Aberdeen City Council has chosen Atos Origin to provide managed datacentre services and a virtual desktop environment.

The £10m deal will provide 5,000 council staff with a virtual desktop environment as well as delivering managed datacentre services over five years. The council's IT was previously managed in-house.

Paul Fleming, head of customer service and performance at Aberdeen City Council, said the project will provide greater accessibility and a better service to internal and public users of council IT systems.

"It supports the council's strategy to create a more flexible and mobile workforce," added Fleming.

Chris Bingham, vice president for public sector at Atos Origin, said, "This is a significant win for us both in terms of scale and scope. We are delighted to have secured such an important piece of business in Aberdeen, in a market which is becoming increasingly important to our business activities in Scotland."

Atos Origin became the first IT supplier to sign a memorandum of understanding with the government under its new 'single-client' approach to IT procurement.

Source: http://www.computerweekly.com/Articles/2010/10/19/243413/Atos-Origin-to-provide-managed-services-for-Aberdeen-City.htm