Councils 'wasting millions' ignoring government IT cloud

[annie]

UK county councils could be "wasting millions" on IT services they could buy more cheaply through the government's central digital marketplace, research suggests.

In the 2012-13 financial year, county councils spent nearly £440m in total on IT services, including staffing costs, but just £385,000 of that through the government's "G-Cloud" framework.

The G-Cloud initiative, launched in 2012, aims to shave £120m a year off the public sector IT bill by encouraging all public sector bodies to buy IT products and services through the government's CloudStore digital marketplace.

Cloud services are "quicker, cheaper and more competitive", according to Cabinet Office Minister Francis Maude, with some tech companies estimating that they can be 25% to 60% cheaper than traditional long-term IT contracts.

Despite this, G-Cloud is largely being ignored by county councils,

For example, Kent County Council, the biggest IT spender, committed £38.5m to IT services in 2012-13, but just £94,750 of that went through G-Cloud.

MORE:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-27618218

[Rosalind]

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