Berwick-upon-Tweed signs up for Consilium ASP service

Belfast-based Consilium Technologies has announced the securing of a £1.3m contract to deliver specialist IT services to Berwick-upon-Tweed Borough Council.

Through Consilium's Application Service Provision (ASP) service, which includes financial, housing, benefits software packages, the council expects to realise savings of more than 15% on the costs of its current IT facilities over the five-year contract period.

Jane Pannell, Chief Executive at Berwick-upon-Tweed Borough Council, said: "Working in close partnership with Consilium allows us to address our immediate requirements to replace core back-office systems whilst also providing a route map for future e-government applications.

"Installing a state of the art IT infrastructure will better position us to deliver more of our services on line, as well as saving taxpayers money which means we can invest in better services."

This contract follows closely on the heels of a similar one signed with Alnwick District Council in May this year, and Consilium claims that its innovative ASP software management model is gaining growing market acceptance within District Councils.

ASP is a form of outsourcing and part of a broader market trend, which has seen 13% of the 238 English District Councils entering into some form of Strategic IT Partnership with private sector suppliers over the last 18 months. Overall, of the 82 local councils now engaged in such partnerships, 38% are accounted for by District Councils.

Peter McHugh, Consilium's Business Development Director, said: "In order to meet the e-government deadline, District Councils will not only have to invest in technology; they will also have to re-examine the way processes are managed and services are organised. Consilium's ASP model is particularly well suited to District Councils, who tend to have limited numbers of IT staff available and constrained budgets which requires a more innovative funding approach from partners."

Consilium's ASP-based approach to developing a Strategic IT Partnership significantly simplifies the deployment of software by hosting all applications and supporting infrastructure in a specialist off-site data centre, managed by BT Ignite. Council users access software in the datacentre over a communications line and are charged on a pay-as-you-go subscription basis, leading to reduced costs and simplified IT operations.

Consilium Technologies, formerly TASK Software, is based in Belfast, employs 65 people and has over 50 Local Authority customers.

In 2001, the company secured equity funding of £1.5m from an investor group led by 3i and MMC adventures.

(SP)