Norfolk signs schools cloud contract

Under the terms of the deal, which was confirmed on 6 October 2010, BT is to deliver a virtual data centre (VDC) service for the county's 400 schools and 100,000 pupils and students. BT said the VDC will enable Norfolk children's services to add and remove applications more easily and quickly than before and that it required no upfront capital expenditure. The company said that it was unable to give the price of the deal, but added: "We do provide the service elsewhere – but this is the first of its kind in terms of schools using it." The new service should also reduce the physical space and power requirements needed by Norfolk's data centre. Paul Fisher, assistant director of education for Norfolk children's services, said: "We considered all of the traditional options for this type of service, but we chose BT's VDC because it has the lowest total cost of ownership, lowest risk and most flexibility. "It also meets two of our highest priorities in public sector spending constraints and reducing our carbon footprint."