Launch Of Agile Delivery Network Transforms The Future Of Government IT

Online, September 8, 2011 (Newswire.com) - The Agile Delivery Network - a collaborative network of SMEs determined to change the way the UK government buys IT - will formally launch this week, having already proven that it can deliver what it promises.

The government's current supplier model for IT simply does not work, the Agile Delivery Network (ADN) contends, and the Network has already shown what can be done with its work on the highly successful e-petitions (http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/) site.

Andy de Vale, co-founder of the ADN says: "I'm consistently horrified by the money we waste on government IT. IT delivery in the UK government is broken, and the current supplier model just doesn't work. The ADN has been set up to tackle the gross waste in the way things are done, and to shake off the pervasive view that it's just how things are."

The government itself has recognised the problem and was keen to see the ADN work in conjunction with its recently established 'skunkworks' team, Government Digital Service, on the e-petitions site and on new ways of working together.

Unlike the majority of government IT projects, the e-petitions site was built quickly (within six weeks), flexibly and at a low cost. Once the team began to see usage figures rise, it was able to scale the site to match. The site can now manage over 1,000 concurrent sessions per minute without problems.

Throughout the development process the Cabinet Office was able to request changes and have them implemented immediately, rather than having to wait until the project was complete and then request costly alterations, as is normally the case with large suppliers.

ADN brings flexibility, quality, cost and short time-to-market to a sector that has become used to slow, complex and expensive development. Agile, highly motivated developers are collaborating to provide a viable alternative to the large Systems Integrators who usually win government contracts.

The team used Agile project delivery to deliver the working site on time, and used an open source toolset to keep costs low and to take advantage of the most up-to-date technologies.

Peter Herlihy of the Government Digital Service adds: "The Agile Delivery Network SMEs delivered beyond all our expectations. The flexibility and the quality of the service delivered by the team at ADN gives us real hope - and evidence of a successful model for delivery of digital services."