The government is to initially cut its IT and outsourcing costs by £800m following meetings with its main suppliers, according to reports.

The new government targeted IT suppliers in an attempt to squeeze costs out of existing and future contracts.

In July minister for the Cabinet Office Francis Maude met the chief executives of the government's top 19 suppliers to start "renegotiating with them across everything that they do for government to get the cost down".

Progress is being made but some supplier offerings are going down better than others.

A source close to the negotiations said the government is making progress. He said suppliers that are offering standardised services and asking the government to make it easier to deal with them are offering big savings. "These suggestions are going very well." But he said suppliers that are just cutting prices and asking for extensions are not.

One attendee at the original meeting told Computer Weekly the government asked for immediate savings this year and ongoing cost reductions. He added that no numbers were mentioned.

A Cabinet Office spokeswoman said the £800m figure has not come from the government. She said the government has not yet completed the process. "It will run into hundreds of millions of pounds, but it is too early to say," she said.

Source: http://www.computerweekly.com/Articles/2010/09/06/242615/Government-IT-suppliers-agree-to-intial-163800m-cost.htm