We’ve just got wind of another win for Agilisys in the local government sector. The company has announced a £47m, seven-year contract to deliver ICT services to a four-member partnership comprising Bolton and Wigan Councils with Wigan and Leigh Housing Company and Wigan Leisure and Culture Trust (note: shared services deals are certainly becoming more prevalent in local government - see UK local government SITS market trends & forecasts). Agilisys has guaranteed minimum savings of more than £11m over the contract period.
Service delivery will begin with the Wigan partners on 1st February followed by Bolton Council in July (to allow for a smooth transition). Initial projects are set to include a number of ‘smarter working’ initiatives, including desktop virtualisation and WAN migration, as well as development of a new datacentre facility. The council has stated that it was looking for a supplier that would be able to transform services through new technologies.
The win fits with Agilisys’ plan to have a regional focus to its local government activities: in London, the Northwest and the Southwest i.e. areas where it already has a significant footprint. We understand that Agilisys was up against Capita in the final throes of the competition. The incumbent at Bolton Council was Fujitsu (in a three year, £7.6m deal signed in 2010), while the incumbent at Wigan Council was Virgin Media Business. The loss will be a blow to Fujitsu’s local government ambitions; it currently derives £100-125m from the sector and Bolton was one of its largest clients (see UK public sector SITS supplier landscape 2012-13). Agilisys, meanwhile, is tantalisingly close to gaining a position in TechMarketView's UK public sector SITS Top 20 rankings; deals like this will go some way to helping!