Councils seek e-government help

Big openings for the channel as IT managers look to suppliers for e-government guidance

Huge opportunities await the channel in local government as IT managers look to suppliers for guidance on meeting the 2005 targets for online government, according to research from Datamonitor.

In the analyst's Technology Opportunities in the UK Public Sector report, 73 per cent of respondents said that guidance is the key to successful e-government.

Facing the deadline for 100 per cent availability of services online, councils are turning to VARs for products, services and advice, the report claimed.

Kathleen Klasnic, lead analyst of Datamonitor's enterprise communications and public sector research, said: "Most councils do not expect to get this guidance from other councils or even from central government, but from IT service providers, technology vendors and consultancies and integrators."

John Griffith, consulting director at reseller Compusys, said that local government is attracted by the commercial experience of resellers. "We are seeing a 20 to 30 per cent increase in bid volume every month," he said.

He added that while the 2005 target to get local authority services online has increased activity, there is also a lot of business in other public sector markets.

"The police, education, healthcare and central government sectors are also high-growth markets," he said.

Jon Taylor, marketing manager at reseller Trustmarque Solutions, which deals with many local authorities, said: "A lot of them want purchasing guidance, not so much on what to buy, but on how to manage their software assets.

"Resellers have to offer guidance, not just resell product. As software becomes increasingly important, so does the sort of guidance needed. Things such as licensing are a hot issue at the moment."