Best Practice Group Ltd

Supplier's Due Diligence

An assured supplier’s due diligence process that contractually and operationally ensures their solution is fit for purpose, delivered on time and budget. The more suppliers understand your expectations, the better the advice they will provide and the more likely they will meet your business objectives and outcomes.

Features

• Clear visibility of business objectives/expectations through collaborative workshops.
• Supplier can evidence its understanding of outcomes to be achieved.
• Supplier validates its skills/resources/timeframes can align solution to objectives.
• Visibility of supplier’s specific planning process to implement solution.
• Supplier reviews `As-Is’ operating state to optimises solution benefits.
• Supplier clarifies where the future operating state can/cannot be achieved.
• We’ll ensure you understand supplier ‘Expert Responsibilities’ in complex relationships.
• We’ll work with you to ensure responsibilities are ‘win-win’.
• Exemplar due diligence documentation assures suppliers ask the ‘right questions’.
• Suppliers must ‘warn you’ of any requirements that are ambiguous.

Benefits

• Structured, easy-to-implement, pre-contractual due diligence process.
• Ensures all parties are fully informed at an early stage.
• Supplier and Client get deep clarity of each other’s expectations.
• Clarity of future roles and responsibilities assures solution fitness-for-purpose.
• Contract for the supplier’s advice, separately to the solution contract.
• Supplier, therefore, provides much better advice regarding their solution’s fitness-for-purpose.
• Also means the supplier is contractually accountable for solution fitness-for-purpose.
• Avoids misunderstandings and future arguments over your expectations.
• Makes supplier and client assumptions express avoiding misunderstandings before implementation.
• Clarity reduces client/supplier commercial risks and minimises supplier risk pricing.

£250 a unit a day

• Education pricing available

Service documents

• Pricing document

  PDF

• Skills Framework for the Information Age rate card

  PDF

• Service definition document

  PDF

• Terms and conditions

  PDF

Request an accessible format

If you use assistive technology (such as a screen reader) and need versions of these documents in a more accessible format, email the supplier at sjames@bestpracticegroup.com. Tell them what format you need. It will help if you say what assistive technology you use.

Framework

G-Cloud 14

Service ID

433888714304823

Contact

Stephen James
0845 345 0130
sjames@bestpracticegroup.com

Planning

• Planning service: Yes
• How the planning service works: We can help you to plan your cloud hosting or cloud software implementations by undertaking business analysis and discovery activities to help you articulate and/or validate your business outcomes, service objectives, target operating models, high-level solution designs and requirements. To assure your planning, our readiness assessments will ensure that your procurement and contracting strategy and processes will identify the optimum supplier solution to meet your business requirements aligned to business outcomes and will ensure you will be protected by a low-risk, flexible, outcome-based contract. We will assure implementation, migration and change management plans to ensure the supplier's solution implementation will be fit for purpose and benefits realisation will be accelerated.
• Planning service works with specific services: No

Training

• Training service provided: Yes
• How the training service works: BPG training supporting cloud software/hosting services covers the lifecycle of the client-supplier relationship. All our cloud support services involve knowledge transfer as standard, but we can also provide specific training to build internal client capability, for example in: requirements articulation, options appraisal, early market engagement, procurement, evaluation, negotiation, supplier due-diligence, implementation, contract management, relationship management and performance improvement. While based on the principles of our OPTIMISE methodology, all training courses are bespoke, designed to meet your specific project/supplier-relationship needs to ensure you have the skills, understanding and techniques to secure win-win outcomes from your cloud implementations. ; ; We assess your current capability to establish where you are on our capability matrix, agree the knowledge/capability level to be attained, and design a training programme that will achieve your learning outcomes. Training is evidence based supported by case studies/lessons learned and will draw on scenarios specific to your project to bring learning to life. Training is delivered by expert practitioners and is applied while the learning is still fresh. Reassessment following the training facilitates the measurement of improvement within the capability matrix, helping you evaluate the benefits and your ROI. We also provide ongoing coaching support to help embed learning and build confidence.
• Training is tied to specific services: No

Setup and migration

• Setup or migration service available: Yes
• How the setup or migration service works: Whether you are switching cloud software/hosting suppliers or moving from on-premise to cloud for the first time, for large and complex cloud implementations, BPG can assure your strategy, planning and project activities to ensure the migration will be a success. ; ; We offer the full scope of support from business case design and development, options appraisals, requirements gathering, procurement support, supplier negotiations, contract drafting and implementation and migration support as well as exit and transition services. ; ; We ensure our clients have a clear understanding of what a ‘safe landing’ looks like for migration and that all plans are aligned in support of this. Our assurance activities will assess risks to BAU to ensure there is continuity of service and that any phased migration approaches do not run the risk of leaving a gap in service at any point. Our contracting and relationship management support will ensure that suppliers remain accountable for the fitness-for-purpose of their solution implementation and work in collaboration with you to ensure a smooth migration and transition.
• Setup or migration service is for specific cloud services: No

