Monthly Archives: November 2012

The invoice payment process in any organisation carries potential risk. A topical story is the former Labour minister, Denis MacShane who wrongly claimed at least £7,500 in expenses. A Parliamentary committee observed after work by the Parliamentary Commission for Standards concluded that between 2004 and 2008 MacShane submitted 19 invoices totalling £12,900 for ‘research and […]

New York IT Procurement – Round 2 Introduction & Health Warning Please refer to our health warning in our earlier briefing paper. In this ‘episode’ we are expanding on another issue that warrants a ‘lessons learned’ review. Poor DoITT Contract Management Contributes to Increased Contract Expenditures The Audit Report comments that “DoITT did not reduce […]

Due Diligence This is a term more usually associated with financial transactions, such as business acquisitions. It is unthinkable that anyone would purchase a business without conducting due diligence. Due diligence may be defined as: Due diligence serves to confirm all the material facts with regard to a tender for the provision of goods or […]

There have been a number of occasions when we have established contact with solicitor’s practises to consider awarding a contract to represent a client’s interest in a commercial matter. One of the early questions we are asked is, ‘Who is the client and what is the issue?’ This is followed by a request for details […]

Why is contracts placed on a time and materials (T&M)  basis? There is no profit incentive for a contractor to effectively manage  either the time expended or the amount of materials used.  Overwhelming risk is with the buying  organisation. The risk can be somewhat mitigated if stringent measures are  taken throughout the procurement process to […]

I’m not a vegetarian, but I eat animals who are – a classic quip from Groucho Marx but do you ever notice companies trying to bid for your work claiming principles or behaviours that they do not demonstrate. Many PQQs (Pre-Qualification Questionnaires) seek binary answers to questions. E.g. Has your organisation, its Directors or Principals […]

One of my first assignments for Brian Farrington Ltd was to review an IT project that had got out of control. It was late, incomplete and seriously over budget. During the research phase we asked what was known about the prime contractor and the subcontractor and what due diligence had been undertaken. The silence was […]