Swansea-based businesses partner to generate multimillion-pound savings for DFT

Swansea-based business process outsourcing (BPO) provider Arvato has partnered with cloud services company Mobilise to deliver cloud migration services to the Department for Transport (DfT), in the first project of a new long-term partnership.

The project will be delivered following the recent extension of Arvato’s transformation contract with the DfT and will see the department’s two existing Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems transferred from a physical data centre to a cloud-hosted technology platform, underpinned by Amazon Web Services.

The transition will deliver significant cost savings to the DfT, reducing maintenance costs for its data centres by 45 per cent, and eliminating the need for major software updates and technology upgrades, creating a multi-million-pound saving over four years.

Arvato’s team in Swansea delivers back-office services for a number of businesses and government agencies at its Sandringham Park site, which is accredited to the same security level as all central and local government departments.

Now, its long-term partnership with Mobilise will play a central role in the evolution of its ERP and BPO offering, allowing it to support clients with digital transformation initiatives and deliver cost savings through technology.

It will see Arvato deliver enhanced cloud migration services across the public sector, drawing on the expertise of the Mobilise team in transforming legacy estates.

The service will help both new and existing clients to simplify their data centre infrastructure through a new, scalable cloud-based system. Once constructed, the solution can be rolled out or upgraded in minutes, vastly reducing downtime.

David Morton, Sales and Solutions Director, Arvato CRM Solutions UK, said:

“We’re excited to be working with Mobilise to assist public sector organisations with their digital transformation programmes, drawing on the world-class expertise on our doorstep in Swansea.

“We will continue to support the delivery of key back office services, such as HR, payroll, finance and procurement processes, but underpinned by a more agile, flexible cloud-based platform. Able to be scaled up or down instantly, it will eliminate underlying costs for underused physical infrastructure, and enable councils and government departments to streamline their operations and create efficiencies through technology.

“We look forward to developing our relationship with the Mobilise team and helping more clients to achieve their transformation goals.”

Justin Lewis, Director at Mobilise, said:

“The combination of our skills in cloud migration with Arvato’s own expertise in ERP solutions will help deliver our shared ambition of boosting efficiency and productivity for clients.

“Arvato is committed to pushing the boundaries of its back-office service provision through continued technological innovation, evolving its product offering in line with its deep understanding of the strategic challenges faced by the public sector. We’re excited to collaborate with them to deliver high-performing cloud facilities.”

Arvato announced a multi-agency contract extension with the DfT and its executive agencies in May. Over the next three years, it will support the department in developing and transforming back office cloud solutions from its Swansea site in line with the Government’s Future of Shared Service (FOSS) strategy.

The contract award follows Arvato becoming only the second organisation in the UK to receive a global accreditation from SAP for delivering best practice ICT services. The software vendor provides the certification to give organisations the seal of approval for implementing its ERP platform, which provides clients with assurance on high performance levels and secure service delivery.

Arvato’s Sandringham Park centre in Swansea employs more than 200 people and provides HR, payroll, finance and procurement services for 19,000 civil servants across the UK. Over the last six years, it has handled 749,000 customer enquiries from DfT employees, provided 1.3 million payslips and achieved a customer satisfaction rating of 98% per cent.