Decision Maker: Cabinet

Outcome: Decision approved

Is Key Decision?: Yes

Is Callable In?: Yes

Date of Decision: September 3, 2024

Purpose: This report seeks approval to commence a procurement process for the award of a contract related to the replacement and renewal of Newham’s Microsoft Enterprise Licensing Agreement (EA). This requires approval of the expenditure from revenue budgets for the value circa £1.978 million per year

Content: Decision   For the reasons set out in the report and its appendices Cabinet RESOLVED to Agree:   i)  Approval to procure a Microsoft Enterprise Agreement (EA) via award to the winning supplier from the Microsoft aggregate process that Crown Commercial Service (CCS) will undertake via the framework reference RM6089 - Software Products and Associated Services Lot 3 (Software of the Technology Products and Associated Services) for a period of three years at an estimated cost of circa £1.978 million per year   Alternatives Considered   a)  A short study has previously been carried out to ascertain viability of implementation of Google suite cc Switching to an alternative software vendor suite has been considered. The current ICT server environment relies heavily on the Microsoft products. The business systems we use also rely on Microsoft product databases. The only realistic option would be the Google G-Suite product set as a replacement for the Microsoft Office suite for email and sharing and collaboration services. However, this would only partly remove the reliance on Microsoft products in these service areas. It should also be noted that if the decision were made to move to Google suite, Newham would still need to invest in Microsoft products and licences for other infrastructure and application set up. The cost of change would also be a significant factor. b)  For the reasons set out above, these options were considered and rejected.