Products and Services

Service Description

Under the GCIO Sub-panel government agencies are able to access an independent panel of 26 high quality providers of Assurance Services for ICT-enabled projects and programmes.  

The scope of Assurance Services available under the GCIO Sub-panel includes Independent Quality Assurance (IQA) and Technical Quality Assurance (TQA) services covering:

• Project Assurance
• Programme Assurance
• Portfolio Assurance
• Technical Design Assurance
• Technical Implementation Assurance

Delivery

Government agencies that are eligible to participate in AoG contracts can access the AoG Consultancy Services contract by signing a Letter Accession to the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU).  Once this is complete, there are no additional requirements for agencies to access the GCIO Sub-panel. 

Additional information for agencies on how to choose a provide is available at MBIE’s secure web-based library, inSource.

Benefits

The GCIO Sub-panel has been designed to achieve the following outcomes:

• Helping agencies to make better informed investment decisions
• Providing a level of confidence to Ministers and the public that ICT investments are well managed and will deliver the expected benefits
• Improved access to highly qualified providers of Assurance Services
• Delivering value for money and increased efficiency as a result of agencies not having to maintain their own panels or perform lengthy tender processes.

Roadmap

Other GCIO Assurance Services will be made available in one or more subsequent phases once these services have been defined and demand has been validated.  Likely future phases include IQA and TQA for ICT Operations, Assurance Consulting and Advisory Services, Contract Assurance and Probity Assurance.  These will be rolled out in conjunction with MBIE’s rollout plan for future tranches, including ICT Consultancy Services.

Lead Agency

Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment

Parent Programme

ICT System Assurance

Adopting the service

Agencies wanting to use the GCIO Sub-panel services do not need to undertake a full procurement process. MBIE has procured the services on behalf of the Crown and has signed AoG Services Agreements with all the panel suppliers. The main task for an agency is selecting a provider(s) from the panel that meets their business needs.

Lead Agency Agreement summary

• Open Supplier Panel
• All of Government
• Open panel is re-tendered according to MBIE's timeline

Lead Agency Agreement details

The GCIO Assurance Services Sub-panel is a sub-panel of the Assurance sub-category of the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment’s (MBIE) All-of-Government (AoG) Consultancy Services Solution. This means that providers must first be appointed to the Assurance panel of providers under the AoG Consultancy Services Solution before they can be appointed to the GCIO Sub-panel. While MBIE is responsible for negotiating and managing all Services Agreements for the supply of Consulting Services on behalf of the Crown, the GCIO is responsible for the day-to-day management of the GCIO Sub-panel.

GCIO specific terms and conditions

Providers selected for the GCIO Sub-panel are provided with:
• A re-issued Appointment Letter – AoG Consultancy Services – with the addition of a new appointment to the GCIO Sub-panel
• The GCIO Attachment to the AoG Consultancy Services Agreements containing the specific terms and conditions that apply to the GCIO Sub-panel.

The GCIO Attachment contains GCIO specific obligations for providers with respect to:
• Engagement Terms of Reference
• Assurance Reports
• Conflicts of Interest
• Lead Reviewers
• Performance Measurement
• Governance
• Reporting to the GCIO