Northgate-is - News Item 968

£6.5m ICT services contract to deliver key efficiencies

North Lanarkshire Council has forged an ICT Service Delivery Partnership worth £6.5m with leading ICT company, Northgate Managed Services (Northgate).

The five-year contract is part of the council’s drive to operate more efficiently and cost effectively in line with the Efficient Government programme impacting all Scottish Local Authorities. 

The Partnership will support the Council’s ICT Strategy supporting over 8,000 IT users across 220 sites ultimately helping the Council to provide high quality services to its citizens.

With the rise in users’ expectations of what constitutes a high quality ICT service, Northgate’s Managed Service offers a flexible solution allowing for increased user productivity and satisfaction.

At the heart of the service is an ITIL Service Desk supported by continuous remote monitoring of the Council’s network and infrastructure. 

The service, modelled on industry best practice, will promote high first time fix rates and ensure incidents and problems are managed efficiently.

The Service Desk together with the dedicated on-site team will provide an integrated managed service, supplemented where required with resources drawn across Northgate ensuring maximum flexibility and efficient delivery. 

As part of the Partnership, Northgate will also provide support for ICT projects enabling the share of innovation and continuous improvements.

North Lanarkshire Council Finance Convener Councillor John Pentland said: “The council needed a partner with a long standing commitment to Scotland, one who will provide high quality services that will best assist us in achieving our vision to ‘put Service and People First.’ 

“Northgate’s approach fits in with our desire to address new ways of doing things.”

Commenting on the partnership, James Turnbull, Managing Director, Infrastructure Solutions, Northgate Managed Services said,   “We are excited by the prospect of working with the council and feel that our strengths and capabilities in this market will allow us to bring innovative and value added ideas to the partnership on a regular basis.”

He continued, “We are strongly committed to the region, and to Scotland in general, where we have been conducting business for some 30 years now.

“Our aim is to develop North Lanarkshire as our Regional Centre of Excellence, bringing in more employment to the council area and supporting the local community wherever we can.”