Cloud database giant Oracle has provided further details about the decade-long cloud deal it has signed with the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) in support of its cross-departmental, shared services-focused Synergy Programme.
DWP is the sponsoring department for the programme, which was setup to enable a cluster of government departments and arms’ length bodies to share common human resources and finance technology platforms for value-for-money reasons.
The participating departments, in addition to DWP, include The Ministry of Justice (MoJ), the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) and the Home Office, who have approximately 250,000 employees between them.
An award notice for the deal was published in late September 2024, and confirms the contract is valued at £710m, is set to run for 10 years to 29 August 2034, and names Oracle and IBM as the two winning suppliers.
The pair will deliver on the terms of the agreement by operating as a consortium with further assistance from Deloitte.
The contract notice also goes on to state that, specifically, DWP was looking to “procure and adopt” a software-as-a-service (SaaS) enterprise resource planning (ERP) system, and enlist the help of a systems integrator to “enable the transition (and support business change) to the SaaS ERP platform and associated technologies”.
“Key to this ambition is the ability to capture, manage and improve the quality of finance and HR data to enable better-informed decisions,” it concluded.
Since the publication of the contract notice, Oracle has shared further details of the technologies in its Oracle Fusion Cloud Applications Suite portfolio that will be used to meet the DWP’s programme requirements, which will all be hosted in the Oracle Cloud for UK Government and Defence.
They include the Oracle Fusion Cloud ERP tool, the Oracle Fusion Cloud Human Capital Management (HCM) offering, and the Oracle Fusion Cloud Supply Chain and Manufacturing (SCM) application.
The programme participants will also have access to additional data analytics capabilities, via the Oracle Fusion Data Intelligence service.
Chris Murtagh, chief technology officer and ERP programme director for the Synergy Programme, said of the project: “We are building a common operating model and establishing business processes that will be used collectively across four departments that employ nearly half of all civil servants in the UK.
“Oracle Cloud will create a single platform that will expand insights, increase efficiency and allow us to better meet the needs of citizens.”
Siobhan Wilson, senior vice-president and UK country leader at Oracle, said the 10-year deal will benefit citizens.
“Governmental departments are under ever-increasing pressure to make sure they are working efficiently and cost-effectively,” she said. “The move to Oracle Cloud will increase efficiency and deliver more value to UK citizens.”