Newcastle-Under-Lyme Chooses Microsoft Over Open Source

Newcastle-Under-Lyme Borough Council has opted to renew its contract with Microsoft instead of choosing cloud-based or open source products.

Renewing the enterprise contract was recommended in a report for the council’s Cabinet, written by the Executive Management Team.

The document concluded extending the contract with the IT giant offered the “best overall pricing,” after taking into account the size of the organisation and the number of services required.

The agreement between the local authority and the IT giant will see the company provide software assurance and server licenses via a certified reseller.

The three-year deal commenced on 1^st June, replacing the council’s Microsoft Enterprise Agreement, which expired at the end of May.

Newcastle-under-Lyme claims it considered alternative options, including subscription-based agreements, cloud-based software as a service (SaaS) and open source products.

Although the local authority currently uses these options for its anti-virus and email filtering systems, it decided the best option was to renew the Microsoft contract – expected to cost £263,284 over its duration.

Report Recommended Microsoft

“Based on a three-year term, with the ability to add and adjust products and online services over time, the enterprise agreement offers pricing advantages beyond standard licence and subscription pricing,” claims the report.

Newcastle-under-Lyme currently uses 540 devices in its operations – the majority of these are desktop computers and servers running the Windows operating system.

It was recommended that the council renew its enterprise agreement with a certified reseller to ensure best value for money.

The chosen reseller is expected to work with the authority’s ICT team on issues such as legal compliance throughout the duration of the contract, avoiding any need for a Microsoft audit, in turn, sparing costs and staff resources.

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