Government Extends ‘Cost Saving’ Oracle Licensing Deal

The UK Government has expanded its deal with Oracle, claiming a new memorandum of understanding will result in unspecified savings over the course of the next three years.

The Crown Commercial Service (CCS) says the deal builds on a previous agreement signed in 2012, which promised to save taxpayers £75m by this year by allowing different government departments to bulk buy licences and re-use software licences it already owned.

This latest deal will extend that agreement to cover other public sector organisations like the NHS and more products and services, however precious few details have been revealed.

Oracle government

“The enhanced MoU will deliver savings across government and allow easier and more effective procurement of Oracle products and services,” said Sally Collier, chief executive of CCS. “It lays the foundation of a more collaborative relationship between government and Oracle.”

“We are delighted to demonstrate our commitment to the agenda of the new government in saving money and delivering leading-edge information technology to help transform public services,” added Oracle’s UK head Dermot O’Kelly. “We look forward to continued productive and mutually beneficial relationships with our public sector customers.”

Earlier this month, the head of the Government Digital Service (GDS) Mike Bracken announced he was leaving his role to be replaced by chief operating officer Stephen Foreshew-Cain, leaving the future direction of the department in question.

Late last year it emerged the Home Office was locked into a £330m contract with Oracle for enterprise resource planning (ERP) software and was obliged to pay the company for another year despite having entered into an agreement with French integrator Steria for ERP as part of a cost cutting measure. In 2013, the public sector spent £290m with Oracle, according to TechMarketView.

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