CASE STUDY - ECHO 2

The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office’s Echo 2 programme is one of two green-rated projects in the ICT category, although it has taken a while to get to this position.

Echo 2 will provide secure networks for Britain’s diplomats. It will replace its predecessor, Echo 1, which is expiring and which is made up of two contracts: one for a Network Services Integrator and the other a Dynamic Purchasing System for the provision of internet connectivity. The communications network will enable the FCDO to collaborate with staff around the world more easily and cost effectively. It is also expected to be used by the National Crime Agency, the Ministry of Defence, HMRC and the National Health Service.

Vodafone, which inherited the company that ran the Echo 1 NSI, was initially awarded the contract by the Foreign Office in November 2018 to run the network’s successor. However, the department abandoned the procurement after rival firm Fujitsu launched a legal challenge around the process because of “arithmetic errors and other manifest errors of assessment”.

The FCDO re-ran the procurement process and awarded the £184m contract to Fujitsu in July 2021, with Vodafone turning the tables and taking legal action, arguing that Fujitsu’s bid had “significant deficiencies”. Fujitsu won the case and the contract was signed in March 2022.

The transition to Echo 2 has begun, with the initial phase completed on time, and the other part of the programme – the DPS procurement – is on track, according to the FCDO.

Echo 2’s rating has changed from amber-green to green following the change from five to three DCA ratings.

While the legal challenge delayed the start of the transition by four months, the programme is still on track to finish on time, with “work underway to identify options for accelerating delivery with a view to reducing the impact of the four-month delay”, according to the data published with the IPA’s annual report.

The FCDO told CSW that the programme and its key suppliers are working as one team to ensure the completion of the transition from ECHO 1 to ECHO 2 is delivered on time and on budget.