Issue - meetings

1.  The information be noted and  the procurement of the Microsoft’s Cloud (Azure) as the Council’s Data Center with disaster recovery and increased resilience of the Data Centre for 5 years be agreed.

2.  An increase in the IT Services revenue budget of £400k be approved to ensure Microsoft Cloud (Azure), Disaster Recovery and Cyber Security functions required are procured and available for the Council.This additional revenue budget requirement represents a forward commitment as part of the 2023/24 and future years budget. There will be part-year costs expected of c. £100k in 2022/23 which will need to be managed from within the existing approved IT Services revenue budget.

3.  The use of the current IT service provider, BT, through the mechanism of the Westminster City Council Pan-London ICT Framework to procure the services detailed in the report be agreed. Where in the opinion of the Director of Corporate Services and Governance a separate procurement is required or desirable, agree to delegate authority to this Director in consultation with the Portfolio Holder, to authorise the use of an alternative procurement route in order to proceed to procurement and award the contract.

Report CSD22130

(Having previously declared a pecuniary interest, Councillor Simon Fawthrop left the room for consideration of the item).

The report set out options and recommendations for the Executive to consider on the future of the Council’s Data Centre and Disaster Recovery. The report appraised the various technical options as part of the analysis process included the recommended option, risks, benefits and the required changes that were needed to ensure that the Council provided an adequate disaster recovery capability.

The Executive noted that the proposals within the report could reduce the costs of any future Council accommodation plans.  It was also noted that over time a move to a multi cloud approach would be considered as part of the Council’s IT Strategy.

In response to a question, the Assistant Director for IT confirmed that the contract agreed through crown commercial could, if necessary, be renegotiated after 3 to 4 years to reflect any changes in the Council’s circumstances.

The report had been scrutinised by the Executive, Resources and Contracts PDS Committee at its meeting on 23 November and the Committee had supported the recommendations.

RESOLVED: That

1.  The information be noted and the procurement of Microsoft’s Cloud (Azure) as the Council’s Data Center with disaster recovery and increased resilience of the Data Centre for 5 years be agreed.

2.  An increase in the IT Services revenue budget of £400k be approved to ensure Microsoft Cloud (Azure), Disaster Recovery and Cyber Security functions required are procured and available for the Council.This additional revenue budget requirement represents a forward commitment as part of the 2023/24 and future years budget. There will be part-year costs expected of c. £100k in 2022/23 which will need to be managed from within the existing approved IT Services revenue budget.

3.  The use of the current IT service provider, BT, through the mechanism of the Westminster City Council Pan-London ICT Framework to procure the services detailed in the report be agreed. Also, where in the opinion of the Director of Corporate Services and Governance a separate procurement is required or desirable, agree to delegate authority to this Director in consultation with the Portfolio Holder, to authorise the use of an alternative procurement route in order to proceed to procurement and award the contract.