Issue - meetings

Report of the Executive Director of Corporate Resources and Customer Services

The Cabinet considered the report of the Executive Director of Corporate Resources and Customer Services setting out the background for the Council’s main Microsoft provision which comprised of Office 365 end user licences, including email services, PowerBI subscription, used for business intelligence and reporting, Sefton’s Azure cloud environment, the Azure managed service and Server Cloud Enrolment for SQL databases. These functions made up a large portion of the Council’s ICT provision used by officers to conduct their day-to-day duties, helping provide services to the public and the Council’s stakeholders.

The report also detailed the associated procurement route(s) available to the authority to renew these licences and services due to the current contract expiring on 30 April 2024.

Decisions Made:

That:

(1)      the Executive Director of Corporate Resources and Customer Services be authorised to select an appropriate framework provider to conduct a direct award procurement exercise leading to the forming of a new contract for the provision of Microsoft Office 365 licences used by Council staff and also usage of the Council’s cloud environment Microsoft Azure, which hosts the majority of the Council’s Data Centre, with a view to entering into a contract for a period of 3 years plus an optional 1-year extension period for contingency; and

(2)      the Executive Director of Corporate Resources and Customer Services, in consultation with the Cabinet Member - Regulatory, Compliance and Corporate Services, be granted delegated authority to award the Contract resulting from the procurement exercise and any subsequent contract extensions.

Reasons for the Decisions:

To ensure that Council staff could continue using Microsoft Office 365 applications and that software applications and data stored within the Council’s cloud environment (Microsoft Azure) were still available for use upon the expiry of the current contract.

Alternative Options Considered and Rejected:

To conduct a competition via a framework for a new provider. However, due to the timing of the new Microsoft DTA agreement and the current challenges with the existing frameworks, this would be incredibly challenging in terms of timescales to deliver.