Oldham sets up £260m IT transformation deal

Oldham Council has awarded preferred bidder status to a partnership of three suppliers for a business transformation project worth £260m over 10 years.

The contract is expected to be signed in October. The partnership will be responsible for delivering two phases of the business transformation project over the next 18 months and is likely to win further work over the life of the contract.

Agilisys has responsibility for transforming the IT function, Mouchel Parkman has won the property and facilities element of the contract, and HBS has the contact centre and revenues and benefits work.

The first phase of the project will centre on the council’s contact centre, revenues and benefits, highways and property departments and involve the transfer or secondment of 400 staff plus up to a further 100 from the IT department.

The second phase of the deal, which is scheduled to start in spring 2007, will involve finance, human resources and payroll, and an extension of the contact centre.

Council IT director Trevor Slade said the status of staff in the new partnership had not been decided.

The council opted for the far- reaching partnership because it wanted to speed the process of change. “We have been doing transformation on a project-by-project basis, but that would not have brought about the cultural change we really want,” said Slade.

To win preferred status, the partnership promised to create 294 jobs in Oldham, some of which may come from the suppliers’ contracts with private sector companies.