NAB - Thanks
I think GOCO is a good policy for today. The time is long gone when MoD could possibly regress and become broadly competent. (Ask the MAA!). We haven’t had the necessary recruitment policy since 1990. There are a number of firms I’d happily hand such a contract to. And a few I wouldn’t. What worries me is the malign influence past and present VSOs will bring to bear. They won’t want it to be successful, because success will emphasise their failures.
But if you look at the procurement cycle (Concept to Disposal) much of it is actually operated by industry anyway, often despite MoD’s attempts to (mis) manage it. Requirements capture and management, and system design, has been contracted out in certain Army domains for 12 years, an initiative based entirely on the above 1990 Def Stan I mentioned, which even lays down the conditions upon which MoD delegates financial powers to industry (although that's in one of the parts MoD can't find, so someone will have to reinvent that wheel). Notably, the Users bought into it straight away, which makes you wonder how well DEC reflects the Users' views.
The trouble there though is part of DEC being hostile to what is trying to be achieved, and I can see that hostility being repeated if the RAF is to be Bernard Gray’s guinea pig. This raises an interesting point. Given the existing initiative, why not simply extend it to encompass a greater degree of the Contractor Operated bit? Again, this implies (to me) that he doesn’t want to admit “his” idea is actually largely based on mandated policy. My point is; none of this is new, just that MoD think it is. They should ensure it is managed by people to whom it is routine, not those who regard it as some new and highly risky undertaking.
Last edited by tucumseh; 25th Apr 2013 at 15:58.