Cheshire Police celebrates three-year migration to Oracle Fusion by lobbing out tender for system to replace it... one year later
(2020/04/30)
- Reference: 1588239011
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2020/04/30/cheshire_police_ted_notice/
- Source link:
Cheshire cops have begun tendering for a new £11 million ERP system just a 12 months after the current one - Oracle Fusion - went live following a three-year migration.
In a [1]notice published last week , Cheshire Constabulary, on behalf of the Police and Crime Commissioner for Cheshire, said it was looking for a "supplier to provide a solution, or combination of systems" to "support functions including finance and procurement, purchase to pay, HR, reporting and payroll service".
The prior information notice, usually issued to whet suppliers' appetites before procurement officially starts, revealed the police force is "keen to understand the level of interest in this opportunity" and is set to hold an online supplier event on 7 May.
Suppliers may want to know what they are getting themselves into. The tender notice makes no mention of Oracle technology, upon which the force has been running its functions as part of a [2]"Multi-Force Shared Service" group set up in April 2012 between Northamptonshire Police and Cheshire Constabulary. Nottinghamshire Police joined in April 2015 and Civil Nuclear Constabulary in April 2016. Capgemini was the services partner.
This promised an "integrated ERP and duty management system (DMS) with a modern self-service and mobile interface," according to [3]a Capgemini report published in 2017 that detailed the project [PDF] .
The system is important because it integrates the finance and HR aspects with how the force is run – who is on duty and when.
The tender documents made it clear Cheshire police plans to sever that link but did not specify why. It stated the future system "will need to have the ability to interface/integrate with critical systems such as: duty management, force control, operational training."
Fusion defuses
The multi-force system initially was built on Oracle E-business suite and plans began for an upgrade around September 2016. The following month, [4]the management board [PDF] cheerfully said the "investment in Fusion upgrade on the Oracle platform within the Multi-Force Shared Service alongside new partners" would "generate future savings and improve services."
But then, things did not exactly go according to plan. Although an Internal Audit Plan said the move to put finance on Oracle Fusion would take place in October 2018, it was delayed.
Worse, the expected new partners in the project began to drop out.
At the point of setting the 2018/19 budget, Avon & Somerset and Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service were still anticipating joining the Fusion project. But in July 2019, [5]a management board report [PDF] said, "With both organisations deciding to withdraw, Cheshire's share of the costs increased. These include holding CapGemini, the key contractor, to account for any failures on their part."
Oracle Cloud Applications eventually went live on 1 April 2019, according to [6]an audit report [PDF] . The report detailed the cost of the delay to the Multi-Force Shared Services as £1.02m.
A six-month delay at a cost of around £1m may be par for the course for an Oracle migration project. But that does not explain why, only a year after going live, Cheshire Police is now looking for a new system, with seemingly no intent to keep working with the Oracle system it has just created.
Cheshire Constabulary has so far not responded to The Register 's requests for comment, and neither have Oracle or Capgemini. ®
Sponsored: [7]How to Build Your Digital Experience Portfolio
[1] https://ted.europa.eu/udl?uri=TED:NOTICE:185487-2020:TEXT:EN:HTML
[2] https://www.cheshire-pcc.gov.uk/what-i-do/working-in-partnership/collaborations/
[3] https://www.capgemini.com/gb-en/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2017/10/t_police_01_16.pdf
[4] https://www.cheshire-pcc.gov.uk/SysSiteAssets/media/downloads/what-i-do/making-key-decisions/management-board/before-19/16-17/4-jan-report.pdf
[5] https://www.cheshire-pcc.gov.uk/SysSiteAssets/media/downloads/what-i-do/making-key-decisions/management-board/from-1920/3-july-report.pdf
[6] https://www.cheshire-pcc.gov.uk/SysSiteAssets/media/downloads/what-i-do/making-key-decisions/audit-advisory-committee/committee-documents/29-may-report.pdf
[7] https://go.theregister.co.uk/tl/1936/-8578/how-to-build-your-digital-experience-portfolio?td=wptl1936
In a [1]notice published last week , Cheshire Constabulary, on behalf of the Police and Crime Commissioner for Cheshire, said it was looking for a "supplier to provide a solution, or combination of systems" to "support functions including finance and procurement, purchase to pay, HR, reporting and payroll service".
The prior information notice, usually issued to whet suppliers' appetites before procurement officially starts, revealed the police force is "keen to understand the level of interest in this opportunity" and is set to hold an online supplier event on 7 May.
