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• 275 job cuts - Feb 2010
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• IBM Deal - Dec 2009
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IBM Deal - Dec 2009

 

Essex Confirms IBM Deal

Essex County Council has rubber stamped an eight-year contract for IBM to take on a range of its services.

The announcement follows speculation that Essex had scaled back their ambitions for the closely watched tie-up, which was advertised as a contract worth up to £5.4bn.

Essex deputy chief executive Nick Bell admitted the original part of the contract would only be worth tens of millions of pounds but insisted it had the potential to grow rapidly there after.

"We spend £800m on goods and services a year, so potentially the contract is worth billions over the longer term," said Mr Bell.

Mr Bell added that the contract, which will initially cover back office, customer website and procurement processes, was "incremental" and IBM would be able to pitch for further work as other contracts came up for renewal.

The council originally announced IBM as its preferred provider in June, after the outsourcer fought off bids from a clutch of other consortia, including T-Systems.

Essex leader Lord Hanningfield (Con) said: "This is the most ambitious project that the Council has undertaken, and finding the right partner to help us deliver it is a vitally important step. I look forward to working with IBM"

2 December, 2009

By James Illman

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