At a glance

Our multi-disciplinary team helped pre-empt issues and minister risks for a programme that was updating critical military infrastructure by the key supplier to the UK Government.

The challenge

Our client, a joint venture, was responsible for delivering a major technology-based programme that involved the operation and renewal of critical military infrastructure in a long term contract that involved over 100 locations. Baseline was asked to review the core contractual terms from an operational perspective and identify any practical issues that might create barriers to the successful delivery of the programme.

How we helped

Our team of legal, technical and programme management experts were able to identify a number of key operational and systems issues with the way in which the contracts had been drafted. We helped our client highlight these issues proactively to its customer, thereby enabling an upfront conversation that managed expectations and focused on the operational imperatives.

The results

One example of the issues highlighted involved extensive procedures required to achieve acceptance. These included repeated and unnecessary testing of equipment. At the same time, the terms did not distinguish adequately between equipment that was being used in virtually identical situations and instances where it was being incorporated within a new system.

As a result of highlighting this issue, the team significantly reduced the scale of delay to the programme by thousands of unnecessary and expensive tests and avoided the need for huge amounts of additional paperwork. In addition, we ensured that all critical tests were performed, retaining the overall viability of this vital national infrastructure.