Gateway Review 5: Overview

About this workbook

This workbook supports Gateway Review 5: Operational Review & Benefits Realisation. This Review confirms that the benefits set out in the business case are being achieved and that the operational service (or facility) is running smoothly. The Review is repeated throughout the life of the service, with the first Review typically six to twelve months after handover to the new owner and a final Review shortly before the end of a service contract. The Review can also be used on a one-off basis, to check that a project has delivered its intended outputs.

Purposes of the Gateway Review 5

• Assess whether the business case justification for the project at Gateway Review 3: Investment decision, was realistic
• Confirm that there is still a business need for the investment
• Assess whether the benefits anticipated at this stage are actually being delivered
• Assess the effectiveness of the ongoing contract management processes
• Confirm that the client side continues to have the necessary resources to manage the contract successfully
• Confirm continuity of key personnel involved in contract management/'intelligent customer' roles
• Where changes have been agreed, check that they do not compromise the original delivery strategy
• Assess the ongoing requirement for the contract to meet business need
• Ensure that if circumstances have changed, the service delivery and contract are adapting to the new situation. Changing circumstances could affect: partner management; relationship management; service management; change management; contract management; benefits management; performance management
• Check that there is ongoing contract development to improve value for money
• Confirm that there are plans to manage the contract to its conclusion
• Where applicable, confirm the validity of the exit strategy and arrangements for re-competition
• Evaluation of actions taken to implement recommendations made in any earlier assessment of deliverability.

Operations review and benefits realisation

Gateway Review 5 is for the operational phase, after the project has delivered its agreed outputs contributing to the outcomes of a programme. This might be a new facility, IT asset or a soft output such as training. Unlike the earlier phases of the project lifecycle, the operational phase is likely to be long-term and consume a significant proportion of the whole life costs of the investment within the business case.

Gateway Review 5 will typically occur several times over the life of the operational service. The first Gateway Review 5 concentrates on the Business Case and how well arrangements have been set up for the service delivery and the associated contract management. Depending on the lifespan of the operational service, there may be a number of repeating mid-term Gateway Reviews 5 to check operational management. For a long-term service contract (such as a hospital or school), there may be four Reviews over a period of twenty years. For IT-enabled projects, the period may be much shorter; there may be only two Reviews over a five-year period.

This mid-term Review examines in detail aspects such as arrangements for contract management improvements in value for money and performance incentives against a baseline. The final Review will concentrate on the project activities concerned with closing down the current service contract and ensuring that suitable arrangements are in place for the future.

There may also be projects where only one Gateway Review 5 is needed. It can be used for the provision of works or a new module of an existing IT system. It should be held six to twelve months after rollout of the new service/ delivery of the new assets, when evidence of the in-service benefits delivered is available.

Benefits may not all be delivered at the same time - e.g. new ways of working will need to be established in (say) a new type of school environment, before improvements in educational results are seen.

At appropriate points, the findings from Gateway Reviews 5 will inform any programme level decision points and Gateway Reviews 0.

Handover from the project's SRO to the operational business owner typically occurs within a year of the start of the operational service. It will be the business owner's responsibility to ensure the expected benefits are delivered and the operational service runs smoothly. It will also be their responsibility to close the current arrangements and report back to senior/corporate management, feeding as necessary into new initiatives as required.

At Gateway Review 4, the project's SRO decides on the timing of the initial Gateway Review 5, to coincide with the key decision points following the Post Implementation Review. The new owner of the operational service will decide on the timings of subsequent Gateway Reviews 5.

The Post Implementation Review (PIR) is an internal project assurance for the SRO, to confirm that the investment in the Business Case was justified and lessons learned have been captured. The Gateway Review 5 is an external peer review that includes the PIR as a major input to its investigation. The organisation PIR or similar major review is a key input to the one-off or initial Gateway Reviews 5.