rapidly change to align with this new cluster method, and that that was going to be chopping throughout their current plans and current contracts. The quick movers and slower followers method has helped from that perspective,” he mentioned.

Chisholm admitted that not everybody was on board within the early days of the Shared Companies Technique. “I undoubtedly recall that, over that summer time and autumn of ’20, a few of the departments had been saying, ‘Do we actually need to work on this approach?’ They’d had this historical past of having the ability to work independently, and a few individuals favored the thought of claiming, ‘I can simply resolve it myself and do precisely what I would like.’

“So we needed to work fairly exhausting to point out the general advantages of the case of working collectively – the advantages of scale. In some circumstances, we had been additionally saying, ‘Look, this can be a cross-government programme. That is anticipated of you.’

“There was additionally a way by which we relieved that pressure by saying, ‘You are not going to have to interrupt your current contract, as a result of you’ll be able to onboard on the finish of your contract, as long as you might be conscious of that future conversions requirement and are dedicated to that,'” Chisholm mentioned.

He declined the chance to say all constituent departments had been 100% behind transferring to a single system, however as an alternative identified that the Cupboard Workplace, his division, has needed to transfer to a brand new cluster. It at present sits with the Division for Work and Pensions and the Ministry of Justice on Oracle’s “single working platform.”

“Now we have all needed to signal our dedication and to place individuals and cash towards that, and the programme enterprise case that was formally submitted and that has been accredited by the Chief Secretary was performed within the identify of all of these Departments, so there’s a excessive stage of dedication even within the Matrix one, which is the trickiest one of many 5 [clusters],” Chisholm mentioned.

In its procurement discover, BEIS mentioned it anticipated to launch the contract discover, triggering formal competitors, on April 30, 2023. ®