Bristol In Cost-Cutting Cloud Shift

Bristol City Council has announced a move to the cloud as part of a government-mandate cost-cutting plan.

The council has reached a £1.5m, two-year deal with Eduserv, a not-for-profit managed cloud services provider, to migrate its ICT infrastructure to the cloud. The move is part of a £90m cost-cutting programme, with 30 percent in cuts being imposed upon all UK local councils.

Cloud shift

Under the contract, reached via G-Cloud, Eduserv is to take over daily IT requirements as well as data hosting. The move will give Bristol a “more flexible, cost-effective resource,” the council said in a statement.

“The ICT market is changing rapidly, becoming much more commoditised and consumer-led, where significant economies of scale are now possible,” stated Steven Pendleton, services manager at the council. “We are pleased to be working with Eduserv, supporting SMEs and delivering the Digital City agenda.”

Eduserv said its offering is tailored for public sector organisations, allowing them to “choose the right mix of IT and professional services”.

“The benefit of having our own datacentre is that local government can free up its real estate immediately, by co-locating in our datacentre and migrating to the cloud in a controlled environment,” stated Eduserv sales director Andrew Hawkins.

G-Cloud growth

Cumulative spending on G-Cloud, the UK’s digital procurement network for the public sector, reached £192 million in May – an increase of £12 million over the previous month, the government announced in June. According to the figures provided by the Cabinet Office, the growth is accelerating, especially considering the number of contracts awarded to small and medium businesses (SMBs).

In October of last year, G-Cloud featured 1,186 companies, 84 percent of which were SMBs. The aim of the government is to have 50 percent of IT spend go through the framework by 2015.

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