FINNEMORE CONSULTING

EP. 045 – Edtech Thought Leader Q&A: Ben McGowan, Head of IT and Digital, Ted Wragg Multi Academy Trust and Simon Denham, Procurement & Strategic Sourcing Specialist

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Nick Finnemore
EP. 045 – Edtech Thought Leader Q&A: Ben McGowan, Head of IT and Digital, Ted Wragg Multi Academy Trust and Simon Denham, Procurement & Strategic Sourcing Specialist

Our next #FinnemoreFireside is with Ben McGowan, Head of IT and Digital at Ted Wragg Multi Academy Trust and Simon Denham, a Procurement & Strategic Sourcing Specialist they worked with on their recent procurement of an MIS for the Trust.

 

I’ve known Ben for many years from his time at Scomis, and I was lucky enough to work with him at Capita for a short period. A couple of years ago he took up his current role leading the IT and digital strategy at Ted Wragg Trust so when the Trust was looking at MIS options back in 2022, I was delighted to be asked to give my thoughts on “the art of the possible” when it comes to planning for the future needs of the Trust and what MIS can help you achieve. It was there I met Simon Denham as Ted Wragg MAT had engaged him to advise on the procurement process to ensure it was thorough, compliant, and achieved the very best for the Trust and academies.

 

This fireside chat aims to share insights on procurement in the education sector, particularly regarding Management Information Systems (MIS), so if MIS procurement is your thing, or is on the horizon for your school(s), Trust or academies, then this conversation is for you.

 

In it, we discuss, amongst other things:

  • The triggers for procurement include changes in terms and conditions by incumbents exceeding financial thresholds
  • Ted Wragg MAT’s initial thinking behind engaging with specialists, and Simon’s thoughts on managing procurements in the education sector and starting position.
  • How important it was to collaborate and gain stakeholder buy-in, with an emphasis on consulting key stakeholders in schools.
  • Defining a transparent and fair procurement process including clear specification and evaluation criteria followed by independent scoring and detailed feedback to suppliers.
  • Lessons from recent MIS procurement pitfalls, including impermissible discounts and breaches of procurement laws.
  • The key risks and potential pitfalls identified, strategies to mitigate against them, and all additional considerations during the procurement process.
  • The difference between price point and value for money in tenders, and the need to prioritise value over price.
  • An assessment of the initial work’s impact on implementation and adoption, reflections on their education procurement experience, and potential changes for the future.
  • Ben and Simon’s thoughts on a preferred approach for future procurement exercises, and the best ways to support schools and authorities in navigating procurement processes effectively

 

Hope you find it useful, feel free to ask any questions in the comments.

 

Enjoy!

 

 

 

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Working with MIS

We’ve been lucky enough to have worked with most of the maintained MIS suppliers including SIMS (then owned by Capita), Arbor, IRIS Ed:gen, Pupil Asset, and, at the time of writing, working with Bromcom as they grow their user base across the UK.

We’ve recorded tons more #FinnemoreFireside chats on the topic of MIS with MATs, school leaders, support teams, suppliers and independent consultants which you can find here or subscribe to our You Tube channel for regular updates.

Other brilliant free, independent resources we’d recommend you take a look at include WhichMIS and BringMoreData. We also run a LinkedIn group ‘The Future of MIS’ which seeks to understand the new role of MIS in schools and explore what it will look like in the future – come and join the conversation 🙂

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