Key API management platform for UK public sector scrapped: DWP bears the burden, cancels £5m MuleSoft project
(2020/09/25)
- Reference: 1601028072
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2020/09/25/uk_public_api_project/
- Source link:
The UK's Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has cancelled a MuleSoft-based integration project and is considering its options in terms of knitting together its many legacy applications.
[1]Reports have detailed the central government departments' efforts to manage and share APIs on MuleSoft's Anypoint Platform.
Having committed [2]£4,998,652 [PDF, page three] into just two years' worth of subscriptions to the "MuleSoft Anypoint Platform" between 28 January 2019 and 27 January 2021, the department is now set to end its relationship with the company, which was [3]bought by Salesforce for $6.5bn in 2018 .
In a statement to The Register , a DWP spokesman said: "The DWP has a large digital infrastructure with complex requirements.
"As our contract with MuleSoft comes to an end, we are looking at how we can get the best value for money while improving service delivery," he said.
The department – which is responsible for welfare, pensions, and child maintenance policy in the UK – would not answer questions over why it was abandoning the project, but an insider told The Register the price of the subscriptions was a major factor. Additional costs were accrued through IT department time and consultants' fees. The project is being deemed a failure, the insider said.
The DWP/MuleSoft project has attracted attention after [4]The Register revealed that DWP former permanent secretary Robert Devereux was set to join SaaS CRM specialist Salesforce.
Devereux retired at 61 from his £185,000 salary job in 2017 with a pension pot reported to be £1.8m in 2010/11.
The DWP advisory committee letter [5]later confirmed the appointment and detailed two deals with Salesforce, including a £42,350 agreement providing support for its Pensionwise service and the nearly-£5m MuleSoft Anypoint Platform subscription. Devereux was not involved in the procurement process of either, the letter said.
[6]A MuleSoft whitepaper proclaiming the benefits of its API management platform for the UK public sector describes how the Anypoint Platform is available via the government's G-Cloud framework agreement.
"By leveraging APIs and microservices as a foundation of an IT strategy centred around shared services and asset reuse, UK government departments, agencies, and bodies can meet, and even exceed the private sector in the quality of service it provides to employees and UK citizens," it says.
MuleSoft has not responded to The Register 's request for comment. ®
Get our [7]Tech Resources
[1] https://www.computerweekly.com/news/252472182/How-code-reuse-drives-business-change-at-the-DWP
[2] https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/832132/final_advice_letter_for_publication.pdf
[3] https://www.theregister.com/2018/03/21/salesforce_buys_mulesoft/
[4] https://www.theregister.com/2019/06/27/robert_devereux_to_join_salesforce/
[5] https://www.theregister.com/2019/09/18/gov_confirms_former_dwp_perm_sec_to_join_salesforce/
[6] https://www.mulesoft.com/lp/whitepaper/api/uk-government-it-innovation
[7] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
[1]Reports have detailed the central government departments' efforts to manage and share APIs on MuleSoft's Anypoint Platform.
Having committed [2]£4,998,652 [PDF, page three] into just two years' worth of subscriptions to the "MuleSoft Anypoint Platform" between 28 January 2019 and 27 January 2021, the department is now set to end its relationship with the company, which was [3]bought by Salesforce for $6.5bn in 2018 .
In a statement to The Register , a DWP spokesman said: "The DWP has a large digital infrastructure with complex requirements.
"As our contract with MuleSoft comes to an end, we are looking at how we can get the best value for money while improving service delivery," he said.
The department – which is responsible for welfare, pensions, and child maintenance policy in the UK – would not answer questions over why it was abandoning the project, but an insider told The Register the price of the subscriptions was a major factor. Additional costs were accrued through IT department time and consultants' fees. The project is being deemed a failure, the insider said.
The DWP/MuleSoft project has attracted attention after [4]The Register revealed that DWP former permanent secretary Robert Devereux was set to join SaaS CRM specialist Salesforce.
Devereux retired at 61 from his £185,000 salary job in 2017 with a pension pot reported to be £1.8m in 2010/11.
The DWP advisory committee letter [5]later confirmed the appointment and detailed two deals with Salesforce, including a £42,350 agreement providing support for its Pensionwise service and the nearly-£5m MuleSoft Anypoint Platform subscription. Devereux was not involved in the procurement process of either, the letter said.
[6]A MuleSoft whitepaper proclaiming the benefits of its API management platform for the UK public sector describes how the Anypoint Platform is available via the government's G-Cloud framework agreement.
"By leveraging APIs and microservices as a foundation of an IT strategy centred around shared services and asset reuse, UK government departments, agencies, and bodies can meet, and even exceed the private sector in the quality of service it provides to employees and UK citizens," it says.
MuleSoft has not responded to The Register 's request for comment. ®
Get our [7]Tech Resources
[1] https://www.computerweekly.com/news/252472182/How-code-reuse-drives-business-change-at-the-DWP
[2] https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/832132/final_advice_letter_for_publication.pdf
[3] https://www.theregister.com/2018/03/21/salesforce_buys_mulesoft/
[4] https://www.theregister.com/2019/06/27/robert_devereux_to_join_salesforce/
[5] https://www.theregister.com/2019/09/18/gov_confirms_former_dwp_perm_sec_to_join_salesforce/
[6] https://www.mulesoft.com/lp/whitepaper/api/uk-government-it-innovation
[7] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
2 things come to mind
cantankerous swineherd
Devereux failed to produce a decent set of accounts for dwp over decades.
the civil service have a vested interest in complex and unwieldy processes.
Anonymous Coward
That thought also crossed my mind.
Chucking an API platform infront of many legacy systems seems like such a good idea: No wonder it's being binned
"an IT strategy centred around shared services and asset reuse"
So basically there is going to be a lot of csv files being exported and imported, while all the crap that has accumulated from wrong decisions and lazy planning will keep churning.
Sounds like a plan.