Case study
OGCbuying.solutions
Creating world-class eProcurement – the Zanzibar e-marketplace
The UK government’s Gershon efficiency review had concluded that the public sector could save over £6 billion by transforming its procurement practices. So the Office of Government Commerce (OGC) worked with PA to develop Zanzibar, a world-leading eProcurement transformation solution that could contribute £2 billion in savings.
Its target users include local and national public sector bodies - from primary schools to government departments - and thousands of suppliers of varying sizes. Through Zanzibar, purchasing teams in one organisation can take advantage of successful supplier contracts from other organisations, allowing better value-for-money decisions.
The assignment lasted over 18 months and involved 10 consultants, 10 client colleagues, 15 consortium member staff and 15 customers. Each stage of delivery involved hands-on interaction with a variety of public sector employees to ensure that the solution improved their work experience and made them more effective in their jobs.
Zanzibar’s success required significant behavioural and cultural change from employees in buying organisations. By including a comprehensive change management programme in the service, PA and OGC could assure subscribers that their buyers and suppliers would use Zanzibar and benefit from it. Launched in the second half of 2006, Zanzibar has already achieved tremendous success - benefiting over 600 organisations covering over 4,000 locations, 30,000 users and 1,300 suppliers.
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Barry Donovan, Director of eCommerce, OGCbuying.solutions, said:
“PA worked closely with OGC and OGCbuying.solutions to make the Zanzibar specification into a reality. They marshalled the skills and capabilities of key people to resolve the challenges of ‘joining up’ government organisations in many sectors in a way that has never been done before. In particular, they respected each prospective user organisation’s uniqueness, regardless of whether they were a buyer or a supplier.”
Hugh Barrett, former Chief Executive, OGCbuying.solutions, said:
“Trading electronically with suppliers on the Zanzibar Managed Service can bring huge benefits in terms of saving time and money in the procurement process. St Mary’s experience shows that the transition to Zanzibar can be achieved quickly with little disruption to the organisation.” |
For more information about this case study please contact Cora Byrne.
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