Purpose

The Council is migrating its ICT systems to
the Microsoft Azure cloud as part of its exit from the Civic
Centre’s data centre. However, some of the Council’s
legacy systems are unsuitable for cloud migration due to technical
limitations, the age of the applications, or unsupported software
from third-party vendors. These systems are still critical to the
Council’s operations and replacing them with modern
cloud-compatible solutions is neither financially nor logistically
feasible.

Given this, the most cost-effective solution is to procure scalable
Dell hardware to host these systems on-site. This scalable approach
allows the Council to maintain flexibility, as the proposed
hardware solution can accommodate any future cloud optimisation
reviews that demonstrate benefits in moving systems back
on-premise—whether for cost efficiency or performance
improvements.

The new Dell hardware will be installed in the Spindles offices to
facilitate the planned shutdown of the Civic Centre’s data
centre without disrupting the functionality of these legacy
systems. It also offers a more modern, energy-efficient, and
reliable infrastructure than the end-of-life/support hardware
currently in place.

Content

Approval is required to purchase and install
server and storage hardware to maintain the Council’s
business ICT systems that cannot migrate to Microsoft Azure. The
hardware will be installed and operated from Primary Communications
Room 1 in the Spindles offices.
Several of the Council’s current systems are unsuitable for
migration to the Microsoft Azure cloud, primarily due to the age of
the applications or a lack of support from third-party suppliers.
Given these limitations, continuing to provide an on-premise
solution for these systems has been deemed more cost-effective
until replacement becomes viable and affordable.

Additionally, the proposed Dell hardware solution is scalable.
Should the Council’s ongoing annual cloud optimisation
reviews identify that moving certain systems back on-premise offers
a cost or performance advantage, this scalable hardware solution
will accommodate such systems efficiently. This ensures that the
Council can remain flexible in future decisions, balancing cloud
and on-premise resources based on evolving needs.

The proposed hardware is a streamlined version of the outdated and
soon-to-be-unsupported equipment currently used in the data centre.
Migrating these systems to the new hardware in the Spindles Comms
Room will avoid delays in exiting the Civic Centre while ensuring
continuous service for systems that cannot be migrated.