For the majority of my career I have worked in complex procurement. That is a combination of highly regulated environments, bureaucratic organisations and challenging requirements. What has amplified that complexity is the assumption of simplicity from stakeholders.
I have seen this borne out two ways, assuming a simple process or perceiving the requirement to be simple because they see the solution as simple. Danger lurks here.
I’m going to talk about requirements and solutions this time around but I’m definitely coming back to process.
To bring this to life a bit, consider Steve Jobs. He was well known for his ‘rule of three’ mantra. I have seen this written up in different ways but the one that stuck with me was the ipod – he wanted to be able to do anything on the ipod in a maximum of 3 clicks. Find a song, play a song, etc. 3… clicks.
Sounds very simple, but the simplicity is at the user interface. Most of us can only imagine the complexity of engineering that went into creating that. It was groundbreaking for a reason.
However, a number of times in my career I have come across customers operating like the late Mr Jobs but without appreciating the scale of challenge that simplicity creates. So, how does this play out in procurement?
The customer (internal stakeholder) is aware of and has probably seen a system elsewhere that meets our needs and understandably gets very excited. Just go out and buy that, it’s readily available, easy. At this point I put my head in my hands and prepare for the challenge ahead.
Because underneath that simple, available solution is a huge amount of intelligence in the form of engineering, design and a whole bunch of other expertise beyond my reach. But the key element from a procurement perspective is that somewhere along the line, there has been a specification (or many specifications) written which communicates what that solution is intended to be.
Even if it is output-based you need to put thought into a number of things; integration with existing systems, compliance with existing policies and standards, maintenance, resourcing, training to name but a few. The UK MOD has the Defence Lines of Development to provide structure to these considerations – I recommend taking a look.
A huge proportion of procurements are dogged by this lack of strategic thinking up front. It might manifest in failed integration, failure to meet dependencies, staff not being trained to use the new solution, it can be many things.
So when you want a simple solution for your end user, you are taking on a substantial challenge to manage the complexity underneath.
Before going to market with an ITT/RFP, you need to work through the interfaces, the training requirements, the environmental requirements, safety etc etc to understand what you really want. You need to set the parameters for the solution. It’s not an easy task and it is absolutely a team sport but it is fundamental to the success of any procurement.
So my advice… when someone says they want something simple, start asking questions.
- How will it be used?
- What will it need to integrate with?
- What about safety, security, other standards?
- Will our staff require training? Who is going to provide that?
- What levels of performance do we expect?
- What about maintenance and through-life costs?
Get as much information as you can, you’re going to need it.
Kevin Smith
Managing Director
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