The Office of Government Commerce (OGC), who are the owners of ITIL and Prince2 amongst other products, has been brought under the control of the UK Government Cabinet Office and are now part of the Efficiency and Reform Group (ERG).
The move brings together in one place cross-governmental operational functions, including procurement, project management, IT and Civil Service workforce and reform functions.
The repositioning of the OGC has come in advance of a government committee report published on 28th July 2011. The report mentions:
- The lack of IT skills in government and over-reliance on contracting out is a fundamental problem which has been described as a 'recipe for rip-offs'.
- IT procurement has too often resulted in late, over-budget IT systems that are not fit for purpose.
Following the publication of the report a Cabinet Office spokesman stated:
"We have already made significant improvements to the management of IT projects including introducing new ICT [information and communications technology] controls, increasing transparency, and creating robust governance arrangements."
ITILnews Editor's comment: Let's hope at the end of this exercise a case study is produced and is shared with the world outlining the lessons learnt and what you may do differently next time. Who knows you could even publish a book on the exercise!!!