UK's Driver & Vehicle Standards Agency lets £15m in cloud contracts
(2021/08/09)
- Reference: 1628504952
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2021/08/09/driver_vehicle_standards_agency_aws_azure/
- Source link:
The UK's Driver & Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) has inked cloud deals valued at around £15m with Microsoft and AWS.
According to [1]a tender notice , the Department for Transport agency responsible for testing individuals and vehicles, handed a contract to reseller Boxxe for a Microsoft Enterprise Licensing Agreement plus the provision of Microsoft Azure Cloud Hosting said to be worth around £8m.
That comes on top of another contract signed with AWS. The agency inked an agreement worth £8.4m for services including Apache Kafka, AWS Chatbot, Amazon Keyspaces (for Apache Cassandra) as well as disaster recovery and professional services.
[2]
"DVSA utilises Amazon Web Services platform to build and host the majority of its Web Hosting platform services and requires the provision to continue with developing, building, maintaining current and future services in addition to fulfilling its Digital transformation obligations," [3]the tender notice said .
[4]
[5]
The agency has been trying to steer more towards a more digital destination, so it seems. According to its [6]annual accounts , it invested £28.1m in IT software in 2020/21, including "enhancements to vehicle services, driving testing services, enforcement and MOT services, as well as necessary enhancements to our IT systems in readiness for EU Transition."
It even won the "Paperless Award" in the Processes category at Smarter Working Live for the internally developed driver examiner services (DES) app.
[7]
In [8]an interview , head of digital operations Alex Fiddes said last year that the agency had outsourced theory tests and put iPads in the hands of examiners. It also introduced agile development with the help of BJSS.
[9]Customers warn Gartner of AWS's high-pressure sales tactics in latest verdict on public cloud providers
[10]Microsoft's Cloud PCs debut – priced between $20 and $158 a month
[11]'$6 in every $10' spent on cloud infrastructure is with AWS, Microsoft, or Google
[12]Workday shares slide following claims Amazon ditched company-wide HR system
[13]Microsoft made $167m a day in profit, every day, over the past 12 months
But the roadmap has not been without the odd pothole. In 2019, IT staffed staged a strike over poor working conditions. [14]According to reports at the time, the action was due to hit the maintenance of IT systems at the DVSA, including those used to book and allocate tests. The strike was judged "unnecessary" by the agency, while the public service union PCS called it "courageous." ®
Get our [15]Tech Resources
[1] https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Notice/1c873dd0-e065-466a-a80c-1f0d17df5fcc
[2] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offprem/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2YRFRFIqNa1iZ0UmOwEj05gAAANA&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[3] https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/018744-2021
[4] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offprem/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44YRFRFIqNa1iZ0UmOwEj05gAAANA&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[5] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offprem/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33YRFRFIqNa1iZ0UmOwEj05gAAANA&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[6] https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1002461/dvsa-annual-report-and-accounts-2020-to-2021.pdf
[7] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offprem/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44YRFRFIqNa1iZ0UmOwEj05gAAANA&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[8] https://www.publictechnology.net/articles/features/dvsa-uses-ai-and-agile-support-%E2%80%98-lifetime-driving%E2%80%9
[9] https://www.theregister.com/2021/08/03/gartner_verdict_on_public_cloud/
[10] https://www.theregister.com/2021/08/03/windows_365_cloud_pc_pricing_and_first_look/
[11] https://www.theregister.com/2021/07/30/q2_cloud_infrastructure_services_canalys/
[12] https://www.theregister.com/2021/07/28/amazon_canned_workday_project/
[13] https://www.theregister.com/2021/07/27/microsoft_earnings_2021/
[14] https://www.computerweekly.com/news/252469697/Driver-and-Vehicle-Standards-Agency-hit-by-IT-workers-strike
[15] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
According to [1]a tender notice , the Department for Transport agency responsible for testing individuals and vehicles, handed a contract to reseller Boxxe for a Microsoft Enterprise Licensing Agreement plus the provision of Microsoft Azure Cloud Hosting said to be worth around £8m.
That comes on top of another contract signed with AWS. The agency inked an agreement worth £8.4m for services including Apache Kafka, AWS Chatbot, Amazon Keyspaces (for Apache Cassandra) as well as disaster recovery and professional services.
[2]
"DVSA utilises Amazon Web Services platform to build and host the majority of its Web Hosting platform services and requires the provision to continue with developing, building, maintaining current and future services in addition to fulfilling its Digital transformation obligations," [3]the tender notice said .
[4]
[5]
The agency has been trying to steer more towards a more digital destination, so it seems. According to its [6]annual accounts , it invested £28.1m in IT software in 2020/21, including "enhancements to vehicle services, driving testing services, enforcement and MOT services, as well as necessary enhancements to our IT systems in readiness for EU Transition."
It even won the "Paperless Award" in the Processes category at Smarter Working Live for the internally developed driver examiner services (DES) app.
[7]
In [8]an interview , head of digital operations Alex Fiddes said last year that the agency had outsourced theory tests and put iPads in the hands of examiners. It also introduced agile development with the help of BJSS.
[9]Customers warn Gartner of AWS's high-pressure sales tactics in latest verdict on public cloud providers
[10]Microsoft's Cloud PCs debut – priced between $20 and $158 a month
[11]'$6 in every $10' spent on cloud infrastructure is with AWS, Microsoft, or Google
[12]Workday shares slide following claims Amazon ditched company-wide HR system
[13]Microsoft made $167m a day in profit, every day, over the past 12 months
But the roadmap has not been without the odd pothole. In 2019, IT staffed staged a strike over poor working conditions. [14]According to reports at the time, the action was due to hit the maintenance of IT systems at the DVSA, including those used to book and allocate tests. The strike was judged "unnecessary" by the agency, while the public service union PCS called it "courageous." ®
Get our [15]Tech Resources
[1] https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Notice/1c873dd0-e065-466a-a80c-1f0d17df5fcc
[2] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offprem/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2YRFRFIqNa1iZ0UmOwEj05gAAANA&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[3] https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/018744-2021
[4] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offprem/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44YRFRFIqNa1iZ0UmOwEj05gAAANA&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[5] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offprem/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33YRFRFIqNa1iZ0UmOwEj05gAAANA&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[6] https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1002461/dvsa-annual-report-and-accounts-2020-to-2021.pdf
[7] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offprem/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44YRFRFIqNa1iZ0UmOwEj05gAAANA&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[8] https://www.publictechnology.net/articles/features/dvsa-uses-ai-and-agile-support-%E2%80%98-lifetime-driving%E2%80%9
[9] https://www.theregister.com/2021/08/03/gartner_verdict_on_public_cloud/
[10] https://www.theregister.com/2021/08/03/windows_365_cloud_pc_pricing_and_first_look/
[11] https://www.theregister.com/2021/07/30/q2_cloud_infrastructure_services_canalys/
[12] https://www.theregister.com/2021/07/28/amazon_canned_workday_project/
[13] https://www.theregister.com/2021/07/27/microsoft_earnings_2021/
[14] https://www.computerweekly.com/news/252469697/Driver-and-Vehicle-Standards-Agency-hit-by-IT-workers-strike
[15] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
It's a Standards website
Pascal Monett
It doesn't have interactive content.
It's a text website, with a few videos.
They can't handle a server ? They need to "outsource" their IT on that ?
Dammit, give the contract to me. I'll set up two servers on two seperate lines with failover and the job's done.
And I'll only take £1M/year.
Re: It's a Standards website
elsergiovolador
Problem is that you don't know who to share that 1M with, ideally through a number of layers...
Great
I don't suppose that's actually going to help them actually deliver a service then?