A joint venture between Updata and unified business communications provider Daisy Group has been awarded a 10-year contract with Essex County Council to provide next generation network services. The deal is valued at £81m, around a quarter of which will go to Daisy.
This is an important win for the JV, Daisy Updata Communications Ltd, particularly since Updata, working with Siemens Communications, was the incumbent (see also The Public Services Network: foundation for change in public sector IT?). The PSN contract covers Essex’s schools and County corporate sites but has the capacity to be extended to other public sector stakeholders including the NHS and police, as well as district and borough councils.
As you would expect, savings were an important consideration for the Council – the deal is expected to improve services but also deliver savings of c10% per annum. Commercial innovation also played a key part in the choice of supplier. According to David Wilde, CIO at Essex County Council: “DUCL proposed a highly innovative and transparent commercial model that ensured best value for the county and helped us achieve our cost savings." Indeed, we expect ‘commercial innovation’ to be an increasingly important differentiator for suppliers across the public sector SITS market, not just in the PSN space, as budgets continue to come under pressure.