In April 2003, when the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister announced the budget of £80m to 24 National Projects to assist councils in the development of local eGovernment, the supplier community to this market place was keen to participate but unsure of how they could offer their products and enjoy the benefits. Two of the National Projects, CRM and Enterprise Workflow, arranged dedicated supplier forums whereby information of their Programmes were explained, and suppliers were encouraged to take up and contribute to the development of the products and services created.
Rod Matthews, Head of Information Society Technologies, Knowsley MBC said; “The initial ODPM funding for all of the National Projects will conclude in 2004, but the dialogue has only just begun to get to the heart of a new way of working. A need has been identified to set up an independent organisation that will maintain and grow the exchange of information and the working relationships between suppliers and local authorities and The Alliance fits that role.”
The Alliance is a membership organisation that provides its members with a qualified channel to local authorities and will hold showcase events on behalf of suppliers to reach that market place.
“The role of The Alliance is as a helping hand to SME’s and new suppliers that find the local authority market place difficult to penetrate and often frustrating to learn how to get a foot in the door.” Said Ian Dell, Alliance Supplier Liaison Officer, “We have planned workshops for the relatively new suppliers to be informed of the way the local authorities want to be sold to – this member benefit alone can save a company 100’s of man hours and give their sales people a good head start to secure a placement on the RFI list.”
Ian Dell continued; “The larger and more established local authority suppliers are also getting involved with The Alliance. As the competition in this defined area heats up we have identified key objectives of local authorities and are busy creating the first of The Alliance’s Showcase events to take place on 19th May at the Leeds Marriott Hotel. Local authorities will be able to meet on a one-to-one basis with pre-registered supplier appointments on the subjects of CRM (Call Centres), Workflow and Web-based products and services. This inaugural event also sees the introduction of the first eGov Special Interest Groups.”
Rod Matthews concluded; “From a local authority perspective, we welcome The Alliance and its objectives. And if this means that I’ll get fewer, a better focussed call from suppliers offering me a service that I actually need, in a language that recognises the legislative and policy environments of a Local Authority, then The Alliance is offering a valuable contribution.”
The Alliance already has the support of LA eGov Champions and suppliers members including Capita, Comino, Orchard, Mitel, Software AG, APR Smartlogik, Lagan, eScenarios, W4 Global, Optevia/Microsoft, Kainos, Onyx, CGI Group, Staffware, Visionware and BT.
Quelle: PublicTechnology, 08.04.2004
