For the unfamiliar, what can you tell us about the role Defence Digital Commercial plays within the MOD?
Defence Digital Commercial supports the MOD’s Defence Digital function as well as providing commercial strategic leadership on digital spend across MOD under MOD’s Category Management strategy. Defence Digital is responsible for ensuring the provision of effective digital and information technology is put into the hands of the military and business front line.
What does Defence Digital Commercial have on the agenda at DPRTE 23 this year?
Defence Digital Commercial have been developing and implementing a category management based approach to managing the spend under our direct control and influencing and enhancing other defence digital spend. In order to do this, we have needed to engage better with industry and understand our supply chain better. This focus encapsulates our strategic suppliers, SME’s and wider, non-defence suppliers. Our ambition is to engage industry more and earlier and drive better value solutions for defence. We are also always looking to better understand defence’s digital spend and the opportunity to meet so many defence buyers and discover the opportunities we share is really important.
How important is an event like DPRTE 2023 for Defence Digital Commercial in terms of its ability to engage with the SMEs and the supply chain?
DPRTE is a brilliant opportunity for use to meet and build relationships with SME’s. I know we are a big and challenging organisation to deal with and we are extremely open to improving that position. Being available to SME’s, to understand what they do and where we can help them connect to the right parts of defence.
What messages are you keen to get out to the defence supply chain?
What can we do that would make it simpler, quicker and easier to sell to us? Where are there areas of best practice that we can adopt or grow?
What are Defence Digital’s ambitions for the year ahead?
Our focus is on continuing to grow and develop our digital category strategy and working with the other commercial teams across defence to deliver real value – enabling more to be procured for less wherever possible.
We must focus on simplifying our processes.
We need to support project delivery, operational delivery and digital transformation. All of these things are essential for Defence to tackle the current challenges that it faces. And with funding under challenge, our ability to make that funding do more will be more important than ever before.
What are you most looking forward to during DPRTE 2023?
The chance to meet other defence buyers and connect around our digital category is really exciting. I’m particularly interested in the Space & Innovation and Science & Technology themes as well. And as someone that genuinely thinks sales people are really useful (they help me understand what is out there) I hope to meet a fair few interesting and useful future suppliers.
Lee Rimmer is the Commercial Director for MOD Defence Digital having joined in August 2018 from HCL where he was VP Procurement EMEA. Lee’s role includes direct responsibility for the Defence Digital spend as well as responsibility for the Defence wide digital commercial category. Director for Defence. Lee has overseen the transformation of the commercial function through the implementation of a category based structure, a focus on measurable benefits generation, improved supplier relationship management and the development of a partnering approach with the wider defence organisation.
Lee has had a number of commercial leadership roles at HVL Technologies, Level 3 Communications, CSC and British Airways. He has a wide category experience with a focus on digital and services.
Lee has been a member of the CIPS Council and a judge in the Supply Management awards. When he is not working, he enjoys family time being a football and netball dad/taxi, listening to music and messing about in the kitchen. He supports Leeds United which, occasionally, makes him happy.
Lee will be delivering a speeach at the DPRTE Keynote Arena.
Limited numbers of Private Sector tickets remain for the event and cost £145+ VAT.
