The Foreign & Commonwealth Office (FCO) has signed a framework contract for BAE Systems Detica to deliver Service Management Integration (SMI) services across the FCO’s global estate. The contract is worth around £40m over five years.
Detica, an IT part of the defence contractor BAE Systems, will be responsible for delivering the FCO’s end to end IT services through managing its IT suppliers, such as Vodafone and desktop supplier Computacenter, as well as delivering efficiency savings. The contract covers 260 FCO posts around the world, maintaining continuity of critical systems to help the government organisation reduce IT costs by up to 40 per cent.
The Government set out an IT strategy focused on making its IT cheaper, more transparent, more innovative and flexible. As well as delivering cost savings to Government, this framework supports the Cabinet Office’s drive to buy and manage goods and services more efficiently and effectively, opening the market to a wider range of UK suppliers.
Martin Sutherland, Managing Director of BAE Systems Detica, said: “We’re delighted to be working in partnership with the FCO to manage a truly global IT service.
“Being selected in the face of strong competition from large global IT players demonstrates our ability to take responsibility for large scale complex ICT services on behalf of our clients. We are drawing on the wider capability within BAE Systems, combining Detica’s proven delivery management and security expertise with the large scale integrated service management processes of BAE Systems Shared Services, in order to deliver a solution for the FCO that allows it to achieve dynamic resilience in its IT infrastructure across the world while driving user experience enhancements and significant efficiencies and cost savings.”
The contractor adds that the framework is available to other government departments, particularly those that work with the FCO and the win is described by the contractor as a significant milestone. The service is due to go live in spring 2014.