Suppliers may want to know what they are getting themselves into. The tender notice makes no mention of Oracle technology, upon which the force has been running its functions as part of a [2]"Multi-Force Shared Service" group set up in April 2012 between Northamptonshire Police and Cheshire Constabulary. Nottinghamshire Police joined in April 2015 and Civil Nuclear Constabulary in April 2016. Capgemini was the services partner.
This promised an "integrated ERP and duty management system (DMS) with a modern self-service and mobile interface," according to [3]a Capgemini report published in 2017 that detailed the project [PDF] .
The system is important because it integrates the finance and HR aspects with how the force is run – who is on duty and when.
The tender documents made it clear Cheshire police plans to sever that link but did not specify why. It stated the future system "will need to have the ability to interface/integrate with critical systems such as: duty management, force control, operational training."
Fusion defuses
The multi-force system initially was built on Oracle E-business suite and plans began for an upgrade around September 2016. The following month, [4]the management board [PDF] cheerfully said the "investment in Fusion upgrade on the Oracle platform within the Multi-Force Shared Service alongside new partners" would "generate future savings and improve services."
But then, things did not exactly go according to plan. Although an Internal Audit Plan said the move to put finance on Oracle Fusion would take place in October 2018, it was delayed.
Worse, the expected new partners in the project began to drop out.
At the point of setting the 2018/19 budget, Avon & Somerset and Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service were still anticipating joining the Fusion project. But in July 2019, [5]a management board report [PDF] said, "With both organisations deciding to withdraw, Cheshire's share of the costs increased. These include holding CapGemini, the key contractor, to account for any failures on their part."
Oracle Cloud Applications eventually went live on 1 April 2019, according to [6]an audit report [PDF] . The report detailed the cost of the delay to the Multi-Force Shared Services as £1.02m.
A six-month delay at a cost of around £1m may be par for the course for an Oracle migration project. But that does not explain why, only a year after going live, Cheshire Police is now looking for a new system, with seemingly no intent to keep working with the Oracle system it has just created.
Cheshire Constabulary has so far not responded to The Register 's requests for comment, and neither have Oracle or Capgemini. ®
Sponsored: [7]How to Build Your Digital Experience Portfolio
[1] https://ted.europa.eu/udl?uri=TED:NOTICE:185487-2020:TEXT:EN:HTML
[2] https://www.cheshire-pcc.gov.uk/what-i-do/working-in-partnership/collaborations/
[3] https://www.capgemini.com/gb-en/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2017/10/t_police_01_16.pdf
[4] https://www.cheshire-pcc.gov.uk/SysSiteAssets/media/downloads/what-i-do/making-key-decisions/management-board/before-19/16-17/4-jan-report.pdf
[5] https://www.cheshire-pcc.gov.uk/SysSiteAssets/media/downloads/what-i-do/making-key-decisions/management-board/from-1920/3-july-report.pdf
[6] https://www.cheshire-pcc.gov.uk/SysSiteAssets/media/downloads/what-i-do/making-key-decisions/audit-advisory-committee/committee-documents/29-may-report.pdf
[7] https://go.theregister.co.uk/tl/1936/-8578/how-to-build-your-digital-experience-portfolio?td=wptl1936
Requirements issues?
Andrew Commons
Law enforcement systems can have unique requirements where HR and Payroll (and maybe other systems) are concerned. The inclusion of participants that are not law enforcement bodies is very strange and may be part of the problem here.
For example...someone is on the payroll but they will have an uncertain future if it is known they are on the payroll. But they still have to pay taxes on the income....
Making mug shots disappear is actually a real requirement.
Re: Requirements issues?
BebopWeBop
It may well be a real requirement - but given that they have managed to avoid deleting data that has been mistakenly or unlawfully gathered on the basis 'that it is too difficult', I don't hold out much hope.
Re: Requirements issues?
Andrew Commons
Different problem. Not a good analogy on my part.
You need the ability to have some information in the systems treated as classified.
In addition there may be unusual requirements around work hours which will not be found in 'normal' work environments.
They are paramilitary organizations which brings a bit of baggage with it.
Oracle...
big_D
So good, you'll want to replace it before you've started using it...
And no one will be blamed.
As a citizen who lives under this Police forces area, it enrages me that no-one will be held to account. The fact that the "usual names" are up there is no surpise. It
Given that there is going to be some severe belt tightening over the next few years it takes the proverbial. I think that these massive contracts should be broken up a bit more, to allow smaller but arguably more capable firms to get some work. If one group screws up, not only not paid for it, but bared for a period of time from bidding on other work.
If I was in charge and anyone mentioned Oracle, their tender would be in the bin. Who would want to use such a has been, money grabbing, anti small business, trump supporting, litigious company?
Companies like this should be held accountable for their failure... and not feed off the public teet.