States of Guernsey terminates £200M IT contract with Agilisys

Performance issues mean Guernsey's government will move to a multi-vendor model to deliver IT.

Since 2019, Agilisys has been responsible for the delivery of the majority of the States of Guernsey's IT services.

The £200M contract was meant to last 10 years, but by midnight on 31 July 2025, it will be terminated.

The States say it is ending it four years early "for reasons relating to Agilisys' performance of the contract."

In January this year the Scrutiny Management Committee published a damning report on the agreement - examining the major system outages in late 2022 and early 2023.

The committee found the implications of entering a decade-long partnership with Agilisys were not fully understood, the scale of the work required by the States of Guernsey was underestimated, and there was inadequate technical expertise within the States to effectively manage and oversee the contract.

The States says, going forward, it will use a range of providers rather than one, to deliver services and projects.

It says the multi-vendor model will have several benefits, including better access to expertise, increased supplier accountability, and a reduced risk of service disruption, improving the user experience.

The government says it is "in advanced discussions with a range of providers" but can't provide specifics, due to "the commercial nature of those discussions."

 Boley Smillie, Head of the Public Service.

Head of the Public Service, Boley Smillie, says the decision has been taken in the best interest of the island.

"We deliver the services of a national government on a local scale, which makes the delivery of public services in Guernsey complex.

"From the systems we rely on every day, to the tools our staff need to work efficiently to safeguarding the vast range of data we hold, our IT underpins almost everything we do.

"We must keep pace with digital solutions that the community not only expects but deserves, solutions that make our services more efficient, and responsive to the needs of the Bailiwick."

Gé Drossaert, Chief Digital and Information Officer, says the new route offers flexibility.

"This multi-vendor model will give us the ability to select the best suppliers for specific services or technologies, which will include a mix of international and local opportunities focused on getting the best value for money for taxpayers.

"I also firmly believe that this new model will increase supplier accountability to deliver, unlike the current model where we have been reliant on one provider only, as we will have relationships with a range of providers.

"The quality of our IT provision has a direct correlation to the quality of services we can offer service users, and we are focused on making big strides in the next few years so the community notices improvements in both the amount of government services they can access digitally, and the efficiency of doing so."

In a joint statement, Policy and Resources said the committee's decision to terminate the contract was unanimous.

Agilisys has chosen not to comment at this time.