Managed.IT - issue 60

We have put a lot of IP investment into creating what we call ‘one-page business scenarios’ that really get to the essence of what the client is after www.managedITmag.co.uk 29 IT SOURCING these scenarios live for us and the client scoring team, in two or three weeks’ time, at which point you will be live-scored and short-listed’. They love that because there is much less prep for them to do and the decision-making process is faster. “That is our USP with agile sourcing. We’ve got something we think is more pragmatic, faster to market, a bit more flexible but still has a solid backing to make sure that good contracts are done.” Turnstone’s involvement doesn’t necessarily end with the negotiation and signing of a contract. With bigger outsourcing or managed service arrangements, it will stay on for a transitional period. Or it might spend a day or half a day a month on contract management to keep the supplier’s feet to the flames. Contract renegotiation Another important area for Turnstone where Brook expects to see a great deal of activity over the coming months is in IT contract renegotiation. He says that this is advisable at any time, but is particularly relevant now that organisations are addressing the ramifications of Covid-19. “Covid is a good trigger to look at contracts again. Some people are a little reticent about doing so and consider it un-English, which amazes me. If things have changed, why wouldn’t you have another look? Vendors expect it. Lots of about these thing in the pre-nup, for want of a better word,” Brook says. “Then there’s a whole raft of wonderfully unfair terms, one of which we have coined ‘up quick, down slow’, where a vendor will scale up a service instantly but take six months to scale it down or take no action until renewal. “They all try it, and I’m guessing just 5% or 10% of clients challenge it. Most just let it slide through because they are technical or, a real favourite of mine, they are busy and there is an implementation deadline looking. ‘I haven’t got time for this contractual admin nonsense and arguing with lawyers. Give us the toys and let us get on and build it.’ That’s very much the mindset and vendors are superb at exploiting it.” RFPs and agile sourcing Turnstone works with between 10 and 15 sourcing practitioners, typically CIPS, Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply-qualified, with at least 10 years’ experience in IT sourcing. It also provides a direct vendor recommendation service for clients that don’t want to spend time on a formal RFP or agile sourcing. “We have a partner we can send in to do a simple workshop to listen to what the client wants and then recommend talking to vendor A, B or C. There is no charge for that service. If the client then chooses to engage with a vendor, the partner will put them in on a sales referral deal.” If there is a need for a more formal sourcing process, then RFPs and agile sourcing are the way to go, which is where Turnstone’s expertise lies. Brook says that clients are increasingly asking for agile sourcing rather than slower, more formal and bureaucratic RFPs, and that to meet this need Turnstone has spent a great deal of time and effort refining its capabilities in this area. “We have put a lot of IP investment into creating what we call ‘one-page business scenarios’ that really get to the essence of what the client is after. We present these to the bidders and say ‘You have to present your wares to vendors have been undergoing some form of cost reduction or renegotiation themselves and sometimes there are things in it for them, for example if they have more services to sell or a contract extension is on the table. Those are the kinds of levers we can play with. “There is always a deal to be done. We have probably done five or six in the last year or so and saved an average of about 20%.” Brook adds that contract renewals also provide an opportunity for Turnstone to go through Ts & Cs with a fine toothcomb to highlight anything the client might have missed first time around. As an example, he cites the discovery of a clause in the contract of a leading SaaS company that allows it to park customers’ data anywhere in the world. “Because our client is a secure government service, they were quite alarmed that their data might be residing in Kazakhstan or somewhere else in the world. So, we find operationally meaningful stuff as well.” As organisations take stock of their commitments after 12 months of accelerated digital transformation, they must ask themselves whether they have the expertise to get the best deal for the future or whether they would be better off employing the services of an IT sourcing specialist like Turnstone. www.turnstoneservices.com