Post Office signs end-user computing deal with Computacenter worth 'more than £100m'

Contract will help Post Office be 'more responsive and customer-focused', says CIO Lesley Sewell

The Post Office has selected Computacenter to provide it with end user computing, as part of an overarching growth strategy.

It has issued many tender notices since 2012 as part of its transformation programme. This particular contract involves the provision of devices to 11,500 branches and 4,000 head office users.

Computacenter will be deploying desktops, laptops, tablets and peripherals to the Post Office branches and head office users. It will also be delivering a range of support services which it said are based on a utility cost model.

Lesley Sewell, CIO at the Post Office, said that the contract "will help us modernise our IT systems and make our business more responsive and customer-focused".

"Our aim is to build an IT ecosystem of best-of-breed partners. Computacenter will bring greater efficiency and agility to end user computing at the Post Office, which will empower our staff and help digitise our business," said Sewell.

According to TechMarketView analyst Kate Hanaghan, the deal could be worth "more than £100m".

Hanaghan said that Computacenter fought off competition from Fujitsu and HP for the contract.

The project

The Post Office's transformation also involves deploying a new workplace platform, including Microsoft Office 365, and introducing managed print services.

Computacenter will be hosting the core workplace platform in its Tier 4 Romford data centre on a private cloud infrastructure.

The four-year contract was signed in October 2014 with the full service scheduled to go live in early 2015, following the implementation of the infrastructure and devices.

Earlier this year, the Post Office tendered for a front office IT applications services provider in a contract that could be worth up to £530m.

In December 2013, the organisation said it was seeking a back office IT application services provider in a contract worth £230m, and a network IT services provider in a contract worth up to £200m.