Quality assurance and performance testing

• Quality assurance and performance testing service: Yes
• How the quality assurance and performance testing works: We provide full quality assurance services for all your complex supplier relationship needs at every stage of the cloud supplier relationship lifecycle. During procurement or service rescoping, we have a unique process of ensuring that your cloud supplier undertakes the necessary due diligence on your services, objectives and business outcomes to ensure their solution is fit for purpose. During the implementation of their service or solution, our OPTIMISE process ensures we can benchmark quality and performance of suppliers to ensure they are delivering to your expectations. ; ; To help buyers to do quality assurance and performance testing we review and assure: quality strategies, implementation and testing plans, testing approaches, resource and capability profiles, needs analysis and training requirements, KPIs and reporting, and risk assessments. We will engage with your stakeholders to ensure you have internal agreement on the quality standards to be met and the means or measures by which these standards will be assessed and assured.

Security testing

• Security services: Yes
• Security services type:
  • Security strategy
  • Security risk management
  • Security design
  • Cyber security consultancy
  • Security testing
  • Security incident management
  • Security audit services
• Certified security testers: Yes
• Security testing certifications:
  • GBEST
  • CHECK
  • CREST
  • Tigerscheme
  • Cyber Scheme

Ongoing support

• Ongoing support service: No

Service scope

• Service constraints: No

User support

• Email or online ticketing support: Email or online ticketing
• Support response times: Usually within 2 hours if between 9am and 5pm Mon to Fri
• User can manage status and priority of support tickets: No
• Phone support: Yes
• Phone support availability: 9 to 5 (UK time), Monday to Friday
• Web chat support: No
• Support levels: N/A

Resellers

• Supplier type: Not a reseller

Staff security

• Staff security clearance: Other security clearance
• Government security clearance: Up to Developed Vetting (DV)

Standards and certifications

• ISO/IEC 27001 certification: No
• ISO 28000:2007 certification: No
• CSA STAR certification: No
• PCI certification: No
• Cyber essentials: Yes
• Cyber essentials plus: No
• Other security certifications: No

Social Value

• Social Value:

  Social Value

  • Fighting climate change
  • Covid-19 recovery
  • Tackling economic inequality
  • Equal opportunity
  • Wellbeing

  Fighting climate change

  To fight climate change, our Environmental/Sustainability policy includes a commitment to:; - Implement a continual improvement process with strategic objectives for reducing/eliminating adverse environmental impact and promoting sustainability. ; - Make efficient use of energy and water resources and reducing our carbon footprint. ; - Communicate to employees (and contract workforces) the importance of operating in a manner consistent with a healthy global environment. ; - Raise awareness of environmental issues through training and development and encourage initiatives that enhance sustainability. ; - Actively engage with clients, subcontractors, and suppliers to reduce the environmental impact of projects, increase knowledge, and improve their environmental performance. ; In line with this policy, we will continue to support flexible working arrangements, make use of online meetings to reduce travel needs and minimise office space requirements. We have a policy of using public transport where possible for all business travel. On the rare occasions when this is not an option, staff make use of electric or hybrid vehicles. ; When using office space BPG ensures office facility service providers have a sustainability policy and meet their objectives in terms of energy efficiency, thereby reducing their carbon footprint. BPG actively encourages reducing waste, encouraging minimal paper usage through an effective print management policy. Equipment is purchased with an eye to its energy efficiency. All waste is recycled in line with local Council specific guidelines. When working from client offices we continue our policy practices and adhere to any specific measures our clients have in place.; When working from home, BPG encourages employees to work in an eco-friendly environment, by minimising waste, recycling where possible, using low energy light bulbs, and ensuring equipment is on low power mode whenever practicable. ; We have made a public commitment to operate in a carbon neutral way by 2045.

  Covid-19 recovery

  Businesses/Organisations; We will continue to share our knowledge and professional support to aid Covid recovery. During the initial stages of the pandemic, we delivered a series of free webinars to help businesses manage their way through the crisis, providing advice on how to:; - Manage strategic suppliers who themselves might be struggling; - Accelerate procurements to meet urgent business needs; - Extend contracts or effect break clauses during uncertain times. ; We continue to make this support freely available.; Staff & Workplace; We recognise the pandemic affected people in a variety of ways. We respect the views and recognise the needs of individuals while ensuring a healthy and safe work environment for all employees or client teams. ; From the first pandemic lockdowns, we have supported remote working solutions to ensure all staff are able to fulfil their roles safely, protecting health and wellbeing. Since the ‘Return to the office’, we remain mindful of individual preferences/circumstances that favour the continuation of remote working. BPG recently enabled a previously office-based employee to permanently relocate to another city to allow them to be near elderly relatives. This supportive process has helped to embed remote working as a viable Business-As-Usual option.; We have embraced the virtual environment to provide an alternative to in-person meetings, ensuring access to multiple platforms to allow us to use our clients’ preferred technology. We will continue to ensure that remote working is suitably equipped to replicate a safe office environment and continue to use online platforms for regular face-to-face interactions to ensure remote working doesn’t equate to isolation. ; Where staff and clients are comfortable to travel and mix in an office environment, we organise in-person meetings taking a ‘safety-first’ approach, ensuring ample room for social distancing and high standards of facilities sanitation.

