Case Study: BSI – Driving IT Transformation with Strategic Procurement and Sustainable Partnerships

21 Sep
Posted by: Barkers Procurement
Category: Case Studies
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When ambitious growth meets digital transformation, the right procurement strategy can make all the difference. Barkers partnered with BSI to deliver not just cost savings, but lasting value through innovation, expertise, and sustainability.

Barkers was engaged by BSI to provide Procurement support for their IT Transformation programme. We supplied hard-to-source IT procurement specialists who combined strategic market insight with innovative commercial approaches to enable a successful transformation. This included supporting BSI’s journey to the cloud, implementing new service management tools, and embedding social value considerations into vendor selection and governance. Our approach ensured the transformation delivered operational efficiency, maximised commercial value, and reinforced BSI’s commitment to sustainable and responsible supplier relationships.

Challenge

BSI was midway through a 5-year growth plan with a 45% revenue increase forecast, driven by acquisitions, organic growth, and new service delivery. IT was evolving from a support function to a critical enabler of Digital Transformation and scale—two of BSI’s five corporate Strategic Objectives.

To support this ambition, BSI embarked on a 4-year IT Transformation programme, but their internal IT Procurement team was not yet equipped to handle the volume and complexity of activity required. The scale of the project created commercial interdependencies, adding pressure on costs, delivery timelines, and change management, while introducing risks to already committed budgets. Ensuring social and environmental responsibility in procurement decisions was also a critical factor, reflecting BSI’s values and long-term commitment to sustainable business practices.

Solution

Barkers conducted a full review of procurement activity to support the IT Transformation programme, delivering:

  • Sourcing and contracting for a new Service Management solution.
  • Leading procurement for data centre transformation and the journey to the cloud.
  • Rapid deployment of skilled IT procurement specialists, scalable to project needs, bringing lessons learned from major digital transformations (Rolls Royce, Jaguar Land Rover, SSE, SGN, Imperial Brands).
  • Implementation of market-leading service contracts and creation of supplier governance frameworks to drive performance and accountability.
  • Establishment of strategic vendor partnerships across all outsourced services.
  • Procurement and negotiation strategies securing the best commercial value.
  • Embedding social value and sustainability into tendering, evaluation, and governance processes, ensuring vendors met environmental and ethical standards and that these considerations were actively monitored at a senior leadership level.

Results

Barkers’ procurement expertise and strategic approach delivered measurable and long-term benefits for BSI, spanning cost savings, operational efficiency, and sustainability. Key outcomes included:

  • Contracted supplier services enabling BSI to migrate UK-hosted services to cloud or co-located datacentres, with a 3-year flexible hosting agreement.
  • Selection of a new service desk provider capable of supporting strategic growth and BSI’s chosen ServiceNow platform.
  • Optimised vendor selection process using tender evaluation and point scoring, resulting in a preferred partner and a £1.3M reduction in total cost over the term without compromising service.
  • Social value embedded in procurement outcomes, ensuring sustainability criteria were met and monitored at senior governance level, strengthening responsible supply chain practices.

“Barkers delivered valuable market insight on key IT Transformational work streams for BSI whilst delivering business partnership with professionalism and integrity.” – John Hawkins, IT Procurement Director, BSI

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BSI – Driving IT Transformation with Strategic Procurement and Sustainable Partnerships – Case Study

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