Techmodal, the Bristol and London based data specialists, have been successful in their bid to deliver “positive transformational change in people, analytics and associated digital communications for the Royal Navy”.

The data specialists say they will “deliver transformational change to the Royal Navy People functions” over the next three years.

“Supporting Navy Command’s senior leadership in their programme to transform the Navy in 1000 days,  under this framework contract Techmodal will build, deliver and support data science, analytics and digital solutions  underpinned by support from industry leading governance and assurance subject matter experts including Karmarama, Kainos, PA Consulting, PwC, Deloitte, Oliver Wyman, Havas and Palantir.”

Techmodal has previously delivered disruptive change in the form of tailored Digital People Analytics Solutions to Navy Command HQ over the last two years and have built an expanded team around their proven Data Science led capability.

Gareth Vaughan, Director at Techmodal said:

“Winning this work is a fantastic outcome for Techmodal and our partners. We’re excited to bring together a data science, digital solutions and world class partner to help the Royal Navy transform their people enterprise.”

Avatar photo
George has a degree in Cyber Security from Glasgow Caledonian University and has a keen interest in naval and cyber security matters and has appeared on national radio and television to discuss current events. George is on Twitter at @geoallison
Subscribe
Notify of
guest

29 Comments
oldest
newest
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
Sleepy
Sleepy
4 years ago

Does anyone understand what they are talking about?

Joe16
Joe16
4 years ago
Reply to  Sleepy

I had to go on a separate Goofgle search to find out. They are an HR service making sure that the right people are on the right deployments at the right time, to keep the RN’s ships at sea without burning out personnel. They also apparently manage careers. All of this using data analytics more effectively, according to them.
Not sure why they didn’t manage to say this in their official press release though. The point of press releases is generally to make dure that everyone knows what you do…
https://www.techmodal.com/solutions/people/

Daniele Mandelli
Daniele Mandelli
4 years ago
Reply to  Joe16

Cheers Joe.

Data mining I get. The rest, not so much.

Joe16
Joe16
4 years ago

Hi Daniele, I know, I was baffled by the press release and had to work hard to get any sense from their website- far too many buzzwords to be helpful! From the sounds of it, they seem to be selling a really advanced HR resourcing tool. They’re handy, because it can be stupidly difficult to find people with the right skills for all the jobs that need doing, and I guess there’s an argument that doing it via software can be better from the point of view that no favouritism/discrimination can be shown. Not saying any exists, but I think… Read more »

Daniele Mandelli
Daniele Mandelli
4 years ago
Reply to  Joe16

Thanks for the detective work Joe!

Andy P
Andy P
4 years ago
Reply to  Joe16

Joe, I don’t think the long term career stuff is a massive problem for most guys, you have a rough idea of your most likely career path, there’s the odd left field option but by and large you know your progression. The problem is the short term stuff, covering for people who have ‘fallen over’ at short notice, guys filling gaps that are either out of date or haven’t done all the courses…. meaning its still a hassle for all concerned. I can’t see a new system being any better at this than when its done locally, yes there is… Read more »

Joe16
Joe16
4 years ago
Reply to  Andy P

You sound like a man speaking from experience! That’s fair enough, I guess the military career path is different to the civilian one.
I guess it remains to be seen whether it’ll be an improvement, but I’ve found that a lot of the data analysis stuff that’s well thought through can be really useful.

Rick A
Rick A
4 years ago
Reply to  Andy P

Luckily the firm are also working with the RN on the ‘short term stuff’ too – based on the same underlying data source and linked to the other Tools 😉

Mark B
Mark B
4 years ago

It’s simple Daniele you get a bunch of kids fresh out of university come in teaching you and your grandmother how to suck eggs. Then when it all goes wrong another bunch come in to show you that you should have had more faith in your own abilities in the first place as everything goes back to how it was. Money well spent.

Daniele Mandelli
Daniele Mandelli
4 years ago
Reply to  Mark B

The mind boggles!

Rick A
Rick A
4 years ago
Reply to  Mark B

Unfortunately you have jumped to the wrong conclusion in this case. Having spent 2 years running the RN’s in-house People Data MI hub I think I have a pretty good grasp of what Techmodal can do to help the Navy make better decisions. Unless you think each person involved having their own spreadsheet unlinked to the others and based on stale data is the best way?

