Council saves over £500,000 on technology
Gloucestershire County Council needed to update its computers and the Crown Commercial Service helped them save over £500,000 in the process.
The customer requirement
Gloucestershire County Council needed to replace its ageing desktop and laptop equipment to facilitate an upgrade to Windows 7 for approximately 2,000 users.
The council also wanted to move to a thin client solution, coupled with a robust Citrix platform, to help them reduce ongoing update charges and support a data centre relocation strategy, which required new infrastructure.
The solution
The council approached the Crown Commercial Service (CCS) technology aggregation team for advice on the available options to purchase the infrastructure and equipment within budget and also meet an ambitious timeline.
The CCS team recommended joining one of their regular collaborative eAuctions under the Technology Products (RM1054) agreement, as the aim of these eAuctions is to drive down prices by bringing together multiple customers’ requirements and increasing competition between suppliers.
This approach also meant that the CCS team would run the procurement for the council, including appointing a supplier and managing the supplier through to delivery and installation. The team worked closely with the council to ensure that the infrastructure and equipment would both meet the needs of the council and be suitable for aggregation with other customers’ requirements. They also used their expertise to provide the council with best practice advice, highlighting potential risks and providing technical input into the specification.
“Having been assigned to procure the infrastructure and end user devices for Gloucestershire County Council, it seemed an obvious choice to engage with the Crown Commercial Service given their expertise and gravitas within the supply base. Having dealt with them over the last eight years, I have always received good service but the experience, commitment and project management shown on this project was superb. A big thanks to the team for delivering this project successfully against tight deadlines and significantly under budget.”
Marcus Pendlebury, Senior Commercial Officer, Gloucestershire County Council
The results
The back-office infrastructure purchase saved the council £453,000 against a budget provided by early market testing. It was also installed within the agreed timescales to support the deployment of the new desktops and laptops, the cost of which saved the council a further £51,000. The new equipment also has up to date energy efficiency standards, which the council expect will provide them with further savings.
These savings have enabled the council to invest in an additional technology project in order to provide a better customer experience for their residents.
“This was an ambitious project with aggressive timelines and I am delighted that we have had such a great result. The project faced a number of challenges along the way but the team did an excellent job and pulled together to make this a success, it was like having another couple of extra (very competent) people on my project team. The savings generated are a fantastic bonus which the council will be re-investing for the future.”
Gareth Steer, Strategic Lead for ICT, Gloucestershire County Council
Get involved
To take part in an upcoming technology aggregation project or find out more:
Visit the technology aggregation web page
Email the team at technologyaggregation@crowncommercial.gov.uk
Call us on 0345 410 2222.