Browne Jacobson completes £23 million IT project for
Staffordshire County Council
7 February 2011
Browne Jacobson has advised Staffordshire County Council on one of
the country’s first Public Sector Networks (PSN).
The network, which is being delivered in partnership with KCOM,
will be accessed by around 200 council sites and 400 schools,
including all Borough and District councils in Staffordshire. South
Staffordshire Health is already committed in principle and
discussions are taking place with wider partners such as
Staffordshire Police and Staffordshire Fire and Rescue service.
The initial contract, which is for five years with the option to
extend for a further five years, will involve sharing services
including telephones, a County-wide computer network, security
services, contact centre technology and mobile phones.
IT and Outsourcing partner Richard Nicholas and Public
Procurement partner Sharon Jones, worked closely with Frances
Sawford, Legal Project Co-ordinator (ICT) at Staffordshire County
Council to ensure a strong Competitive Dialogue process and a
flexible Framework Agreement.
Commenting on the deal Richard Nicholas said:
“This is a ground breaking shared services project that will
allow Staffordshire County Council and its partners to deliver
services more efficiently and effectively. Once completed, it will
create one of the largest PSNs and will no doubt be mirrored by
other authorities across the country.”
Browne Jacobson’s 11 strong outsourcing and information
technology team has significant expertise advising public and
private sector clients on complex IT projects. Its client portfolio
includes suppliers, distributors and customers of hardware,
software and telecommunications, developers, internet service
providers, systems integrators, recruitment companies, marketing
and design agencies and high street retailers.
Similar projects undertaken by the team include advising a FTSE
350 company on a major 5 year IT supplier contract and acting for a
public sector body on a £200M print outsourcing deal.
The KCOM Group is a leading provider of communications solutions
to both consumer and business markets across the UK.