News archive // 2009 // Logicalis Wins Race To Manage Olympic Borough's 2012 IT Network


Greenwich Council Signs Logicalis for Managed Services

Slough, 5th March 2009 – International solutions provider, Logicalis, today announces it has signed a 7-year managed IT services contract with Greenwich Council. The £6m deal includes the upgrade and implementation of a Local Area Network (LAN) and Wide Area Network (WAN), and forms part of a Borough-wide modernisation program to improve internal operational efficiencies. The IT network will also support new and innovative e-services for use by citizens and visitors to the London 2012 Olympics.

The London Borough, one of London's largest local authorities, operates a ‘direct' facilities model, meaning that all community services, such as refuse collection, are managed in-house as opposed to using third party contractors. For Cllr Peter Brooks, Deputy Leader of the Council at Greenwich Council, a robust network, from which to provision and manage these services electronically, is critical to improving both employee productivity and the quality of community services;

“The decision to outsource the day-to-day operational maintenance of the network will enable us to focus on delivering applications and services that streamline existing processes, and work to ensure residents and local businesses continue to receive value-for-money services from their tax contributions. It makes absolute commercial sense for us to outsource operational and commoditised tasks to a trusted IT partner.”

Logicalis will also be providing ongoing consultancy services as the London Borough prepares for the London 2012 Olympics and seeks to build new multi-media applications and functionality into the network for use by local residents, tourists and athletes.

Cllr Peter Brooks says, “2012 will see a significant increase in demand for council services, and therefore we wanted an IT partner to help us meet this challenge. We value consultancies that are able to bring innovation and ideas to the table, but which also have an appreciation of the commercial sensitivities associated with public sector expenditure.

“From the outset, Logicalis demonstrated high levels of technical expertise and an in-depth understanding of the public sector business model. It continues to meet our expectations as we look to position Greenwich Council as an example of local authority IT excellence.”

An aggressive implementation over the next 12-18 months will see over 10,000 employees migrated to the new converged voice and data network, which will also support Greenwich Council's local home and remote workers.

Tom Kelly, managing director of Logicalis UK, comments; “Local authorities are under constant pressure to achieve cost and efficiency savings, but which equally have to compete with the private sector in terms of infrastructure and service delivery. Taxpayers have far greater visibility of council expenditure, and demonstrating a return on investment is critical.

“Outsourcing basic but essential IT maintenance, in this case the LAN and WAN, will help Greenwich Council to redirect its attention toward seeking greater value from its business processes and services, whilst at the same time stabilising operational expenditure.”

About Logicalis

Logicalis is an international provider of integrated ICT solutions, delivering secure, converged computing and communications infrastructure and services.

We can provide the architecture, deployment, integration and management of networks and systems to deliver leading edge solutions that create value for our customers and meet their business needs now and into the future.

Logicalis is a trusted provider of multi-vendor solutions and services operating in the most complex and challenging business environments. Our relationships with the industry's leading technology suppliers, combined with our business understanding enable you to invest with confidence.

The Logicalis Group is a division of Datatec Limited (DTC), a $4.0 billion multi-national Group listed on the AIM market of the LSE and the Johannesburg Stock Exchange. With international headquarters in the UK , the Logicalis Group has operations in the US, UK, Germany, and South America.

About Greenwich Council

The borough of Greenwich is in south-east London , and covers an area of more than 5,000 hectares. It has a population of approximately 223,100. Greenwich Council has worked over the past decade to spearhead a major programme of physical, economic and social regeneration, working with public and private sector partners. This has helped breathe new life into parts of the borough that had suffered from a significant decline in the 1970s and 80s of the area's traditional manufacturing base. Renovation of brown-field sites has been accompanied by infrastructure improvements, including new public transport links, and by a programme of housing renewal. This has helped achieve significant environmental improvements, along with an improved quality of life for local residents. Tourism is a major source of employment, contributing towards around one quarter of jobs locally. The Maritime Greenwich World Heritage Site helps to ensure that the borough attracts some nine million visitors each year. Greenwich is a host borough for the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games and will host around one third of Olympic and Paralympic events.

The Council is currently embarking on a major programme to modernise its services, with a focus on new ways of delivering services, making the best use of new technology, and creating a better working environment for its staff. A new Council centre offering leisure  facilities, a library, advice and payment services under one roof was opened in Eltham town centre in late 2007, and two similar centres are being developed for Woolwich and Greenwich.

For further information contact:

Jennifer Manning / Charlotte Sandy Andrew Stern
Cohesive Communications Greenwich Council Communications
Tel: 01291 626200 Tel: 02089215043
Logicalis@cohesive.uk.com andrew.stern@greenwich.gov.uk