Barkers provided an experienced Senior Managing Consultant to deliver both objectives.
To deliver the ‘best in class’ contract, Barkers’ knowledge base of commercial contracts was used to baseline the existing contract establishing any areas of weakness or gaps. All contracts and variations were reviewed, and 105 individual recommendations made. Seven workstreams were established covering service definitions, development support, pricing and performance, reporting, security, exit support and disaster recovery. For each workstream, a series of workshops was held with the client’s technical and support SMEs to understand their requirements, which were then drafted into a revised contract. There was then a series of negotiations with the supplier to agree the new terms and revised commercial elements of the contract.
To deliver the relationship improvements a 360 degree relationship questionnaire was issued to all client and supplier personnel who have regular contact with each other. This identified differences in perception between the client and the supplier and pin-pointed areas for improvement. Specific fixes were put in place for each improvement area and a regular monthly ‘litmus test’ of the relationship was put in place to track changes over time.
