South Wales Evening Post - 03 August 2007
Swansea councillors investigating why a multi-million pound IT upgrade is not delivering are to speak to the team behind the system.
The authority signed an £83 million deal with IT firm Capgemini in early 2006.
Council leaders and senior managers were expecting the upgrade to help make around £17 million in efficiency savings.
However, it has since become clear the scheme will fall short of those estimates and will be lucky to break even.
Capgemini officials have responded to questions from the council's performance scrutiny board, which is investigating Swansea's eGovernment scheme.
A written response from Capgemini said the reason for the failure to hit the targets was down to the council not being bold enough.
It stated: "We have noted some resistance to change. The council has not found it easy to contemplate more radical solutions where these represent a significant departure from established ways of working."
The majority of the savings identified by Capgemini in the original contract negotiations were to come from reducing costs in the way it buys in products and services - known as strategic sourcing.
Capgemini says it has been unable to get accurate information from the council, adding:
"Regarding strategic sourcing, the council has found it difficult to obtain the data which Capgemini requires to perform analysis."
Councillor Rene Kinzett, who chairs the performance scrutiny committee, said: "It is all well and good saying the council is not being radical enough, but if the savings were never realistically achievable, then that is another matter.''
