It is now almost six months since the launch in September 2011 of the model short form ICT contract for local government.
The Managed ICT Services Model Agreement, or MISMA, is based on the OGC model agreement which is familiar to many of those involved in public sector IT. The original model agreement was intended only for major IT projects, and work on a slimmed down OGC lite has been ongoing for several years. In the end the MISMA is aimed at a local government audience as local government was perceived to have the greatest need for the short form IT agreement.
At a meeting of the IT suppliers association Intellect earlier today none of the suppliers and lawyers present had seen any live use of MISMA and it may be that this is due in part to lack of awareness of the contract amongst local government legal teams.
The document should also be helpful to those in other public bodies including the NHS and we are aware of proposed use of MISMA in central government.
A copy of MISMA together with instructions for its use is available via the Local Partnerships web site (registration is required).
In the meantime MISMA's elder brother the original OGC model agreement is no longer officially maintained but it is still in use in a number of IT procurements. A copy can still be accessed online via the National Archives.
The hope is that greater publicity around MISMA will encourage take up to improve consistency of approach in local government IT procurements and to take advantage of the considerable work invested in developing the new model.