Tech firms back government ICT strategy

The launch of the Government ICT Strategy Document on the direction of central government ICT has been broadly backed by several influential technology vendors and industry groups. The report highlights how government ICT will enable the delivery of public services with a ‘different approach to deliver this strategy, characterised by a strong centre and continued commitment to greater transparency through regular and open reporting.’
In the view of Andy Burton, chair of the Cloud Industry Forum, “It ticks all the right boxes but we need to strike the right balance in some areas to avoid too greater correction that the skills and resources aren't in place to deliver.”
The document announced that ‘the Government will create a common and secure ICT infrastructure based on a suite of agreed, open standards.” While the adoption of compulsory open standards will help government to avoid lengthy vendor lock-in, allowing the transfer of services or suppliers without excessive transition costs, loss of data or significant functionality.
“The big principles of adopting open standards and agile deployment; consolidating data centres and leveraging cloud services; and, the inclusion of SMEs in the supply chain are all positive moves that will have impact,” comments Burton. “It is no easy task to bring about this scale of change and in the process avoid making knee jerk reactions that could cause the real focus of efficient and effective ICT to be lost in pursuit of a principles over the true test of fitness for purpose.”
Burton is particularly pleased about Government Skunkworks, established to develop low-cost, fast and agile ICT solutions, providing a new channel for SMEs to participate in government IT.
Martyn Hart, chairman of the National Outsourcing Association also welcomed the government’s promise to bring down the “ICT oligopoly”,  and  open up the procurement process to suppliers of all shapes and sizes, and ensure that the public sector achieves the best possible service from its suppliers.
“At present, the government is tied into a range of contracts with large suppliers, which could mean that they struggle to get the best possible service as a result,” he comments. “In recent weeks, we’ve seen the coalition government pledging to support SMEs with a broad range of initiatives aimed at ensuring that larger outsourcing suppliers are not the only ones with access to public sector contracts.  This announcement is designed to take this a step further and ensure a fairer procurement process for IT contracts in the public sector – which can only be a good thing.
Hart notes that the report related largely to ICT, which typically refers to the provision of hardware and software. “However, it’s worth remembering that most major outsourcing and shared services contracts are also dependent to a large extent on building relationships and understanding business processes, which, if not effectively established, can lead to operational inefficiencies. Perhaps it would have been useful for the Cabinet Office to have considered these areas as well?” he adds.
Vendors such as Brocade and Citrix, both with well-established channels, also endorsed the report. Simon Pamplin, director, pre-sales, UK and Ireland, Brocade, states: “The launch today of the Government’s ICT Strategy should be broadly welcomed by the UK IT industry as a whole.”
Pamplin believes that it signals a dramatic push by government to consolidate its datacentre, network, software and assets as well as migrate to the cloud.
James Stevenson, area vice president UK, Ireland, South Africa, Citrix feels that, “as costs continue to come under scrutiny, skills development within government IT needs to be strengthened.  The public sector needs its ICT professionals to be equipped with strong technical knowledge, exemplary negotiation skills and the ability to build productive relationships with IT suppliers.”
Stevenson points to example like Basildon Borough Council which is saving more than £2m each year following implementation of virtual desktops and Leicestershire Constabulary achieving a 30 percent increase in officer time spent patrolling streets using a similar solution.