A cluster of government departments has opted for HR and financial software from Workday, as Oracle and Microsoft are the vendors losing out to the SaaS-only provider.
The “Matrix” cluster of central government departments and independent agencies has also selected Cognizant as an integrator to help roll out the systems. The group of departments is trying to modernize their ERP systems and renew their shared service arrangements.
According to a tender announcement from the Department of Science, Innovation and Technology, the total contract value for both suppliers could be as much as £144.3 million.
The software deal has a term of ten years, with an option to extend for a further two years, while the SI deal is planned for an initial period of five years, with the option to extend for a further 24 months. When the government first launched the tender, it said the total deal could be worth up to £215.6 million.
The departments within the Matrix cluster have changed since the start of the project and now include the Cabinet Office (CO), Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT), Department for Energy, Security and Net Zero (DESNZ), Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), Department for Business and Trade (DBT), Attorney General’s Office (AGO), Department for Education (DfE), Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) and HM Treasury (HMT). Twenty arm’s length bodies, including the UK Space Agency, are also part of the cluster.
The new agreement marks a significant step away from the existing ERP and HR software used by some of these departments. According to the Shared Service Strategy launched in March 2021, Oracle is currently used by HMT, AGO, the former Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) and the former Department for International Trade (DIT). Meanwhile, DHSC and the DfE (finance) use Microsoft. The DCMS uses iTrent software for HR and Integra for finance. The Cabinet Office already uses Workday for finance and HR, while the DfE uses it for HR and payroll.
The original tender notice stated that the new shared service would aim to bring together data, policies and processes across these departments. The service was intended to support 48,000 users in the UK and replace 15 instances of nine different software solutions across the nine departments.
The significance of the challenge is not lost on the government. Speaking to Parliament’s spending watchdog in January 2023, Alex Chisholm, permanent secretary and chief operating officer of the Civil Service (PDF), said the Matrix bundle was the “toughest of the five”.
It had to form over an eighteen-month period, ‘which required a process of compromise and mutual commitment, and understanding where you can’t add excessive customization and where the benefits will lie. They are at a different stage, but they have got there, which is great, and they are committed,” he told the Public Accounts Committee (PAC).
As departments attempt to converge on a single HR and finance software service, that commitment will be tested. ®