EHI Live Interview: Liam Maxwell

Deputy government chief information officer Liam Maxwell wants to see large IT contracts disaggregated so more small and medium-sized enterprises can compete in the NHS IT market. Rebecca Todd reports.

Public bodies are “leaving money on the table” by failing to deal with small and medium sized enterprises, Liam Maxwell says.

In the Cabinet Office building at 1 Horse Guards Road, he points out that SME contracts are not just typically cheaper, but that small companies can be easier and more flexible to deal with.

Known as a champion of SMEs and open source software, Maxwell encourages a disaggregated approach to IT contracts. In other words, he’s not a fan of organisations going out and buying “one big colossal box IT contract” that only very big, established companies are able to bid for.