I remember when...
The contract was run by HPES who lost the bid to Capita. There were customer grumbles about HPES at the time, but of a relatively minor nature IMHO. Capita did a wonderful sales job but didn't take into account some of the major requirements for a recruiting system or indeed realise that military recruiting is nothing like civilian recruiting.
For example, teenagers are permitted to register an interest in joining the armed services from as young as 14 (IIRC). That means parental consent needed and particular care taken to safeguard the personal data of "minors". A high proportion of people drift in an out of interest, expressing a desire to join then going away and then deciding to join up after all. So records management can be fun. Once someone does decide to jopin up then their records need to be transferred from recruiting to payroll and training. back in the HPES days this was all fairly well controlled and integrated. Capita didn't, and apparently still don't, understand how complex management of military personnel and potential recruits can be.
There seems to be a major problem with MOD purchasing, in that there's no real ability to look at the chances that an organisation can do what they promise. Capita arrived at the bid with a poor history. other companies bidding had much better track records. However those who know what they are getting into put in bids that are more expensive than the clueless. Because the clueless always assume that military work can be outsourced to India then get a shock when they discover that government rules on processing that data say "no foreign". However the MOD then seems compelled to accept the lowest bid even though all concerned know this is not going to go well.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
