Computing this morning reported that Richard Granger, the chap who has led the controversial National Programme for IT (now rebranded "Connecting for Health"), is to step down later this year. He apparently said that he would "give this job five years" when he took charge in 2002.
Granger's tenure has seen headlines about delays and many contractors complaining that the programme was unduly harsh in commercial and contractual negotiations. Criticism reached front pages when iSoft, one of the programme's principal suppliers, reported major losses last year amid accusations of unrealistic deadlines and Accenture walked away from what was reported to be a loss-making deal, despite the risk of significant penalties under the contract.
When I saw Granger speak last year at the SCL's conference on public sector IT procurements, he was (by all accounts typically) robust in his defence of the programme, which he demonstrated with a slide show showing some emotive images of patients who had benefitted from the programme's developments. He was also critical of suppliers for failing to manage projects properly and argued that the pioneering nature of the programme - and a lack of world-class suppliers in the field - were partly to blame for any delays. In January Computerworld reported that Granger had commented that:
"The programme gets continuously knocked. I don't think that will stop probably for another five years, and then the obituary on the programme will be 'Well why was it so difficult? Why didn't it get done more quickly?' and maybe the answer to that is: if there'd been a bit less whining and more support, it might have done."
More information and analysis now posted on the Guardian's technology page here:
http://technology.guardian.co.uk/news/story/0,,2106442,00.html?gusrc=rss&feed=20
Posted by: Peter | June 19, 2007 at 12:10 PM