Danny_Dravot said:
Sympathetic_Reaction said:
Danny_Dravot said:
the civil service didn't manage FRES, whilst there may be CS on the project team it remains a military project.
IIRC within DEC GM's remit, please correct if wrong!
I'm pretty sure the head of the FRES IPT is a CS. A chap called Phil Riley if a quick Google is correct.
There may well be Military in the IPT and above it, but the main team will be a DE&S team, which is civil service mainly. I'll wait to be corrected but that's my understanding.
S_R
yes, but don't forget that the IPT dances to the tune of the DEC
Not so. There is what I have heard described as "creative tension" but is less charitably described as competition and mistrust between DEC and DE&S. Essentially in theory military-manned DEC put up the cash and define the requirement, which is then passed to DE&S for procurement. The Requirements Manager, a uniform, is embedded as DEC's man in the IPT to ensure a consistant message and output. Between the various people and backgrounds involved there are competing professional and personal ambitions and opinions that sway the way the programme runs.
The civil service staff (the vast majority of any IPT) are generally seeking a long term career in the organisation and have no interest in risk or innovation, since a failure using a safe path is rarely punished but a failure having taken a risk is career limiting. This we get the same old process and thinking. This is made worse at the moment by the drive for redundancies in Abbey Wood, which means arrse covering and job saving are the main priority. In theory decision making rests with the IPT leader or DG. In practice nothing is doen without concensus within the IPT. Thus responsibility is shared and blame diverted. The CS have years of experience in political dealings and generally are able to "lead" DEC and the requirement.
Military staff are driven by their need to achieve the outcome - in FRES' case vehicles - with stupid rules that say they can't ask for a vehicle but must define "capability" in rather vague terms. They have to achieve their goals within a 2-3 year posting, with the junior military staff taking 4-6 months to learn the MOD ropes if its their first appointment. Coupled with that is their career need for a "successful" MOD tour so that they're seen as potential general/admiral/airship candidate. In a 2 year appointment staff are just getting to the point where they understand the unwritten rules and then get moved on.
It is not uncommon to find that perceived project requirements differ wildly between DEC, DE&S civil staff and the DE&S Req manager. It is to industry's advantage to exploit these differences and opportunities to influence the requirement to favour their products and services.
Finally, pretty much anyone on this site could list 5 major procurement programmes over the last 20 years that have been delayed, cost vastly more than they were supposed to and failed to deliver what was really required, or turned out that the requirements have changed. Every time this happens new processes are put in to try to prevent this. These processes take time and effort and add cost and time to a programme. These costs roll out at all levels - planning time, procurement preperation, industry bidding and in the supply process after contract award.
In summary, all that FRES money has been spent to "De-risk" the programme and DE&S have done so because their rules tell them they have to. No CS is going to rock the boat because it will kill their career and DEC lack the control or experience to change it. No one's career will suffer because of it.
I could go on, but its depressing me. And I work in this mix.
