Computacenter to deliver IT services to MoD

The Ministry of Defence and its agencies are now able to source end-to-end IT services and technology from Computacenter.

The IT infrastructure services company has been signed up to the MoD’s Defence Communication Services Agency’s bespoke IT procurement directory, the ICS Catalogue, for a minimum of three years.

The catalogue is available to the whole of the MoD, enabling thousands of IT managers and procurement specialists to cost-effectively source the technology and associated services needed to underpin their operations. Lt Cdr Susie Thomson, the DCSA’s spokesman, commented: “IT is of intrinsic strategic importance to the MoD, and it is essential that we provide a cost-effective centralised procurement system. Computacenter’s multi-vendor relationships and buying power will assist the MoD in making the most of its IT budgets.”

The enabling arrangement, which is estimated to be worth £60million per annum across the whole category, could see Computacenter supplying everything from servers and switches to workstations and networks. Colin Brown, Computacenter’s Government Sector Director, commented: “The IT requirements of the MoD and its agencies are incredibly diverse. The ability to purchase a wide range of services and equipment through a single source will help reduce the complexity and costs associated with technology procurement.”

Computacenter will be offering its full range of technology sourcing services, such as pre-configuration, assetting, and staging, to help further simplify the acquisition of new technology. MoD organisations will also be able to access Computacenter’s comprehensive professional services and infrastructure integration capabilities through the catalogue.

A dedicated Computacenter account team will be on hand to liaise with MoD IT and procurement managers as part of the contract. Computacenter is a specialist in all areas of technology sourcing, and has been a major contributor to various government-wide catalogue-enabling agreements.

“Although the investment required for desktop infrastructure is less visible compared to many major programmes within the MoD, localised IT procurement can still be an extremely complex process – and often mission-critical to an organisation’s operations,” commented Andrew Pring, Computacenter’s Client Director for Defence and Intelligence. “We will be working with the DCSA to find ways to optimise technology sourcing for the MoD, and reduce the burden both on procurement and IT departments.”