Decision

The Director of Corporate Services has approved the direct award of a contract via the Y23038 Framework for Supply of ICT Managed Services and Consultancy under Lot 2 to Phoenix Software Limited with effect from 21st July 2026 for ICT Consultancy Services for a period of one year at a total cost of £408000.

Reasons for the decision

The objective of the Technology Transformation Programme is to remove the Council’s reliance on ageing infrastructure by moving to a modern, cloud based hosting arrangement. This change is required to reduce infrastructure risk and ensure the continued reliability of critical services used by residents and staff.

Moving from legacy data centre infrastructure to the cloud is a business-critical activity that must be carefully managed to protect service continuity and sensitive information. An experienced delivery partner is required to support this work. The proposed partner has a proven track record of successfully delivering similar cloud migrations and understands the governance, service pressures and risks involved in local government environments, alongside adoption and optimisation opportunities. This provides confidence that the transition can be delivered safely and efficiently using proven methods.

The engagement will include structured handover and training for Council staff, ensuring teams are able to support and manage the system following migration.

Alternative options considered

Do nothing. This was discounted as the Council has a requirement for migration of on-premises infrastructure to Cloud due to end of life.