Both Microsoft and Oracle have strengthened their reach in public sector, as news unveiled separately from the two enterprise giants on Monday revealed. For Redmond a new deal with Crown Commercial Service represents the first deployment of Microsoft 365 Copilot, establishing GenAI’s influence in the public sector realm. A Big Red announcement with the UK’s Synergy Programme meanwhile furthers Oracle’s influence in the UK government’s shared services strategy, which aims to unite various central government departments running unconnected ERP systems under a single SaaS roof.
Microsoft and Oracle: two separate deals, one public sector
Microsoft and Crown Commercial Service (CCS), on behalf of UK Government, have entered into a five-year agreement, providing access to enhanced value across Microsoft’s portfolio of AI-powered products and services. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella told attendees of Microsoft’s AI Tour in London this morning – including ERP Today – that the move is an integral one in upskilling public sector employees in the digital age.
Oracle meanwhile announced that the Synergy Programme, which will provide shared services for the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (DEFRA), the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) and the Home Office, has selected Oracle Cloud to run its shared services platform.
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The Synergy Programme will create a single operating model with Oracle Fusion Cloud Applications Suite and Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) in a bid to reduce costs, standardise finance, supply chain and HR data, and transform corporate services. Interestingly, the Oracle news veered away from any AI mentions.
Microsoft Copilot wears the Crown
Let’s break down the Microsoft and Oracle news. Firstly, the Microsoft agreement with Crown Commercial Service, as effective from 1 November, is part of a plan for eligible public sector organisations, via their chosen procurement route, to pursue their digital transformation and innovation initiatives, through access to cost savings on Microsoft 365, the Azure cloud platform, Business Applications, and for the first time, Microsoft 365 Copilot.
As reported previously by ERP Today, UK Government aims to increase the speed of innovation across the UK public sector, enhance efficiency, improve cross-departmental collaboration, and deliver improved services for UK citizens. Welcoming the strategic partnership with Microsoft, Roger Gonourie, chief commercial officer at CCS said: “This agreement will support eligible public sector organisations to pursue their digital transformation and innovation ambitions, by enabling them to benefit from leveraging the size and scale of the UK public sector. It shows CCS’s continued commitment to providing maximum commercial value for our customers, removing barriers to growth across the public sector. It’s about securing a better future for us all.”
Oracle finds its Synergy
On the Big Red side, the UK Government’s Synergy Programme is implementing Oracle Fusion Cloud Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), Oracle Fusion Cloud Human Capital Management (HCM), including payroll, and Oracle Fusion Cloud Supply Chain & Manufacturing (SCM) to increase productivity, reduce costs, expand insights and enhance employee experience. In addition, Oracle Fusion Data Intelligence and OCI will support supplemental analytics capabilities to help glean deeper insight and improve decision making. The shared services platform will run in the Oracle Cloud for UK Government & Defence.
“We are building a common operating model and establishing business processes that will be used collectively across four Departments that employ nearly half of all civil servants in the UK,” said Chris Murtagh, chief technology officer and ERP Programme Director, Synergy Programme. “Oracle Cloud will create a single platform that will expand insights, increase efficiency, and allow us to better meet the needs of citizens.”
The implementation will be undertaken by Oracle with DWP and Oracle PartnerNetwork (OPN) members IBM and Deloitte, in a joint consortium. One source told ERP Today that the deal was one factor behind the recent acquisition by IBM of Oracle consultancy Accalelpha.
The Microsoft and Oracle news shows the strength of the digital transformation theme as impacting on UK public sector – and the burgeoning power of Big Tech within UK Big Government.
