On 21 November 2023, the Policy and Resources Committee approved the procurement of a Digital Transformation Partner, with delegated authority being given to the Director of Finance to appoint the successful bidder.  This report details the appointment of the Digital Transformation Partner.

The Director of Finance has approved the appointment of Microsoft Ltd pursuant to a call off contract under the Crown Commercial Services G-Cloud 13 framework for the provision of a Council wide digital transformation programme to modernise services as summarised at paragraph 3.3 of the attached report for a term of 3 years with an option for a further year at a total contract value of up to £5,000,000 based on a 4-year term.

The appointment of a Digital Transformation Partner will support the modernisation of services enabling them to be delivered in more effective and efficient way.

Council faces significant savings that need to be found to enable a balanced medium term financial strategy, a Council wide digital transformation programme will be a key factor in making these savings.

The council does not have the digital capacity or capability in house to support such a large transformation.

The decision to appoint Microsoft as the Council’s Digital Transformation Partner was taken following a procurement exercise using Crown Commercial Service G-Cloud 13 framework.

Following an evaluation of all service offerings on the G-Cloud 13 framework, three organisations were invited to deliver a presentation as to how their service offering delivered against the Council’s requirements, as set out in a statement of requirements document provided to the three organisations.

Scoring of these presentations by the Director of Finance, Assistant Director of Digital, Data and Technology, and Head of Digital and Data resulted in Microsoft being the successful bidder.

Not to appoint a Digital Transformation Partner has been considered but discounted as the Council does not have the capacity or the capability in house to support the work required around digital transformation.

To recruit staff to the council on permanent contracts to be able to fulfil the work. This option has been discounted on the basis that full time permanent posts are not required.

To engage external staff on short, fixed term or agency contacts as an when required. This option will provide the resources to deliver against defined deliverables but with the requirement to identify opportunities and the scale of change required, a partner with a breadth of skills is the preferred option.