  Tackling economic inequality

  To tackle economic inequality, we will continue to support local supply chains and local economies on the contracts we work on throughout the UK and Ireland, engaging with local suppliers and SMEs and encouraging the development of local workforces.; When delivering procurement/sourcing support we will use our market knowledge and expertise to maximise supplier engagement and ensure that new or emerging technology suppliers are encouraged to participate in competition: we have designed an early market engagement process which assures such engagement. We will also ensure that contract resource requirements address local employment needs and encourage resourcing from disadvantaged or minority groups. We have helped several clients to meet their objectives in this particular area of social value commitment such as our project with a large Local Authority supporting their FM procurement, we ensured new providers abided by the LA’s social values and employed diverse mix of local individuals and SMEs.; We will continue our excellent track record of identifying skills gaps and supporting skills development for our clients. We have an open and collaborative approach to knowledge transfer to help upskill client teams and ensure our knowledge does not disappear when our project role ends. We build capability through a combination of knowledge sharing techniques such as work shadowing, mentoring, formal one-to-one instruction/training and group workshops/presentations. This capability building supports in-work progression that can help employees of the contract workforce to move into higher paid work. ; Ways in which we can support the creation of new jobs/skills on the contracts we work on include:; - Taking on Apprentices where contract duration allows ; - Facilitating work experience placements to shadow us on projects ; - Providing professional mentoring support; - Proactive knowledge transfer; - Delivering CV advice and mock interviews where we work with customers managing redundancies.

  Equal opportunity

  As an equal opportunities employer, our policy is to promote equality of opportunity for all, creating and ensuring an inclusive, non-discriminatory and respectful working environment both for our staff and on client contracts. Our whistleblowing policy ensures that staff feel confident that they can expose wrongdoing they encounter without any risk to themselves. ; We are an accredited Living Wage employer with ‘Respect’ as one of our core values. This is reflected in our commitment to equality, diversity, inclusion, fairness and support in our employment practices and service delivery activities. While engaged on contracts we will deliver ongoing knowledge transfer to help our client workforce develop skills which can improve current contract performance and aid career progression. When supporting clients with sourcing/procurement projects we will ensure their procurement strategies support the drive to recruit local suppliers and employ local people including from disadvantaged or minority groups. We ensure their contract terms and conditions include requirements for equality and diversity and protect against modern slavery and human trafficking. ; Our anti-slavery policy reflects our promise to act ethically and with integrity in all our business relationships. We do not enter into business with any organisation, in the UK or abroad, which knowingly supports or is found to be involved in slavery or forced labour. Our supply chains and supplier adherence to our core values have been established over many years. We have close and personal links and contact with the owners or directors, reflecting the fact that, in the main, we partner with SMEs. When we appoint new contractors or suppliers, we pre-qualify them through a due-diligence process. We look at company performance and get references from other customers to establish that they are suitable. We assess ourselves to have a low risk of modern slavery in our business and supply chains.

  Wellbeing

  Support Physical and Mental Health and Wellbeing; BPG will lead by example, actively supporting the health and wellbeing of its own workforce and influencing the same approach within contract workforces. We maintain an ‘open-door' policy ensuring employees feel they can speak to managers whenever they need to; monitor workloads to ensure no-one is overburdened, redirecting resources where necessary; and foster a supportive, inclusive work environment. In support of healthy eating, we have maintained a ‘free fruit’ policy for all those working in the office. We have long supported a cycle-to-work scheme to help promote both physical and mental health and protect the environment. Wherever available, our office premises have provided shower facilities to facilitate the uptake of lunchtime exercise and provide a practical solution for those cycling or running to work. On the contracts we work on we will extend our support for healthy eating and physical exercise, to aid not just physical but also mental wellbeing, and will ensure we conduct our activities with the same ‘open-door’ policy and supportive working environment for contract teams. ; Support Strong Integrated Communities; Our wealth of experience with social housing associations, local authorities and healthcare/NHS Trusts has given us much insight into the potential to support strong integrated communities when contracts apply successful stakeholder engagement. Whether we are supporting clients on procurement, service improvement or exit and transition projects we will use our proven Stakeholder Relationship Management methodology to ensure there is robust stakeholder collaboration, engaging with users and local communities in needs analysis, requirements elicitation, service design and development, where appropriate, to ensure the contracts we work on deliver positive outcomes for local people, while also supporting the local economy.

Pricing

• Price: £250 a unit a day
• Discount for educational organisations: Yes

Service documents

• Pricing document

  PDF

• Skills Framework for the Information Age rate card

  PDF

• Service definition document

  PDF

• Terms and conditions

  PDF

Request an accessible format

If you use assistive technology (such as a screen reader) and need versions of these documents in a more accessible format, email the supplier at sjames@bestpracticegroup.com. Tell them what format you need. It will help if you say what assistive technology you use.