Rick A
Rick A
4 years ago
Reply to  Mark B

TM do indeed have some bright young graduates working on this, guided by an extremely experienced team of ex-military personnel data SME’s; one of which was previously the PM for the RN’s in-house People Data team so has a pretty decent understanding of the challenges the RN faces. This will move the Navy away from people in West Battery plugging stale data into spreadsheets in isolation into an age of people having the information they need to make smart decisions based on near-real time information, identify issues quickly and predict manpower demands in a far more accurate way. This shows… Read more »

Trevor G
Trevor G
4 years ago
Reply to  Sleepy

There is a marketing opportunity here for Buzzword Translation software….

Andy P
Andy P
4 years ago
Reply to  Sleepy

Glad you asked Sleepy and thanks for the explanation Joe16.

I have to say, this sounds like total bollox to me but hey ho, it ain’t my problem any more.

ChariotRider
ChariotRider
4 years ago
Reply to  Andy P

I think this stuff can be a very useful tool if… and it is a big if… it is used as a supporting tool. The danger here is that someone gets a posting that they don’t feel is right for them and when they seek a transfer or face time with their HR specialist (or is it ‘appointments officer’ can’t remember) they get a, ‘well the computer analytics says this is the right path for you – so get on with it’ kind of response. Computerisation can and does lead to the kind of attitudinal problem. Lets hope the Navy… Read more »

Andy P
Andy P
4 years ago
Reply to  ChariotRider

The navy seem to be constantly trying to change things. Great if they get it right but……..

You’d have thought in a Navy with less people in it than there’s been for centuries that putting the right people in the right place would be easier than ever without some clever machines to sort it.

ChariotRider
ChariotRider
4 years ago
Reply to  Andy P

Actually I think it might be harder because your pool of people with a certain skill can be very very small in some of the niche specialisms e.g. just 10 or 20 in the whole of the Navy apparently. If you had 100 and a post needed filling urgently you could move people around or share the work around more easily. Not so easy with a small pool of people. You need to think about what people have been doing in the recent past and what they need to do going forward. You do not want to send someone who… Read more »

Andy P
Andy P
4 years ago
Reply to  ChariotRider

CR, the problems with moving properly qualified people around is a bit more complex sometimes, you need to have the right courses/being in date etc otherwise you’re not as much use so the others you’re working with still end up picking up the slack until the newb gets qualified. Particularly the crap bits like being ‘duty watch’ etc. This gets managed locally as best it can but still causes short term grief, often for the person getting moved at short notice. That won’t change under a new system. It seems like the navy trying to reinvent the wheel again while… Read more »

ChariotRider
ChariotRider
4 years ago
Reply to  Andy P

Hi Andy P, Fair point, but I would say I was not thinking in terms of ship board or in unit personel management e.g. duty watch. Rather I was thinking in terms of where people got ‘posted to’ next or which courses they were sent on. I.e. the long term poeple management challenges that all large and complex organisations have to deal with to a greater or lesser extent, and to be fair they do not come much more complex than the Navy! So for example if you have a small pool of specialists, e.g. the aircraft handlers on the… Read more »

ArmchairAdmiral
ArmchairAdmiral
4 years ago
Reply to  Andy P

Agree, what a load of business speak. I’m sure they are fleecing MOD with dumb people in smart suits promising something they can’t deliver

Rick
Rick
4 years ago
Reply to  Andy P

If you aren’t there anymore who is spending 3 weeks every month producing that spreadsheet that was out of date before it was finished (and nobody ever looked at)? Or did the data analytics ‘total bollox’ render the role obsolete?

Gunbuster
Gunbuster
4 years ago

Data mining all those diverse spreadsheets and access data bases people use.

Gunbuster
Gunbuster
4 years ago

Data mining spreadsheets….

geoff
geoff
4 years ago

It would be interesting to know how much the contract is worth. Also a translation from the above in to simple Standard English so that the Public know exactly what they are paying for.

Steve Taylor
Steve Taylor
4 years ago

Didn’t the RN invent positive man management? If I look at the directors of the company what name will I see?

Daniele Mandelli
Daniele Mandelli
4 years ago
Reply to  Steve Taylor

Jobs for the Boys?

Daniele Mandelli
Daniele Mandelli
4 years ago

Que?

Glad someone else asked what this is about?

Has the MoD payed enough for a T31 for it?

Nigel Collins
Nigel Collins
4 years ago

Let’s hope not.

2022 could become very interesting for the QE when it heads off to South China Sea!

“China’s new carrier heads south”

https://www.janes.com/article/92838/china-s-new-carrier-heads-south

crabfat
crabfat
4 years ago

Perhaps Techmodal could get some tips from Capita about providing services to the MOD?