The circular issued by Matignon asks the ministries to “make sure to maintain a sufficient level of skills (…) in order to reduce the risks associated with outsourcing“. tippapatt / Adobe Stock
This increased control comes into force on Monday, February 6, almost a year after the publication of a Senate report which had deemed “sprawling” the phenomenon of recourse to consulting firms by the State.
Since Monday, February 6, the government has imposed stricter rules on ministries concerning the use of private IT consulting firms, in a circular distributed by Matignon. This increased control comes into effect nearly a year after the publication of a Senate report which found “sprawling» the phenomenon of recourse to consulting firms by the State and its operators.
It follows the announcement by the government, in July 2022, of its desire to cap, as of Monday, at 2 million euros certain strategy and organization consulting missions entrusted by the State to private firms and to limit to two consecutive contracts the use of the same service provider.
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Noting that state digital teams often lack internal skills “in quantity and quality», Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne’s circular asks the ministries to «make sure to maintain a sufficient level of skills (…) in order to reduce the risks associated with outsourcing“. A project outsourced to more than 60% “must be considered at risk“. Beyond 80%, the project cannot start.under satisfactory control conditions“.
Spending down 35%
In detail, the document identifies three types of projects. Regarding digital strategy consulting for public policies, which concerns “a relatively limited volume of services“but can”present risks of influencing public decision-making», each ministry will have to publish the list of orders placed every year, specifying their amount and the name of the service provider. The piloting of the project must be entirely entrusted to the administration.
Missions for technical support and expertise, oftenspecialized short-term technical expertise to meet an acute need», must they be accompanied by «sufficient internal skills to manage the service“. These include, for example, the implementation of a chatbot for the tax website or the use of artificial intelligence in registration fraud, explains the circular.
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Finally, for IT development, hardware installation or user support missions, the largest in terms of volume, the use of firms is “often essential in view of the resources to be mobilized“, she notes. They must be reported annually.
The circular also provides for work on the State’s IT purchasing strategy, the conclusions of which must be presented in the second half of 2023, an improvement in risk management on major State projects, and the improvement of the drafting public contracts for the purchase of IT services. In 2022, spending by ministries with private firms fell by almost 35% to 176.8 million euros compared to the previous year, beyond the 15% target set by the government, according to this last.
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