East Sussex Fire & Rescue Service and Telent Technology Services Limited have signed a seven-year contract for IT services worth approximately £8.3 million.
This agreement follows an eight-month procurement process, culminating in a contract which will support more than 900 users in the Fire Service and the communities it serves.
Telent is now contracted to provide a new IT service platform for effective delivery of ESFRS IT operations and frontline emergency mobilisation services. This forms part of ESFRS’s strategic vision to enable the transformation of the service.
Specifically, Telent will build a new ‘FlexiCloud’ (private cloud service), which will see services migrated in order to enable a considerably more resilient and reliable IT infrastructure. Telent also has plans to manage the migration of legacy systems to a new Microsoft Active Directory and Exchange email environment. By taking on the responsibilities of day-to-day IT and desktop support, Telent will enable ESFRS to instead focus on securing business improvement and value for money through its developing IT strategy.
Mark Plato, Chief Executive, Telent said: “The enhanced infrastructure being provided by Telent will allow the East Sussex Fire & Rescue Service to provide the best possible service to the communities of East Sussex and Brighton & Hove, through increased efficiencies across their operations. Our vast experience in the Public Safety sector has allowed us to recommend and design a tailored solution which will significantly improve the resilience and reliability of the Fire Service’s infrastructure.”
Mark continues: “We have been supporting the digitisation of the Public Sector through the Government G Cloud, Public Sector Network and Technology Solutions Frameworks, as well as maintaining the Parliamentary Digital Service, and providing maintenance and support services at Gatwick Airport, across multiple communication systems.”
East Sussex Fire & Rescue Service’s Chief Fire Officer, Gary Walsh, commented: “Early in 2014 we recognised that we were no longer in a strong position to provide IT services ourselves. Our strategic landscape was changing and we needed an IT service that would underpin our organisation and allow us to aspire to new levels of business change and innovation. After almost two years of hard work and commitment to a vision, we believe that in Telent we have found an organisation that is willing and able to take this journey with us and to share the experience and benefits.”
In addition to the transformation of East Sussex Fire & Rescue Service’s infrastructure, Telent is managing a programme to enable the Fire Service to become fully Public Services Network (PSN) compliant. Being PSN compliant will allow ESFRS to connect to the new emergency services communications network - (known as the Emergency Services Network or ESN) to be ready for further collaboration opportunities with public sector and blue light partners.