Fujitsu has signed a deal with the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) to install and manage a virtualised desktop infrastructure. This six-year deal involves around 140,000 desktop devices and is the largest desktop and thin client outsource deal in the UK.
The deal will cover over 1,000 locations across the UK and is expected to provide DWP with significant cost savings. Fujitsu says that adopting a thin client infrastructure will reduce costs associated with desk-side support and hardware. It will also improve the DWP’s carbon footprint through a reduction in the amount of electricity used. The energy savings alone from the thin client model are expected to be many tens of millions of pounds, Fujitsu said.
The contract will kick-start an IT refresh project at the DWP. “This is the first in a series of competitions to replace our existing IT and telephony services contracts by 2015 and it sets the tone by delivering significant benefits for the Department and as a framework for Government wide IT,” said Joe Harley, DWP IT director general and CIO.
“As well as delivering significant savings it will further transform DWP’s desktop estate with the proposed use of ‘thin client’ desktop technology. This provides a number of benefits, including little or no maintenance required to the kit and reductions in power consumption which supports our sustainability agenda,” Harley said.
“As the Government moves forward with its Common IT Platform agenda, change will be driven by innovative approaches to business critical, but everyday, IT such as the desktop platforms in use across the wider public sector,” said Eithne Wallis, managing director UK Government Division, Fujitsu UK and Ireland.
Wallis added that the deal is a continuation of a number of other projects that Fujitsu and DWP are working together on: “The decision to award this contract to Fujitsu reflects our proven experience in working with government over the last 40 years. We currently manage desktop estates for a number of key government Departments and lead the shared services work with the Cabinet Office and others as part of the Flex framework.”
Fujitsu will assume control of the service on September 1st 2010 after a phased transition.
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