Decision details

The Cabinet Member:

1. Awarded the contract for the procurement of cloud-based services from Amazon Web Services UK Limited (AWS) through the G-Cloud - 11 Framework Agreement (RM1557.11 for the period 1st April 2020 to 31st March 2021 for a value of £630,000

2.  Authorised the Director: Customer and Digital Services to vary this Contract if required, subject to approval by the Director of Law and Governance (or authorised officer’s) and the Corporate Director of Resources.

As part of the council’s 2015 Technology Strategy, the council migrated servers from the Town Hall server room to a remote computing/web service provided by Amazon Web Services (AWS) procured through Arcus Global Limited via the G-Cloud framework.  The contract is now managed in house via a G-Cloud contract.

Operationally AWS continues to offer the best value and continuity of service to the council, also benefiting from; high availability server capacity, modern server technology, switching off servers when not in use to reduce cost, a level of disaster recovery and improved business continuity.

The council is therefore provided with an effective ICT service which is:

-Stable;

-Flexible;

-Adaptable;

-Resilient; and

-Appropriate to the needs of the Council in the medium to long term.

The current contract expires at 31st March 2020 therefore a new contract is required in order to continue use of AWS cloud-based services.

The recommended option is to procure cloud-based services directly through the council via the Crown Commercial Service Call-Off Contract, G-Cloud 11 Framework Agreement (RM1557.11). This is considered to be the preferred procurement route, as opposed to renewing the contract via any third party, as it removes any handling charges or mark-up that may be applied by a third party.

This new contract for cloud-based services is based on a direct award of contract via the G-Cloud 11 Framework Agreement and is made in accordance with the procedures for awarding a direct call-off.

This award is for the continuation of an existing service. The server room in Sand Martin House has been sized to accommodate a limited number of servers, with the overall design based on continued reliance on the cloud-based service and the capacity provided by AWS.

An alternative would be to move the services to another provider. This is feasible but would take 1-2 years to complete, as it did to move to AWS in the first place, and would incur additional charges from all parties involved. The longer term approach to using a blend of cloud-based services alongside the server room in Sand Martin House is currently being reviewed as part of the IT Strategy work that is underway between Peterborough City Council and Cambridgeshire County Council.

None.

None.