Leeds Council on the hunt for Cisco Gold partner

Local authority looks for VAR to replace BT next year

Leeds City Council (LCC) is looking for a Cisco Gold partner to supply a range of networking services from next year when its current deal with BT comes to an end.

The authority said it needs a maintenance partner to provide it with data network hardware, maintenance, support, design and implementation services, according to a recently published tender, and insisted they must be accredited to Cisco Gold partner level.

On top of the top Cisco badge - which 35 companies hold in the UK - LCC said its new partner must be trained up and accredited in a range of other areas such as security, routing and switching, VoIP, wireless LAN and optical networking.

The new contract - which is expected to last for three years, with the option to extend it for a further two years - is set to replace an existing deal with BT, which expires at the end of March.

In an internal council report, LCC said its primary aim is to ensure the handover is smooth.

"ICT is woven into the very fabric of the council [and] the number-one priority for the ICT function is to maintain the day-to-day service to users, citizens and partners," it said.

"Furthermore, ICT will continue to play a key part in many business-improvement projects. At the very heart of the ICT infrastructure are the networking components and it is vital that the availability of these is maintained at all times.

"The networking infrastructure is key and underpins many of the national and local programmes of work, examples such as unifying workforce communications... collaboration and shared services."