IBM takes on £400 million council IT contracts

IBM has signed a multi-million pound deal to manage the IT for two UK county councils that will see the computing giant form a new joint venture company to fulfil the contracts, which cover council IT systems to human resources, procurement and finance.

The company said the deal is initially worth 200 million, but altogether it expects the contract with the Somerset County Council and Taunton Deane Borough Council to be worth about 400 million over its 10-year life.

The deal is also expected to see an increased use of open source technologies, an area that regional public sector bodies have lagged behind in adopting.

The joint venture company, to be called South West One, will also offer IT services to more than 30 other affiliated public sector services and bodies in the area.

IBM is in talks with one of the local police forces in the same region, which if successful would become the first the first constabulary in England's first to receive shared services through a joint venture agreement.