Services

Sourcing

Helping clients to source IT solutions from the marketplace, in order to transform their organisations and drive value and improve performance.

Our sourcing expertise is sought by clients with a variety of business and/or IT challenges.

Business-driven challenges will vary: the desire to be more competitive in the marketplace; the need to invest in the growth of the business (both organically and inorganically); the need to be an attractive employer, or the need to cut costs to meet financial targets, to name just a few examples. In all cases, there will be an impact on the way IT operates and how IT supports the business. This will often necessitate new strategies and ways of working, resulting in some level of restructuring of IT. Considerations will include, for example, whether to buys products, services or solutions to build solutions in-house, and to understand how any approach achieves a target state.

Specific IT challenges may include the drive to provide more for less, the need to improve operational performance; poorly executed supplier contracts; customer dissatisfaction with IT; ageing technology estates; and duplication across the technology estate.

Mason Advisory has the experience and insight to help clients navigate through their challenges to deliver the desired objectives through appropriate and relevant sourcing strategies and execution programmes.

Service offerings

Sourcing model & strategy

Sourcing strategies need to keep pace with changes in business demands and innovations in the market. Selecting the right suppliers within the most effective operating model will help deliver efficiencies, improve quality of service, and support revenue growth. We have worked across all sectors to help organisations define sourcing strategies and design and deliver sourcing models. Whether it’s an internally driven service integration model, an eco-system of suppliers, or a primary partner, we optimise the way in which organisations procure IT and ensure alignment to their business goals.

Solution development and supplier selection

It’s vital that IT teams prepare in order to implement sourcing strategies effectively. We provide support with planning the sourcing process, developing requirements, and engaging with and testing the marketplace. Our consultants can help prepare the relevant documentation, provide market knowledge to identify suppliers who are best placed to meet the organisation’s needs, and run the process throughout. We help to develop an evaluation framework and provide support throughout the selection process in order to ensure you are selecting the best supplier to meet your needs and ensure value for the business.

Contract negotiation

Up-to-date experience counts in the negotiation and set-up of contracts. Our consultants have been honest brokers between businesses and suppliers across many sectors, drafting supplier obligations, facilitating negotiations, and ensuring a mutually agreeable contract that can really deliver business benefits.

Contract mobilisation and implementation

Once the ink is dry on the contract, the business has to make sure the words become reality. This is often a complex undertaking that requires an in-depth understanding of the obligations on both sides. Our consultants can support internal teams, helping them to understand the obligations, plan for quick mobilisation, identify and manage risks, and engage with the supplier. We track progress against agreed plans and the business case in order to ensure costs are controlled and implementation progresses as planned.

Contract development, assurance and benchmarking

There are times when contracts aren’t working for the client or supplier. Or perhaps it’s just a case of needing to benchmark performance and determine the value received from the contract. This can be at any stage, from initial tensions to strained relations after a number of years. Our consultants use their insight across sectors to perform contract reviews looking at all aspects of the contract including service descriptions, governance mechanisms, roles and responsibilities, costs, and terms & conditions. All of this is done with the aim of identifying what challenges reside, what improvements can be made, and what’s going well.

Contract review

There will be times when the contract does not work for either the client or the supplier, resulting in cost or performance challenges, or both. Mason Advisory has experienced consultants who can review contract terms and match these to the current business needs, highlighting opportunities to address challenges and embrace opportunities.

Sourcing health check

A healthy sourcing relationship is one that gets a lot of attention. Our pro-active healthchecks consider all aspects of service, governance, roles and responsibilities, costs and the contract terms and conditions to identify improvements and areas that need to be addressed. Using this approach is particularly beneficial where there are initial tensions between the client and supplier or where the IT leadership team feels that efficiencies can be achieved with existing contracts.

Maturity assessment

Leveraging our extensive experience across diverse clients and sectors, our comprehensive sourcing maturity assessment empowers organisations by meticulously evaluating their capabilities. Through a structured approach informed by years of expertise, we uncover immediate quick wins and long-term strategic opportunities, delivering tangible and lasting value.  Throughout the assessment, we prioritise dynamic conversations, seeking your input for a collaborative and insightful evaluation.  Our evidence-based findings are clear, easily understandable, and come with actionable implications. To reinforce the assessment’s outcomes, we employ an objective scoring system, while our recommendations provide you with practical and effective observations.  Understanding the challenges of starting the improvement journey, our proposed initiatives are pragmatic, feasible, and affordable, offering significant benefits. We strive for a smooth and efficient process that delivers substantial value without disruptions.  Typically lasting one to three months, the assessment can commence in as little as two weeks, allowing you to promptly enhance your sourcing practices.