Newham Council is set to migrate its applications and services, including those supporting Housing and Social Care, to Microsoft's Azure cloud platform after approving a £577,627 contract with Agilisys Limited. The decision, made by Corporate Director of Resources Conrad Hall, aims to modernise the council's technology and separate its IT services from Havering Council.
The seven-month contract, commencing in July 2025, was awarded through the Crown Commercial Services (CCS) G-Cloud 14 framework. Agilisys will implement a new Azure Landing Zone and migrate all applications from on-premises servers. This move is part of a broader plan to exit the existing on-premises infrastructure platform and improve the security, resilience, and performance of council systems.
According to council documents, Azure was chosen due to its compatibility with Newham's existing technology and previous investments in Microsoft. The majority of contracts related to the current infrastructure are set to expire by May 2026, providing a clear timeline for the migration. The contract with Agilisys is expected to last seven months from July 2025, with most contracts associated with the on-premises infrastructure platform concluding by May 2026.
The primary goal of migrating to Azure is to improve the security, resilience, and performance of the council's systems.
Alternative options, such as maintaining the current on-premises systems or using in-house resources for the migration, were considered but ultimately rejected. The council determined that continuing with the existing systems would hinder planned improvements to security and resilience. Using in-house resources was deemed unfeasible due to a lack of necessary skills, experience, and capacity.
The council believes that modern ICT is essential for delivering its policies and priorities, and that moving to a cloud platform is critical for the development and continuity of council services. The cost of the contract will be funded from the cloud migration portion of the £5.6 million capital budget approved by the cabinet for disaggregation activities related to the split of ICT services from oneSource.
Agilisys was selected due to their experience in similar migration projects, including a recent project for the London Borough of Havering. The same team that worked on the Havering project will be assigned to the Newham contract, ensuring familiarity with the council's shared on-premises technology environment and established working practices with council staff. The decision was made in accordance with Section 111 of the Local Government Act 1972 and Section 1 of the Localism Act 2011 and complies with the Procurement Act 2023 as it is being made through the CCS G-Cloud 14 framework. Further details can be found in the Public reports pack.