back to article Accenture, Capita, IBM jump on £800m framework to make the NHS more agile as UK.gov announces further reforms

The UK's Crown Commercial Services has awarded Accenture, Capita and IBM spots on an £800m framework created to help the NHS shift to a more agile and/or DevOps-like approach to development and support. The services triumvirate will join Aire Logic, BJSS, Cognizant, Hippo Digital, Infinity Works Consulting, Informed Solutions …

  1. sanmigueelbeer

    Accenture, Capita, IBM and an £800m budget -- A match made in heaven

    Accenture, Capita, IBM and an £800m budget. What can possibly go wrong?

    1. getHandle

      Re: Accenture, Capita, IBM and an £800m budget -- A match made in heaven

      Even if Covid didn't get you, that lot certainly will!

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Accenture, Capita, IBM and an £800m budget -- A match made in heaven

      For some reason, I picture three very overweight gentlemen on tiny scooters slowly chasing an asthmatic pensioner for the title of "Most agile NHS".

      The overweight gentlemen are being lured towards the finishing sign with £800m worth of junk food bribes.

      The asthmatic pesioner is chained to the scooters - it's unclear whether he is supposed to pull them iin the right direction or be dragged to his doom. Or both.

    3. EnviableOne

      Re: Accenture, Capita, IBM and an £800m budget -- A match made in heaven

      Coincidently exactly how much the Millenium dome cost, and likley to be just as big a white elephant.

      The NHS can't even do waterfall right, what chance to they have with Devops and Agile

  2. Howard Sway Silver badge

    Getting 12 different companies to work on the same project

    All of whom will be focused on fulfilling their contractual obligations to the letter, rather than the good of the whole project, and who will inevitably start blaming each other for problems, delays and shortcomings when their work has to be integrated, giving the effort that familiar "cats fighting in a bag" feel that any effort that gets outsourced to multiple suppliers has......

    Yep, that's gonna be really agile, if you define "unbearably stressful and ineffective" as agile.

    1. Boothy

      Re: Getting 12 different companies to work on the same project

      You can likely bet that the NHS are the official SI, responsible for coordinating all the parties, and who will then likely not hire someone competent in that role.

      Or alternately, they'll assume one of the suppliers will do the SI role for them, but then not include that role in the contact.

      Either way, it won't get done, and chaos will ensue!

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Getting 12 different companies to work on the same project

      "Cats fighting in a bag" doesn't even happen at the supplier level - the NHS has as many differing opinions and "IT experts" as it does people virtually. All of them individually "know better" than the IT companies they are hiring but can't gain any client consensus.

      Just glad I'm nowwhere near round 2 of this mess.

      More tax payers money down the sh1tter.

    3. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Getting 12 different companies to work on the same project

      "All of whom will be focused on fulfilling their contractual obligations to the letter"

      I'd be surprised if "ensure vendor lock-in" is part of any of the contracts but it will certainly be upmost in the minds of those who win the contracts...

      Or is that a touch too cynical?

  3. Pascal Monett Silver badge

    "with whom NHS Digital can develop strategic relationships"

    I'm sorry, given how long UK Government has been shoveling money their way, you'd think that the strategic relationship was already developed.

    1. Muppet Boss

      Re: "with whom NHS Digital can develop strategic relationships"

      >I'm sorry, given how long UK Government has been shoveling money their way, you'd think that the strategic relationship was already developed.

      I bet it was previously just established, and is being developed now, given newly available funds, ready to start furthering it.

  4. Arthur the cat Silver badge

    Is that headline correct?

    I think that should have been "to make the NHS more fragile".

  5. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Here we go again..........

    Look at this list......in particular the £9.8 billion already down the drain ("Slide 12: National Program for IT"):

    Link: https://www.computerworld.com/article/3412308/the-uk-s-worst-public-sector-it-disasters.html

  6. Chris G

    Agility

    Is what is used by those who award the contracts, to scramble out of the way when somebody in a higher position is looking for someone to hit with the blame stick.

  7. macjules

    Jolly well done!

    For example, it runs a system that identifies people eligible for bowel cancer screening, and invites them to clinics. It also provides services to other NHS organisations – it manages a web-based Clinical Audit Platform and the Developer Hub designed to help connect to NHS digital services through its APIs.

    You managed to knock that one out without mentioning "AI" once.

    1. NeilPost Silver badge

      Re: Jolly well done!

      Or Blockchain.

  8. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Accenture?

    That name sounds familiar, sounds a bit like the company in this story:

    https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2006/sep/28/news.business

    Very similar names, I wonder if they are the same?

    1. Catweazle666

      Re: Accenture?

      Certainly are.

      Started life as Andersen Associates of Enron fame, since rebadged.

  9. Potemkine! Silver badge

    Never mind the bollocks

    Congrats to the marketing guys for selling that crap for so much money.

  10. Missing Semicolon Silver badge
    Facepalm

    Oh dear

    "We've not given you chaps any new money recently, have we? Here, have a titbit to keep you going...."

  11. PeterM42
    Facepalm

    As if.....

    .....the NHS didn't have enough problems!

  12. oceanexplorer

    Well 12 companies now becomes 11 as Accenture have bought Infinity Works. A shame really, another decent company is swallowed by a MegaCorp, a useless one at that.

    1. smethy

      Yeah useless - something they do is right though hey? - $250 share price and billions of cash in the bank and over 500,000 employees

      Infinity works had a choice - it wasn't an aggressive takeover.

  13. ecofeco Silver badge

    Fail fast, fail often

    Sub title says all that needs to be said.

    Now what I says is, why the ever lovin' fook do they keep using these clown car rejects? Besides some deciding authority having a lot of their stock in their portfolio?

  14. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Government cosy up to big system integrators

    We can clearly declare that the intention of David Cameron and Liam Maxwell to break the corrupt relationships in the procurement of goverment services from a select group of multinational system integrators is well and truly over. Whether is billions of pounds on PPE or failed delivery of technology using frameworks these company's have no understanding of the UK government has refound tje path of ensuring tax payers moneys goes into their friends companies profits. This will provide great non executive directorships fir government ministers whenever they leave office. Good on you Britain yoy have re-learned who your bettets are now remember it.

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