Onsite Technical Support To Keep Systems Running Smoothly

Sopra Group delivers onsite technical service and support for one of the country's largest local authorities.  Under the terms of the deal, the company provides comprehensive computer support services for North Lanarkshire Council, which is the fourth largest council in Scotland with an area of 47,358 hectares and a population of 327,900.

Sopra Group has taken responsibility for the authority's Sun/Solaris-based UNIX systems.  All the council's mission critical systems, including council tax administration, housing services, payroll and financials, run on its UNIX network.  The network is based on some of the most powerful Sun Microsystems hardware available in the marketplace today - including the E10000 Starfire server - and has some 3,500 workstations in more than 200 locations.

Sopra Group was chosen for the contract because of its strong skills base in Sun and UNIX-based technologies, its background in working with public sector organisations and its ability to provide flexible and tailored support services.  Its commitment to customer care and first class technical skills were also factors, as was value for money - the contract was won in open competition through OJEC.  The £450,000 contract is for an initial three years, with an option for an extension to five years.

Ronnie McBride, North Lanarkshire Council's IT Production Services Manager said "Sopra Group will now be carrying out all our first line support.  The company will be responsible for troubleshooting and resolving issues, carrying out ongoing maintenance, picking up calls from our own council helpdesk and calling on Sun in the event of hardware problems."

Ronnie McBride is responsible for all the authority's UNIX systems.  The decision to outsource the work was taken to allow the council's own IT staff to concentrate on major project work such as planning for the future, Mr McBride added "On balance, we felt that Sopra Group was the best company to go for, because of its service proposition and also from a cost perspective.  The company's offer was the most advantageous, its references were very impressive and, though price wasn't everything, we feel we achieved very good value."

"I'm really pleased by the fact that everything just seems to happen without taking up my staff's time.  Sopra Group has a very competent team in place, everything seems to be working very well."

The Account Manager for Sopra Group's Technical Services Group said "We proved that we had the flexibility to meet the council's requirements in full and the expertise to cater for its demands.  We have our own team in place on-site, and we are also able to provide additional support from our own offices if necessary, via a dial-up facility."

"We are very pleased to have won this contract.  It helps to reinforce our reputation not just as specialists in Sun technology, but as experts in public sector IT provision.  It also shows that North Lanarkshire Council is a far sighted local authority with a real understanding of electronic government."