One method, from the first requirement to the end of the contract
Two frameworks, joined at the prime contract. The agency and the vendor see the same stages from opposite sides of the table.
Strategic Sourcing. Before the contract is signed.
Sourcing is the work of getting the right vendor on the right terms. Burke runs it as three steps, each with a written output the agency keeps.
| Step | What the agency sees | What the vendor sees |
|---|---|---|
| Plan | The requirement written in plain terms: outcome, constraints, security and sovereignty expectations, what value for money means here. Written before any vendor is named. | A strategic account plan for the agencies you want: renewals, budget lines and audit findings, each with its source, and who to be in front of before the agency goes to market. |
| Select | The market tested broadly, not a single catalogue. A recommendation on fit, security posture and value for money, with the reasons. Joint sessions with vendor engineers rather than sales presentations. | A qualified opportunity, with Burke's honest view of fit. The product questions only you can answer. If the tender is not yours, you hear it early and you hear why. |
| Contract | Burke as prime contractor on the government contract, standard departures known in advance, one Australian supplier on Australian terms. | One commercial agreement with Burke. The response prepared, reviewed and lodged by Burke, in the buyer's format, with the clarifications run on your behalf. |
Vendor Management. For the life of the contract.
Vendor management is the work most suppliers skip once the purchase order is raised. Burke runs it on five pillars until the contract ends, at the cadence each contract needs: monthly for a critical service, quarterly for most, six-monthly or yearly for a stable licence.
| Pillar | What the agency sees | What the vendor sees |
|---|---|---|
| Financial value | Licences, usage and billing reviewed at every governance cycle. The renewal planned a year out. You pay for what you use. | A renewal that is never a surprise, and the commercial case for the next product made from real usage, not a guess. |
| Performance and outcomes | Service levels measured against the outcome the agency bought, not only the uptime the vendor reports. | A report card that shows your product working, in the agency's words, which is the reference you cannot write yourself. |
| Relationship and collaboration | A governance meeting that happens, at the agreed cadence, with the vendor in the room and the report card on the table. | A standing governance meeting with the agency, and the introductions that come from it. |
| Governance and contracts | Variations, extensions and obligations tracked against the contract. Nothing identifiable leaves the agency. | Contract changes handled on your behalf in the agency's process, so your legal team is not relearning government terms each time. |
| Risk and supply chain | Software supply chain, corporate standing and concentration risk reviewed, so a problem is seen before it is an incident. | Early notice of what the agency will ask about your product's supply chain, and help answering it the same way every time. |
When the contract ends: a clean handover, data returned, knowledge transferred, and the next sourcing cycle started early enough to matter.
Three rules that do not move
- No services, ever
- Burke provides no technical, delivery, support or managed services. The vendor who built the software sets it up and supports it.
- Two rooms
- What an agency tells Burke in confidence stays with the agency; what a vendor tells Burke in confidence stays with the vendor. Our probity statement says how.
- Nothing identifiable leaves the agency
- Burke works from commercial records, never from citizen or user data.