UK shared services overhaul hits red status on Matrix and Unity
NISTA says Matrix has material planning issues, with a first go-live now likely 3 to 6 months late, while another shared services cluster, Unity, is also rated red.
By Dominic Okoye · Staff Writer
· 3 min read
The UK government’s Matrix shared services programme has been rated red by the National Infrastructure and Service Transformation Authority, putting a major ERP and HR consolidation project into formal trouble. The programme is part of a wider plan to save £4.3 billion by moving 17 departments and 300 arm’s-length bodies onto shared technology platforms, and its first user go-live is now expected to slip by 3 to 6 months.
Matrix covers nine departments and is led by the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology. In 2024, the programme awarded Workday a SaaS finance and HR software contract and Cognizant a systems integration contract, with a combined value of £144.3 million. The government has not disclosed any revised total cost for the programme following the delay.
NISTA’s red rating means a project has major problems with schedule, budget, quality or benefits delivery, and that those problems do not appear manageable or resolvable at the time of review. In its fiscal 2025-26 report, the authority said the Matrix rating reflected “a number of material issues” found during planning.
The planned start of live service had been May 2026. According to NISTA, the Matrix Programme Board met in March to consider re-baselining the programme, including a rectification plan and several planning scenarios. NISTA said early analysis points to a 3 to 6 month delay, pushing the Phase 1 user go-live into late 2026.
For vendors selling large-scale government transformation, the issue is less about whether Whitehall wants cloud ERP and more about whether departments can supply the operating capacity to implement it. NISTA said system issues have been resolved, but identified the largest remaining risk as departments’ ability to provide functional subject matter experts for the volume of testing they believe is needed, given their low tolerance for risk.
The departments listed in Matrix include DSIT, the Cabinet Office, the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, the Department for Business and Trade, the Attorney General’s Office, and the Department of Health and Social Care. His Majesty’s Treasury and the Department for Education have delayed decisions on joining the programme.
That delay is politically and operationally awkward. The Cabinet Office has said HMT and the Department for Education had “unconditionally bought into joining shared services at the outset” and that participation is not optional. MPs said last week that reluctance from those departments could weaken the programme. HMT already runs HR and finance on Oracle Fusion SaaS, which gives it a different starting point from departments with older systems.
Matrix is not the only shared services cluster under pressure. NISTA also rated Unity red, while saying progress had improved. Unity involves HM Revenue & Customs and two other departments moving to a cloud-based SAP ERP system.
A DSIT spokesperson told The Register that delivery challenges were found in Matrix after a planned review and that the department had decided to replan the programme to set a more realistic delivery schedule while continuing shared services modernisation. Officials said the programme team is preparing the next version of the business case for HMT and Cabinet Office approval later this year. That business case is expected to set out the timetable for later departments and arm’s-length bodies to join, including HMT.
DSIT says it remains committed to Matrix and expects the programme to return £1.67 in benefits for every £1 invested. NISTA’s red rating means that claim now depends on a revised plan that has not yet been approved.
This story draws on original reporting from The Register.
