London, 15 February 2010 - Fujitsu has today signed the contract with the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) to manage and transform desktop computing for all of its staff in locations across the UK.  This six year contract involving c.140,000 desktop devices, is the single biggest desktop and thin client outsource deal in the UK and is expected to significantly reduce the Department's total cost of ownership of its desktop estate.

The significant savings will come from the innovative approach Fujitsu has taken to managing the Department's desktop environment.  Primarily this will come from adopting more efficient and flexible thin client solutions to meet the Department’s needs. This will enable the Department to realise significant savings in desk-side support and hardware costs, to benefit from higher availability and productivity, as well as reduced electricity consumption which will bring the Department's carbon footprint down significantly.  The energy savings alone from the thin client model are expected to be many tens of millions of pounds.

Joe Harley, DWP IT director general & chief information officer said: “This is the first in a series of competitions to replace our existing IT and telephony services contracts by 2015 and it sets the tone by delivering significant benefits for the Department and as a framework for Government wide IT.  As well as delivering significant savings it will further transform DWP’s desktop estate with the proposed use of ‘thin client’ desktop technology.  This provides a number of benefits, including little or no maintenance required to the kit and reductions in power consumption which supports our sustainability agenda.”

Commenting on the contract, Eithne Wallis CB, managing director UK Government Division, Fujitsu UK and Ireland says: "As the Government moves forward with its Common IT Platform agenda, change will be driven by innovative approaches to business critical, but everyday, IT such as the desktop platforms in use across the wider public sector.  The decision to award this contract to Fujitsu reflects our proven experience in working with government over the last 40 years. We currently manage desktop estates for a number of key government Departments and lead the shared services work with the Cabinet Office and others as part of the Flex framework.  This coupled with the decision last year to integrate the IT hardware supplier Fujitsu Siemens Computers into the company, means we have established ourselves as the major force in desktop provision in the UK.

Eithne Wallis continued: "Being awarded the contract to do the same for one of the largest government Departments, goes to show the confidence customers have in our ability.  It will be hugely rewarding to work with DWP on such a landmark project that will not only deliver significant financial savings to the customer, but also a better end-user experience for all of its staff."