Three London boroughs are planning a £1.1bn four-year framework to unify the provision of IT services in an initiative that may see 28 other London boroughs join in, as well as the Corporation of London.
Westminster City Council, together with Hammersmith & Fulham and Kensington & Chelsea plan to create a framework agreement that would see Westminster migrate by November 2014, with Hammersmith & Fulham and Kensington & Chelsea moving by 2016.
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That plan goes back to a report in February 2011, entitled "Tri-Borough Proposals report: Bold Ideas for Challenging Times".
The aim of the initiative is to save money on the provision of common IT services, as well as using their combined spending power to cut a better deal.
The £3.1m-£1.1bn four-year framework will cover the full range of IT services, including PC support, helpdesk services, systems and technical consultancy, maintenance of all IT equipment, data centre management services, including infrastructure-as-a-service; and end-user computing services.
Also included in the scope of the framework agreement will be "any arms' length management organisations, charitable organisations subsidiaries, other companies or business providing public services within the geographical location of the named authorities," according to the tender document.
The three boroughs are holding a supplier day on Wednesday 10 April, when potential bidders get more information about the plans.
The framework agreement will be split up into three parts, with only one successful service provider to be appointed for each "lot":
Lot 1, for distributed computing, will have a minimum annual value of £1.5m; Lot 2, for service desk, will have a minimum annual value of £600,000; Lot 3, for data centre services, will have a minimum annual value of GBP £1m.
However, those minimum values quoted in the tender document seem low compared to the range of services expected and likely headline figure of the resulting deals.
The tender says that, "The aim [of the deal] is not only to provide outsourced technology, but for the successful service provider to demonstrate that the underpinning technology ensures that the council and the other participating authorities receive: streamlined ICT services, improved process efficiency and cost-effectiveness, capacity for self-service where appropriate, improved efficient reporting, identified savings and of course quality of service."
