NICS shared services plan gets a step closer. IT services provider Steria has won a second major contract with the Northern Ireland Civil Service. Under the £1.3m deal Steria is to provide a resilient messaging and file/print solution to 18,000 NICS users across Northern Ireland. Steria had previously won a £20m-plus NICS contract to provide and implement an electronic document records management system (EDRMS). In conjunction with subcontractors Dell, Microsoft, Vodafone and SureSkills, the new messaging solution and file/print services will include web access to e-mail and messaging via mobile devices. The latest contract is part of the modernisation of ICT service provision and technical infrastructure in NICS and is seen as a key element in the introduction of shared services at NICS. Steria said the deal will achieve economies in technological investment and licensing costs for NICS with simplified and shared technologies.
The company also claimed it will make a significant contribution to the long-term success of the NICS Workplace 2010 programme
Paul Wickens, general manager of Steria in Northern Ireland, said: " Just like EDRMS, this messaging and file/print solution will be used by thousands of NICS staff. "It is another of the key components which will help to bring to reality the Northern Ireland government's vision of the office of the future. "Technology and shared services are, perhaps, two of the most obvious methods by which the NICS reform will deliver the increased efficiency and reduced costs that are at the heart of the reform programme."
Steria, which has 100 staff in Northern Ireland, is a major European information and communications technology company with over 9,000 employees, including nearly 2,000 in the UK.