Liverpool City Council transforms its strategy and saves £300,000

Overview

Liverpool City Council is the largest local authority in the Merseyside city region with a workforce of 10,000 that serves a population of 500,000 citizens. Thanks to Bytes’ expertise, the local authority was able to sharpen their Microsoft licensing strategy to enable digital transformation, whilst also mitigating compliance risks and saving more than £300,000.

Challenge

Under Austerity measures and with pressure to “do more with less”, the council were facing a significant like-for-like price increase. A review and restructure of their licensing strategy was required to align Liverpool County Council with Microsoft’s Digital Transformation Arrangement (DTA). A pricelist adjustment in October 2018 meant the council faced a tight time-frame, adding further urgency to the project. Licensing implications of upcoming projects were unknown, and the cost of Microsoft’s Security and Compliance Suite was prohibiting a migration to Microsoft’s O365 cloud platform.

Facing Microsoft licensing changes, we needed an experienced partner to assist with an evaluation. Bytes proposed their CAS Service. In 4 weeks, Bytes were able to produce a report with recommendations to reduce our licensing costs significantly over the next 6 years.

Head of ICT Design, Liverpool City Council

The Bytes Solution

As strategic advisor and Microsoft Partner to LCC, Bytes took on the brief. The Bytes Commercial Advisory Service (CAS) Team were employed by The Council and began by holding workshops with stakeholders from each business unit. Once an overview of LCC’s requirements was formed, Bytes’ Licensing Consultant extensively modelled every option available, quickly identifying optimisation opportunities.

Benefits

Thanks to expert guidance from the Bytes CAS team, the council have secured a minimum of £315,000 of savings on their Microsoft licensing over the next 3 years, with further savings predicted. The council now has a defined licensing strategy for the next 3-6 years that enables digital transformation with a move to cloud technologies.

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