February 2006 – MOD Commercial Briefing (New Defence Industrial Strategy)

Sollerta was invited to attend a Commercial Update Briefing at the Defence Procurement Agency (DPA) on 9th February 2006 at which the keynote speaker was the outgoing Director General Commercial – Stan Porter CB.

The event was designed to inform industry of developments in the commercial policy adopted by the DPA but, following on the recent publication, in December 2005, of the Defence Industrial Strategy White Paper, the issues addressed had a defence wide application.

Speakers stressed that this White Paper represented a significant switch in policy and not a re-packaging of concepts and approaches tried in the past. The White Paper commits the Department to a much greater degree of transparency in respect of strategic planning, the equipment programmes that are then developed and the available budgets. The issue of which capabilities are to be retained in the UK and the factors to be taken into account are addressed more fully than before. The importance of Research and Technology (R&T) and the need to invest receives considerable treatment but the overall message of declining Defence resources was nevertheless evident.

The Department has come to a view that in the light of Defence rationalisations the opportunities for establishing value for money through competition at the major procurement level are diminishing and that Partnering is to be the procurement strategy of choice for the future. Whilst some examples have been initiated - CVF - it is Sollerta's view that developing successful Partnering arrangements is far from an easy option and that both sides will need to work extremely hard to build up and sustain the working relationships and commercial structures necessary to support and reward partnering arrangements. It is fair to say that the difficulties were acknowledged both by speakers and industrial delegates but Sollerta believes that, whilst agreeing policy at the higher levels is one thing, the translation of this into new practices at working level is quite another and that this is not always fully recognised and addressed.

This observation was born out and illustrated by considerable comment, both from the floor and around the margins of the briefing, about the apparent disconnect between the Department’s encouragement to SMEs to enter the Defence market and the discouraging treatment received from IPTs when attempting to do so.

It is of interest that the shift from Competition to Partnering does not meet with universal approval in that Lord Peter Levene (ex CDP and now President of the DMA) stated when before the Commons Defence Select Committee that "he had difficulty with the fundamental notion that Partnering can be as effective as competition".

However, the Department is now committed to consider Partnering very seriously when developing Procurement Strategies and the White Paper identifies some major areas where this approach will be adopted. Sollerta's view is that Industry, at all levels, will find this approach a significant challenge, whether dealing direct with IPTs or through Prime Contractors. Sollerta can offer Prime contractors and subcontractors the expertise and experience to assist them with this challenge.  back...

Along with 15 other companies, Sollerta has become a partner of Allyance Technical Solutions Ltd, a company set up in January 2006 to offer a comprehensive technical service to the UK MOD for all aspects of the procurement process. Each partner in the Allyance is an SME and each offers specific capabilities. This exciting new venture enables Sollerta to punch above its weight, working in cooperation with its Allyance Partners.  back...

The Framework Agreement for Technical Support is a database of suppliers approved by the MOD and offering specialist areas of expertise to Integrated Project Teams. A Market Knowledge Matrix sets out the domain experience of each supplier. Contract Terms and conditions are pre-agreed and Integrated Project Team leaders can engage the supplier of their choice using a simple tasking form. Sollerta's rapid response to requests for tender make it an ideal partner for technical support within its domain experience. back...

Nick Bradshaw, who joined Sollerta in November, has a deep background in the management, marketing,  and sales of complex technology and software products and services. Through Nick, Sollerta can now offer clients sales consultancy and training.