3.18 Although SBS has achieved many successes it underestimated the scale and complexity of the task and the management resources needed to transform NS&I's business. SBS brought in external people to manage the NS&I account from the start. Its new managers, however, were not experienced in managing a business similar to NS&I, and their number was less than EDS had planned to employ on managing the business. At the end of 2001 after discovering major problems on the project, Siemens AG addressed this risk to its business by bringing in new senior management at SBS. These changes were designed to address resourcing issues on the project, the new managers being proven deliverers of change and experienced "Siemens" people.
3.19 In 1999, NS&I was SBS's biggest contract in the BPO sector, not just in the UK, but globally. It lacked sufficient internal resources to manage emerging risks and problems on the project. SBS employed a large number of consultants early in the project when former NS&I employees could have contributed, although SBS told us it had good reasons for not adopting this approach. SBS has learnt many lessons from its experience but considers that its competitors have also faced similar issues. This learning should not be lost and SBS will benefit from setting down the experience as a model for managing future BPO business. Working in partnership with NS&I, SBS has gained experience of working with a public sector partner on a scale never before undertaken.