Capgemini wins Environment Agency ITO deal
The deal itself is a partial outsource of the EA’s IT estate, and is reported to be worth £336 million. Capgemini will take responsibility for the EA’s IT infrastructure and application management and maintenance services, including some key applications such as flood warning and waste management. Other services include hosting, service desk, desktop support, network services, disaster recovery, governance and security.
How does the contract deliver its green credentials?
According to the EA the IT framework will minimise environmental impact from ‘purchase… delivery and use on the desk, through to its ultimate disposal’. As well as reducing the overall cost of delivery, Capgemini will be expected to reduce EA’s carbon emissions from IT by 50% over the next few years.
Capgemini’s pitch focused heavily on the desktop services aspect of the deal, where it has built up experience through its work with HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC). Its solution at the EA offers flexible working through remote desktop access, as well as hot-desking using thin-client and card authentication technology. We believe it is here where Capgemini could deliver most cost efficiencies and reduced carbon emissions for the EA by avoiding a desktop refresh during the course of the contract; any upgrades to systems and software can be done remotely in the data centre. Thin clients also typically use a lot less energy than desktop PCs.
Another factor driving the demand for reducing carbon emissions is the UK’s Carbon Reduction Commitment (CRC) scheme, which comes into effect in April 2010. The EA is one of the 5,000 UK public and private sector organisations that use more than 6,000 MWh of electricity per year and fall within the CRC’s scope. It will become legally bound to buy allowances for its anticipated electricity use, with reimbursements paid if it performs better than expected.
Clearly Capgemini as its new ITO provider will need to provide advice and assistance on how it can continue to drive down electricity use to meet the CRC obligations.
UK public sector will focus on full lifecycle impact
While the move to make the EA procurement more ‘green’ is commendable, there is still some way to go. The UK government’s CIO Council is keen to eventually procure IT services contracts based on their ‘full lifecycle impact’. This takes into account a much broader view on the use of IT, covering how and from where the raw materials are extracted, the conditions and location of manufacture, the operational use and what happens to the IT equipment at the end of its useful life. This full lifecycle impact perspective is where some of the biggest gains in carbon reduction will eventually be achieved.
While the move to make the EA procurement more ‘green’ is commendable, there is still some way to go. The UK government’s CIO Council is keen to eventually procure IT services contracts based on their ‘full lifecycle impact’. This takes into account a much broader view on the use of IT, covering how and from where the raw materials are extracted, the conditions and location of manufacture, the operational use and what happens to the IT equipment at the end of its useful life. This full lifecycle impact perspective is where some of the biggest gains in carbon reduction will eventually be achieved.
Analysis by Ovum