Westminster seeks support services deal

According to a notice published in the Official Journal of the European Union on 31 August 2010, the one year deal will include the hosting and maintenance of the hardware and software. The council said it is looking for a "relatively short term contract" after the current support services deal for its system, which uses Oracle's enterprise resource planning (ERP) software, expires in April 2011. The chosen supplier will also be expected to provide application software, process BACS and cheque payments, and problem resolution. "Also, an annual disaster recovery exercise will be performed, with robust procedures established to recover the council's data in the event of system failure. After implementation, the supplier will provide systems management and administration, including both technical information technology and application software support," Westminster said. The council hopes that the a one year extension option will provide the necessary flexibility to ensure that the end date of the deal is aligned with the start date of its new integrated ERP system, which will be delivered during 2012. "The timescales for full implementation are short and the contractor must be able to provide the resources required to ensure that the implementation of a fully operational Westminster information management system is achieved," the council added.