Council agrees preferred bidder for ICT procurement

27th October 2009

At a special meeting today (Tuesday 27 October), The Highland Council's Resources Committee agreed to appoint Fujitsu Services as its preferred bidder for Information Communication and Technology Services over the next five years.

The estimated value of the new contract, which will take effect from early in the new year, is more than £66 million.

As part of their bid, Fujitsu are establishing a North of Scotland ICT centre of excellence in Inverness and will be moving in the new year from their current base within Council headquarters in Inverness.

The committee decision is the culmination of an evaluation of two bids - compared to the public sector comparator - which showed that the bids delivered value for money.

The reserve bidder is Atos Origin.

Councillor Carolyn Wilson, Chairman of the Resources Committee, said: "I am pleased that this rigorous exercise is nearing completion with the choice of the preferred bidder and my thanks go to everyone who has put so much work into getting us to this point.

"This new contract will offer the Council and all its staff a number of interesting opportunities for new, improved and flexible ways of working in the future and allow significant investment in new ICT systems and infrastructure for both corporate and school curriculum ICT.

"It will deliver significant efficiency savings - £6.76 million over the next five years - and cut the carbon footprint of the Council through reduced carbon emissions and energy consumption."