Case study - Broadland District Council

Broadland has a long history of outsourcing a range of services. The Best Value review confirmed that for an organisation such as ours, this is the most cost effective way of delivering IT services.

Stephen Fennell
Head of Information and Human Resources
Broadland District Council

Computacenter Services:
• Device Management

Broadland District Council in Norfolk outsourced the management of its information services to Computacenter in a five year contract worth approximately £2m. Computacenter was selected for its innovative approach to service delivery, ability to provide proactive remote support and understanding of the issues that are driving information technology in the public sector. Computacenter is responsible for a range of services including desktop management and support, application management, helpdesk provision and network management. The contract includes the transfer of four IT professionals to Computacenter from the previous contractor.

Broadland District Council serves the northern suburbs of Norwich and the rural area to the north and east of the city that includes Aylsham, Acle and Reepham market towns and numerous villages. This covers 55,215 hectares with a population of 119,500.

Information technology is increasingly important to the support and delivery of council services to the public. Maintaining and improving existing services while working to implement innovation and support Government initiatives such as Best Value and the drive towards eGovernment is the dual challenge facing Broadland District Council.

Computacenter, through its wholly owned subsidiary Digica, was awarded the five year contract after competitive tender. The council recognised the need for a strong partnership with an established service provider that could demonstrate the correct combination of skills, capabilities, innovation and experience.

A key feature of the contract is Computacenter’s innovative approach to proactive desktop support. Support staff from across the company use a range of advanced remote diagnostic and management facilities to view an individual desktop computer anywhere on the council’s network and either fix a technical problem or show the user how to work through a specific application task. The aim is to reduce the number of interventions by local support staff and enhance user understanding of core business applications. In addition to managing its NT-based information services, Computacenter has worked in partnership with the council to help develop and implement an IT strategy that meets future business requirements.