The contract with the IT infrastructure provider will officially end at the end of July after the States said that it was enforcing a breach of contract clause.
‘We have terminated the contract with notice on that basis that the performance of Agilisys is not where we needed it to be in terms of achieving value for money,’ said States chief executive officer Boley Smillie.
‘There’s little more we can say in terms of the reasons for that, other than it’s related to the performance.
‘There are mechanisms in the contract should there be breaches of it, that we have effectively activated. We don’t expect there to be any extra costs associated with the exit, though this is not an amicable exit, we are activating the breach of contract.’
The States said it did put several contractual protections in place when it first contracted with Agilisys in 2019.
This included holding a golden share in the company that States staff transferred into on their States terms and conditions. The States intends to exercise this share so those staff can be retained.
‘I am 100% clear that this is the right decision,’ Mr Smillie added. ‘I’ve been with this organisation now for five months. This has been a significant work stream that we have been working on through Ge Drossaert and his team, but also directly with the Policy & Resources Committee.
‘It is a very confident decision, and I’m pleased that the States has reached this conclusion and the action we feel we need to take.’
The Agilisys contract has been costing the States between £30-35m. each year. The States now intends to move to a multi-vendor model, meaning services and projects could be delivered by a range of providers. It said this could lead to improved services and better resilience and reduced risk of service disruptions.
‘The termination date is 31 July and we have worked out a solution with a multi-vendor model,’ said chief digital and information officer Ge Drossaert. ‘We have some lined up and we also need to follow a sourcing process so that we are as well prepared as we can be.’
Mr Drossaert has been in the role for about a year, and this decision was a culmination of his work within the States over that period.
‘I wish it would have been a different decision, and that we just have full performance, but I think this is the right decision to make as technology is an enabler for the civil service,’ he said.
‘We need to now move on and increase our accountability that we are for in a more customer-supplier relationship.’
P&R committee member Bob Murray denied that he would be leaving the States with a mess for his successors to resolve.
‘I’m actually encouraged that the future will be more effective. I’ve been the lead for digital services, and there is so much reliance on digital services to govern in the future, we have to get it right and this is a major step in getting it right. I’m not concerned about the future.
‘P&R have at every step of the way been advised by Ge and his team. As the term beings to wind down, at the moment we’re still meeting on a weekly basis as this unfolds, but after 30 June, I’m afraid I cannot be held responsible.'
The States will invite Agilisys Guernsey staff to a meeting in June to discuss the new delivery model.
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