Methods turned 18 in May, and starts the new financial year in good shape. The recent economic downturn has undoubtedly seen a tightening in the market for consulting and system integration services, plus some business cases for ‘big ticket’ capital investment projects are being revisited. However we continue to see strong demand from clients under pressure to deliver streamlined processes, innovation, and value for money. In fact, at Methods we have never seen more opportunity to develop new service offerings alongside our more ‘traditional’ core competencies – from assisting NHS Primary Care Trusts to structure the way they commission their healthcare services, right through to providing a ‘one stop shop’ offering across the entire IS function.

Recent developments

As we go to press, we have also learned that Methods has been included across three Lots on the NHS ASCC framework (‘Additional Supply Capability and Capacity’), accessible by Connecting for Health and the whole NHS. ASCC is an important win for Methods in that it allows us to deliver integrated services to NHS clients going forward. A further interesting development has been winning the ‘Master Vendor’ service with DVLA based in Swansea for the provision of all consultancy and interim management for the next 4 years in partnership with CMC. These additional frameworks position Methods well for the future, and we think 2008-9 will be a varied and exciting year.