Manchester council calls on VAR to transform IT

Supplier must be able to provide around-the-clock services

Manchester City Council is on the hunt for a supplier to transform its IT services.

In a recently published tender document, the authority outlined plans to implement a new IT service management (ITSM) solution which will form part of its IT transformation programme.

The chosen supplier must be able to provide a product which supports the council's "life-critical systems and services". The offering will be required to support a user base of about 5,000 people who are based in more than 100 locations across the city.

The council did not attach a price to the tender, but said the supplier's offering must have a range of functions, including portfolio and demand management; project time recording; integration of third-party security incident monitoring tools; and auto discovery of configuration items across the council's estate.

Manchester City Council has been on a mission to overhaul its IT strategy in recent months. In March, a report unveiled plans to recruit for the new position of a CIO in a bid to improve its IT strategy.

"The new post of CIO will be the driving force behind this transformation and will require an individual with a proven record of leading and delivering successful turnaround change within ICT," the report said.

The council said in the recent tender document that the new IT solution will be rolled out in a phased approach. The first section will focus on incident, problem and knowledge management, while the second will revolve around release, change and configuration management. The third and final phase will focus on the CMS customer service catalogue.