A Tactical Application of Sourcing Stewardship on Behalf of the Law Division of Bonner County, Idaho

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Bonner County needed a validation and reset with a vendor playing a key role in a mission critical environment. The outcome provided a two-month ROI and more importantly, mitigated risks going forward and a roadmap for key next steps.

ABOUT THE CLIENT

Bonner County, like virtually all counties, operates the community’s E-911 service, which is managed by the Sheriff’s office. This mission critical county support operation, due to its specialization and high reliability requirements, must rely on a handful of vendors to do their job with integrity and high availability. A miss or gap in this area can have truly dire consequences.

CHALLENGES

Bonner County’s Law group was struggling with a key vendor in the mission critical space of their E-911 center.  Issues needing addressed included:

  • Validating claims that the rates being charged were due to adherence requirements of state-enforced rate sheets, i.e., tariffs
  • Concern about market rates being applied for services outside the tariff environment
  • Lack of oversight on performance metrics as provided in the contracts
  • General risk management relating to all contracts, including accommodations for pending vendor sale

SOLUTION

  • Paradigm Consulting conducted interviews with the Idaho State Public Utilities Commission, vendor regulatory, account management and field-operations personnel for purposes of discovery and fact validations.
  • Paradigm initiated a complete inventory of all services under contract, as well as a review of all contracts between the two parties. Subjects of contract review included:
    • Points of imbalance in the MSA (Master Services Agreement) between the two parties
    • Service-delivery commitments execution with focus on key network elements supporting the E-911 operation
    • Pointing out all areas relating to contract assignment and potential for risk, particularly important as the vendor had made public their sale of the business in this region of the U.S.
    • Identifying which services fall within and without Idaho state rate guidance

RESULTS

  1. Risk management and performance adherence via contract reviews:
    • Limiting or potentially damaging statements in the MSA were highlighted
    • Assignment language conflicts, such as assignability and responsibilities associated with the vendor’s pending sale were identified.
    • Missing vendor signatures on vendor schedules of service delivery were noted
    • Discovery of service delivery commitments made, but not kept (SNMP monitoring critical WAN nodes)
  2. ROI: Estimated re-rate opportunity:
    • 15% overall cost reduction, worth $4,133/month
    • Specific service contract re-rate to current market conditions, worth $500/monthly
  3. Strategic positioning for going forward, specific to technology and vendor selection

CUSTOMER TESTIMONIAL

 “Jeff has proven his integrity, capabilities and intent (choosing service over self-interest) to us for several years, so it was without hesitation we reached out to him for this delicate project. The results were well-vetted, delivered with the highest level of professionalism and impactful enough for us to have called it out to several other counties as an example of what’s possible. This work will continue in an expanded and extended scope, some of which will have to exist under non-disclosure agreement (NDA). Jeff willing, we’ll also be involving him proactively in matters of future vendor selection, as well as related scope and performance-criteria documentation.”  – Marcus Robbins, Bonner County Sheriff’s Office

CUSTOMER PROFILE

Paradigm Consulting believes in building reciprocal relationships in both the customer and vendor arenas to expand stewardship beyond traditional borders.  Its principal has a 30-year track record of getting things done right.  Contact Jeff Odland at 208-755-2759 or jeff@paradigm-results.com for more details.