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The framework contract entered into effect on 10 April 2014, with a transition period running to end-January 2015. From 1 February 2015, all services will be delivered in accordance with the new contracts. The contract term is seven years, and the total value amounts to between 400 and 500 million euro. The "Operation of ICT services" contract is one of four framework contracts, jointly called the 2015 ICT contract, which the Flemish government is awarding in replacement of the current 2008 ICT contract.
The contract makes it possible to also offer ICT services to local and provincial administrations in the Flemish Region. Given the large number of potential customers and the geographic distribution across the whole of Flanders, this will have a major impact on the way in which the services are delivered.
IT as a Service
Through this framework contract, network, workplace and data-center services and projects are offered according to an elaborate "IT as a service" business model. As a result, the administrations pay only for the capacity and service they actually use. Thanks to the flexibility in the consumption of services at fixed unit prices, the government is able to reduce operating costs. This creates more room for investments in innovation.
The partners HP and Belgacom have been the Flemish government's ICT services provider for more than 10 years and this contract confirms the government's confidence in this collaboration. Nevertheless, this framework contract entails a complete renewal, with the focus being on Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS) and workplace management as a service (WPaaS), all of which are provided from a Virtual Private Cloud (VPC) solution.
Luc Chauvin, ICT manager with the Flemish government, commented: "A cost reduction in the order of 20% has been announced for comparable services. Over the full contract term of seven years, this means a significant lowering of costs if the usage volume stays the same. This reduction can be achieved by adopting a decisive approach towards maximal standardization and automation. The running theme of the new service is "Everything as a Service", also popularly known as the Cloud model. In doing so, the Flemish government is taking an important step forward and promoting this new technological model on a large scale among the administrations.”
Patrick Urkens, managing director of the temporary trading company HB-plus, has the following to say about the importance of this contract for our customer: "The Flemish government wants Flanders to be among the top regions of Europe by 2020. That’s a very ambitious goal? as regards service provisioning to inhabitants, the business world and other administrations. As a strategic partner we can help the Flemish government to deploy technology to lower costs, simplify processes and then innovate in services."
Roger Dejaeghere, Director Outsourcing EBU-COR at Belgacom, added: "In tomorrow's digital world, services to citizens must be available everywhere. The complete integration of telecommunications with IT creates a digital world in which citizens have access to each other, information and service anyplace, anytime. The IT services are consumed and charged on an as-you-need basis, resulting in a new way of working and a world of renewed service."
