Elly Yates-Roberts |
The UK government has signed a new three-year memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Microsoft to help public sector organisations use and benefit from cloud computing and business applications.
According to Microsoft, the new MOU – called the Digital Transformation Arrangement 2021 (DTA21) – allows all eligible public sector organisations to benefit from discounts and beneficial terms for Microsoft 365, Azure, Dynamics 365 and Power Platform cloud services.
It was negotiated by Microsoft and the Crown Commercial Service (CCS) and will run from 1 May 2021 until April 2024.
“This agreement recognises the significance of cloud computing to the UK public sector as it continues its digital transformation and aims to build back better,” said Philip Orumwense, commercial director of CCS. “It is another example of CCS’s commitment to achieving outstanding commercial value for our customers across the public sector.”
DTA21 builds on the UK government’s 2020 Azure Pricing Arrangement and its One Government Cloud Strategy which Microsoft says focus on “modernising technology, strengthening cyber defence, improving digital skills and embedding a culture of innovation”.
It covers many Microsoft products, including Teams, Microsoft 365 E5 Security and Compliance, Azure Cognitive Services and AI, Azure Analytics, Azure Synapse and Azure Arc, and, according to Microsoft, these “empower users to innovate using new technologies, improve the management of hybrid and multi-cloud and support the transition from legacy IT to cloud”.
“The DTA21 MOU has been substantially expanded to cater for public sector organisations large and small, regardless of where they are on their cloud journey,” said Chris Perkins, general manager of public sector sales at Microsoft UK. “Microsoft is committed to working with the Government to help support modern hybrid working and help drive the move to digital with Microsoft 365 and Azure.
“The addition of Dynamics 365 and Power Platform to the DTA21 line-up can now also help with agile, low-cost, low-code application development, which has been so critical in the response to the Covid-19 pandemic. We look forward to continuing to work with our public sector customers to improve citizen services and provide cost-effective solutions now and in the future.”