Purpose

To modify the current contract for Microsoft
Azure APA to increase cloud storage space thus achieving the
continued use of Microsoft Azure systems and to approve the budget
to meet the associated costs.

Over the remaining term of the current contract, specialists from
the ICT team will consider recommendations from Microsoft, and they
will work to improve how our current systems are running in the
cloud. This "optimisation" process involves reducing costs and
making the systems more efficient. The work is already underway and
will continue as part of the routine work that keeps our systems
running smoothly.

The migration of the Council's ICT systems from on-premise
(physical servers located at the Civic Centre) to Microsoft
Azure’s cloud services is part of a larger plan to modernise
our infrastructure. The main goals are to close the existing data
centre and enable the Council's eventual withdrawal from the Civic
Centre. Moving to the cloud also means better system reliability,
ensuring our critical services have more robust backup and recovery
options in case of unexpected issues.
Microsoft Azure’s cloud platform offers advanced features
that help us protect our systems and improve how we manage business
continuity during disruptions.

Content

Reasons for the decision(s)
1.
Maintaining the Current Level of Resources: The systems we’ve
already moved to Microsoft Azure are crucial for the
Council’s daily operations. To ensure we can continue using
them without any disruptions, we need to allocate a budget to cover
the cloud services used in Microsoft Azure. These services include
storage, computing power, and other technical resources that ensure
our systems stay online and accessible.
2
Supporting the Ongoing Migration: We’re moving more systems
to Microsoft Azure. This aligns with the Council’s
"cloud-first" policy, which prioritises cloud technology over
traditional on-site servers. Additionally, as the Civic Centre is
being vacated, we need to ensure that all our business systems are
fully migrated to the cloud to remain accessible and functional
once we no longer use the Civic Centre’s data centre. The
allocated budget will support the necessary technical resources to
continue and complete this transition.