Police Forces using Mercato's ITelligence are driving down the cost of buying ICT by as much as 24% on product purchase price and process time.
As confusion continues amidst ICT buyers and CITHS suppliers regarding the Government's mandate directing Police forces to bypass the Buying Solutions' CITHS framework in favour of SPRINT II, Mercato's Head of Benchmarking Al Nagar, is urging Police forces to look towards better benchmarking processes to ensure they are getting the value they expect consistently.
The Home Office has stated that the framework decision has been taken on the back of benchmarking conducted by the National Police Improvement Agency (NPIA), which has deemed the framework offers best value for money.
On Nagar's call to action, he said: “There is one moveable element in a single source supply framework and that is the price that the supplier itself buys at. Police Forces need to arm themselves with simple methodology to validate framework pricing on an ongoing basis. This is critical for sustained fair deals for Police Forces.
“Understanding what margin a supplier is proposing before purchase gives power and reassurance that unlocks better buying decisions.
“A change of framework could be a positive move as long as Forces have total assurance they are getting the same value as achieved through CITHS and the mini-competition process. This assurance is perhaps at the heart of current concerns. To that end, the only way to police this new relationship is with best practice benchmarking technology that informs buyers of a true benchmark price, that is to say, a genuine qualified trade guide price. Negotiation with that knowledge can be very quick, efficient and transparent.
“That demands user friendly, automated comparison technology that reduces the benchmarking process to a matter of clicks from previously unstructured activity.
“ICT represents a large expenditure and buyers are being tested to keep up with a volatile IT supply chain where price and stock fluctuate dramatically daily. Without validated benchmarking wastage is a given. Many Police Forces are already leading the way in validating best value on this new framework approach.”
Police Forces using Mercato's ITelligence are driving down the cost of buying ICT by as much as 24% on product purchase price and process time.
Buyers simply input their preferred supplier product lists or spot checks online, which are automatically compared to trade guide price and stock levels of more than 150,000 products from over 2,500 manufacturers within the UK IT supply chain.
With price and stock alerts, management reports and forecasting facilities, Mercato technology offers Chartered Institute of Purchase & Supply (CIPS) accredited 'procurement excellence'. Over 30% of Police Forces have already adopted this technology.
Sector wide research commissioned by Mercato ITelligence has found that of 1,000 private and public sector organisations buying ICT, 81% are not getting the deal they thought they were.
