Case study

G-Cloud SME helped Derby City Council reduce IT outsourcing costs

Derby City Council used G-Cloud to help them exit a long term IT outsourcing contract with a large multinational supplier.

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Background

Derby City Council was exiting a long term IT outsourcing contract with a large multinational supplier, as moving forward they needed a more agile and flexible approach that was easier to adjust as the needs of the council changed, and as the impact of budget cuts take greater effect.

The council explored a number of service delivery models and decided its future would be based on cloud computing, initially through Infrastructure as a Service but moving through to Software as a Service. As such the council was keen to explore suppliers who could assist with migration from an on premise environment to the cloud and then support stable operations in a cloud computing environment.

The solution

Using the G-Cloud framework the council first chose an SME, risual, to help design the cloud solution and to undertake due diligence on the proposed future operating model.

The outcome of this design work was an agreed specification that embedded a cloud based operating model, allowed the council to achieve greater leverage from its Microsoft enterprise agreement and saw a rapid reduction in the on premise server estate; with further reductions to follow as software contracts come up for renewal.

Planning sessions with risual helped the council to identify the business priorities and develop a plan to move IT services from the existing datacentre to the Microsoft Cloud. This included performing a number of test migrations to determine the speed at which the move could take place.

The result

By moving IT services to the cloud using the G-Cloud framework, the council has:

  • achieved significant reductions in total ICT spend

  • improved server monitoring and optimisation

  • the ability to respond more flexibly to changing business needs

  • transferred repetitive tasks, such as server patching, to a supplier

  • reduced the time, effort and cost to procure and manage new services

  • accessed suppliers with niche skills that traditional outsourcing would exclude

Nick O’Reilly, Director of Digital Services, Derby City Council commented:

“risual worked hard to deliver the migration with minimum impact on the day to day business activities; and were committed to overcoming obstacles outside of their control. The results have helped achieve the targeted budget savings and are delivering the increased agility, scalability and flexibility required. A win-win result!”

Find out more

Take a look at the G-Cloud framework on the Digital Marketplace or call us on 0345 410 2222.

Updates to this page

Published 5 October 2016