Case Studies
Princes Foods
The group in the UK had grown to such an extent, that the technical infrastructure for its SAP applications required expert monitoring around the clock. This was a major issue for Group IT Director, Neil Crew, who is based at HQ in Liverpool. Neil reviewed several options before deciding that outsourcing the hosting of all hardware, together with additional systems management services was worth serious consideration.
However, as this approach was a fairly radical diversion for Princes, both Neil and the board of directors needed assurance that this was a secure and cost-effective solution for the group and that the risks associated with assigning such an important part of the business to a third party had been fully assessed. Timescales were tight when Neil Crew called in independent consultants CCL. "We were behind schedule in this area of the project " Neil said "I needed experienced consultants, with knowledge of the outsourcing market, who could get up to speed quickly with minimum hand-holding. CCL were able to come in and conduct a due diligence exercise on my preferred outsourcing partner, Attenda. Their extensive experience in this sort of exercise was a huge benefit to Princes... after all we didn't know what we didn't know!"
CCL's David Whiston and Ian Ainsworth arranged for visits to Attenda's premises, reviewed their Service Level Agreement and provided a report which commented on the scope and strength of Attenda's bid and the contractual position. From their investigations it appeared that the scope of the proposed agreement could be extended to encompass areas not previously considered as suitable for inclusion. The bid was re- submitted and evaluated as a result of the CCL findings.
Neil Crew concluded "I was very impressed by the quality and responsiveness of the consultants provided by CCL, I felt like I was speaking to people who fully understood my position, having been there themselves! CCL's involvement gave both the Chief Executive and myself confidence that our decision was the right one and that we were going into the agreement fully prepared and briefed."
Neil Crew, Group IT Director
Princes Foods
