Partner Engagement Essentials

These are some of the key points about the EDT Partner Engagement process.

Compelling reasons to Partner

Recognising the important role that the commercial sector has to play in helping departments achieve the Government’s 2005 targets, the EDT has been actively encouraging businesses capable of delivering Common Infrastructure products and services to join its Partnering Programme. Those organisations endorsed by it will have:

Met stringent selection criteria and have proved their competency in at least one of our capability areas
Prove their suitability to become Common Infrastructure Partners
Demonstrated their skill in knowledge transfer and ability to offer solutions of measurable quality and value.
Can offer informed advice from the very start of your project

EDT's Partnership Criteria

EDT-endorsed Partners have satisfied us that:

They have the capability and capacity to build quality solutions on time and to budget
They use tried and tested Common Infrastructure principles and standards
Their solutions are based on modular enterprise architecture and as such offer the security, ease of use, flexibility, efficiency and scalability required of all online public services
As businesses they are well managed and financially stable.
Additional security is ensured by the annual Compliance Assessment to which all Partners are subject.

Further information for partners

The Business Benefits of Working with the Common Infrastructure Partnership

The Partnering Programme enables approved IT and business suppliers to integrate with and deliver our Common Infrastructure products and supporting solutions. The benefits to you of entering into partnership with them include:

Working with people who understand the Common Infrastructure approach and have expertise specific to one or more of its product and services areas
Gaining access to pre-defined levels of competency
The cost and time advantages associated with the ‘build once, use many’ principle
Solutions that use tried and tested Common Infrastructure and that therefore ensure compliance with Government policies and technology standards
Reducing both the risk and uncertainty associated with new product implementation.

Partner Selection

Partners are selected to one, and occasionally to more than one, of the following categories:

Systems Integration
Education and Training Delivery
DIS Solution Development
Independent Software Vendor

Procurement Process

All potential partners follow a rigorous three-phase process:

Business Case Development

This phase is mainly conducted internally by the potential partner in collaboration with the EDT. It is designed to ensure both the viability of and the commitment to the engagement and covers: market analysis, business proposition, route to market, development costs, anticipated ROI and agreement to the rules of engagement.

Solution Development

Having ascertained the viability of the partnership, the next stage is to create the solution. This phase includes the signing of the Partnering Agreement followed by knowledge transfer of EDT products and services to ensure full compatibility and compliance by partner solutions.

Common IT Infrastructure Compliance Assessment

This final phase ensures that knowledge has been transferred accurately to partners and that they in turn are meeting our quality standards. The Assessment is renewed on an annual basis.

Contract Awarded

Your commercial relationship will be between yourself and the partner supplier so a standard procurement process, leading up to contract award will be followed.

Project Initiation

At the earliest point of your programme it may benefit you to discuss your strategy with EDT or one of its partners - before you begin your formal procurement phase - to help you to clarify requirements and options. After contract award your chosen supplier will work with you to support your project start up.

Continuous Assessment and Feedback

The Compliance Assessment process ensures our right to re-assess partners on an annual basis and to check that their solution continues to meet our standards. The basis of the re-assessment requires that from the time of becoming a partner, the supplier must deliver its solution to at least one customer every year and allows the EDT to withdraw from the partnership if at any stage the partner is found to be non-compliant. Your relationship with our partners will not end at project completion as we are continually reviewing this programme and its performance.

To find out more about the EDT Partnering Programme please contact us using the email below.

To view this journey and others in full please see our Interactive Guide to Connected Government.

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