Decision details

To modify the current contract for Microsoft Azure APA to increase cloud storage space thus achieving the continued use of Microsoft Azure systems and to approve the budget to meet the associated costs.

Over the remaining term of the current contract, specialists from the ICT team will consider recommendations from Microsoft, and they will work to improve how our current systems are running in the cloud. This "optimisation" process involves reducing costs and making the systems more efficient. The work is already underway and will continue as part of the routine work that keeps our systems running smoothly.

The migration of the Council's ICT systems from on-premise (physical servers located at the Civic Centre) to Microsoft Azure’s cloud services is part of a larger plan to modernise our infrastructure. The main goals are to close the existing data centre and enable the Council's eventual withdrawal from the Civic Centre. Moving to the cloud also means better system reliability, ensuring our critical services have more robust backup and recovery options in case of unexpected issues.
Microsoft Azure’s cloud platform offers advanced features that help us protect our systems and improve how we manage business continuity during disruptions.

Reasons for the decision(s)
1.
Maintaining the Current Level of Resources: The systems we’ve already moved to Microsoft Azure are crucial for the Council’s daily operations. To ensure we can continue using them without any disruptions, we need to allocate a budget to cover the cloud services used in Microsoft Azure. These services include storage, computing power, and other technical resources that ensure our systems stay online and accessible.
2
Supporting the Ongoing Migration: We’re moving more systems to Microsoft Azure. This aligns with the Council’s "cloud-first" policy, which prioritises cloud technology over traditional on-site servers. Additionally, as the Civic Centre is being vacated, we need to ensure that all our business systems are fully migrated to the cloud to remain accessible and functional once we no longer use the Civic Centre’s data centre. The allocated budget will support the necessary technical resources to continue and complete this transition.

None, as not doing this will lead to the suspension and impact of all business services running in our Azure Infrastructure.

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