States IT contractor ‘hitting its targets’
IT CONTRACTOR Agilisys has refuted criticism from senior deputies about its track record so far through its 10-year £200m. contract with the States.
In the wake of criticism from Economic Development president Neil Inder and Home Affairs president Rob Prow in the States this week, Agilisys chief executive Richard Hanrahan said that the company’s initial two-and-a-half year modernisation and transformation programme was broadly on track to be completed within the timeline, despite the pandemic.
Deputy Inder told the States that he had ‘absolutely no confidence in that company whatsoever’ and questioned what it had done in the last two years.
Mr Hanrahan said an annual report is prepared by officers for political review. The most recent one was published in April, followed by a presentation attended by about half of States members.
He praised the team that had worked in helping transition from the States’ old systems to Agilisys while keeping all the systems running. ‘Lesser teams would have struggled. They needed access to tooling, skills, knowledge and experience to build and maintain resilient IT services for the future on an enterprise scale.’
He said the contract offered guaranteed savings for the States and a lower cost of ownership, including transformation, than the previous best-case estimates for the States’ former IT service.
Deputy Prow referenced a critical report from Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary about Bailiwick Law Enforcement’s IT system.
Mr Hanrahan said that the IT system used by Law Enforcement at the time of the HMIC report pre-dated Agilisys’ involvement by more than a year, but Deputy Prow’s comments illustrated the condition of the system that the company had inherited.
Policy & Resources president Peter Ferbrache has suggested Economic Development sits down with P&R and Agilisys to talk to through any problems, while the Scrutiny Management Committee is contemplating a review.
Mr Hanrahan said that it was up for politicians and officers to decide if a Scrutiny hearing was the right mechanism for a review of the contract.
More than half of the contract value was spent in the supply chain, said Mr Hanrahan, and it had taken steps to make it easy for Guernsey-based IT businesses to continue to contribute and support the island. Half of that supply chain spend is with local firms. Spending outside the island is mainly for enterprise grade licensing and specialist applications and hardware.
‘Where work can be delivered locally, we seek to do so. Numerous local partners have supported the roll-out of new infrastructure and environment. In addition we have continued to recruit for specialist roles on-island.’
He accepted that some things could have been done differently. He and his team were keen to talk to anyone with a ‘constructive contribution’ to make.
‘I admire Deputy Inder’s passion for the local economy and for local businesses and fully respect his right to challenge and to advocate for review as a people’s deputy, wherever he is unhappy.’
The £200m. partnership between Agilisys and the States was signed in 2019 with the goal of modernising the States’ IT systems and improve the delivery of public services.
