Agenda item

Report of the Chamberlain.

The Sub-Committee received a report of the Chamberlain seeking permission to undertake a options appraisal for the re-procurement of the Microsoft Licensing and Cloud productivity suite or other open source alternative. Gateway 3 of the report would be presented to the next meeting of the group for approval.

Members were concerned that the any other options, identified as including Google, Open Office and xxx, may not be viable in the timeframe identified for the project, and felt that a more realistic options appraisal would focus on options within the Microsoft Suite. Officers reported that a hybrid option would signify a move away from the platform based architecture which presented the greatest efficiency for organisations such as the Corporation, and would come with considerable cost and maintenance. Members felt that there was a danger of over dependency on Microsoft and that there could be cost implications of being tied to one provider.

In response to a query from a Member it was confirmed that there would be no cost benefit to including the City of London Police in the appraisal, as prices were set and not based on volume.

RESOLVED – That the report be noted.