Latest PWGSC Press Release Changes Little

Last evening took an interesting turn as I began to receive notifications of the latest press release from the Minister of Public Works and Government Services Chrisitan Paradis regarding the Government Enterprise Network Services: 2009 Industry Consultations Report.

The following is a copy of the press release in its entirety followed of course by my take relative to its meaning in terms of the Government of Canada’s Shared Services strategy. 

GATINEAU, Quebec, May 7, 2009 – The Honourable Christian Paradis, Minister of Public Works and Government Services, is pleased to present the results of the industry consultations on the proposed Government Enterprise Network Services (GENS).  The consultations provided an opportunity for the Government to share its thinking about the telecommunications domain and to solicit industry feedback on its proposed approach. 

“Canada’s small and medium sized businesses are the backbone on our economy,” said Minister Paradis.  “This Government is committed to working with them to ensure they continue to be key providers to the federal government.”

This process, conducted in consultation with Treasury Board Secretariat, began in December 2008 and was completed in February 2009.  Each consultation session provided an opportunity for government officials to share information with industry representatives.  It also provided an opportunity for individual firms and industry associations to present, to a panel of government officials, their recommendations and possible alternatives to improve the Government’s proposed approach.

As the consultations report outlines, the proceedings were very constructive – a broad range of IT industry representatives participated, including small, medium, and large firms, as well as associations, the majority of which support the concept behind the Government of Canada’s IT Shared Services, the strategic direction of this initiative.  Industry feedback included suggestions to address concerns related to the potential size and duration of the contract and to clarify general IT professional services will not be included in GENS.  Public Works and Government Services Canada (PWGSC) has listened to industry and has taken advantage of the ideas offered during the consultations process, to develop an improved service delivery approach.

“A balanced approach (PI NOTE: synchronization versus compression?), for us, is the right approach,” said Charles Duffet, a senior vice-president and chief information officer with the Canadian Advanced Technology Alliance (CATA).  “Public Works and Government Services Canada has indicated that they do not intend to bundle professional services and based on the recent consultations, we believe that they truly do understand the value of small and medium enterprises.  Most large companies have already done what GENS was planning to do years ago.  It just makes sense.”

As a next step, PWGSC will proceed with the release of a draft solicitation of interest and qualification for additional industry comments to complete the validation of the recommended changes.

“We think this issue is a very important one – we should be supporting organizations like Public Works and Government Services Canada in achieving their shared services objectives, sooner rather than later,” said Linda Oliver, Vice-President, Information Technology Association of Canada (ITAC).  “ITAC believes there is room for all businesses to do business with the government, and we do advocate on behalf of all businesses: medium, small and large.”

“Through the release of its consultations results in GENS and its plan to move forward, PWGSC is providing the right leadership and will have a positive impact on the IT sector for the Government of Canada, SMEs and large companies in the IT sector and Canadian taxpayers,” said Jeff Lynt, Chair of CABiNET, an association representing a group of SMEs in the IT professional services sector.

PWGSC is committed to ensuring that subsequent industry consultations are meaningful and will continue to engage representatives from small, medium and large IT enterprises to seek their views on procurement strategies for the delivery of IT shared services initiatives.

For more information about the consultations report findings, please consult PWGSC’s Web Site.

What does yesterday’s press release really mean? 

Needless to say, the questions I was most asked yesterday evening regarding Minister Paradis’ press release centered on what it really means, and has anything really changed?

From an overall perspective, my position has not changed from what it was before the press release.

We have been down this road before, and perhaps the collective memories of some of the players in this latest development are short.  If you recall, one of the biggest complaints in 2006 was the government’s repeated vacillation after “positive” meetings with associations such as as CATA and ITAC were reported.  Remember how furious John Reid (CATA), and even the gentlemanly Bernard Courtois (ITAC) were after a consensus they thought had been reached was reversed.

While the terminology is more refined, re “a balanced approach” is more in line with my April 22, 2009 post “Synchronization Versus Compression Should Guide Government Procurement Policy,” the government is still plagued by the same challenges, which is the continuing absence of a tangible plan supported by equally tangible data.

Given the above, and the fact that there are still no references (at least directly) being made to the Acquisition and Materiel Management Strategy Development Council consultations, there remains a great deal that is still not being said.  This includes the potential for massive public sector layoffs under a shared services strategy a la the Gershon Review, and of course the fact that the federal supply base has already suffered serious and significant erosion.  (Note: this latter point was brought to my attention in a meeting I had with a senior official from the PWGSC SME Liason’s office in 2007, in which I was provided with supporting documents outlining the actual distribution of contracts over the government’s supply base.)  In essence it is a pattern of behaviour that has played out before.

Perhaps the greatest benefit of this press release at this point in time, is that it relieves some of the pressure that had been building over the past few weeks.  But as history has demonstrated in this ongoing saga which is the Shared Services strategy, recognition with words has rarely translated into meaningful action.

From my perspective, and until I see a tangible plan in writing that is accompanied by the corresponding data to support the proposed direction (Shared Services or otherwise), I will leave the self-congratulatory statements to the political players and association spokespeople.

In the meantime, I am going to keep my eye on the ball!