The challenge

Birmingham City Council had implemented SAP in 1999, but were experiencing a range of issues with the use
of its current system. Heavily customised since the first implementation, it no longer met the needs of many of its users.

Birmingham decided to review its future requirements of Finance, Procurement, HR and Payroll systems. They concluded approval should be given to commence a procurement process for the replacement of the current SAP system, with a new Cloud-based Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) solution. Following a preparation phase, the Council engaged Socitm Advisory to advise on the route to market to procure their future solution.

The approach

Socitm Advisory developed a comprehensive procurement plan for the programme that compromised the following stages:

  • Options Appraisal
    • Identify the routes to market
    • Recommending the best route to market for the Council
  • Tender Stage
    • Drafting of the procurement suite of documents including evaluation guidance for staff
    • Advice on public procurement processes indicating best practice guidelines
    • Support through the clarification process
    • Project management support (including tracking programme deliverables)
  • Evaluation Stage
    • Organising the moderation sessions
    • Acting as the moderator through the moderation sessions
    • Technical evaluation of the supplier’s bids received
  • Tender Assessment Stage, including provision of:
    • Ongoing support to supplier technical demonstrations, etc.
    • Advice on the evaluation of software products offered by suppliers
    • Support through the final moderation sessions including wrap up sessions
  • Award Stage, which included:
    • Support the drafting of the successful and unsuccessful letters for the suppliers
    • Developing the Final Business Case (FBC)
    • Liaising with key stakeholders in terms of input and their reviews of supplier offerings
    • Attending key meetings with the programme’s sponsor, co-sponsors and councillors
    • Overseeing the Council’s cabinet timetable and expediting reviews and FBC sign-off

The outcome

We supported Birmingham City Council to undergo a successful procurement process through CCS Framework – RM3821, without challenge, awarding a contract on a 5 + 2-year term to insight as the prime supplier with Evosys as the implementation partner.