Arcus Global modernises licensing system at The Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority
Cloud-based platform provides single view of data and simplifies license application process Arcus Global, a specialist cloud-based solutions provider for the public sector, has implemented a new platform at The Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority (GLAA) to update its licensing system and ensure the safety of vulnerable workers and protect them from exploitation. Arcus Licensing… Read more »
Arcus applications to integrate with HMLR for all existing and any new customers in the very near future
Over the past months, Arcus Global has been invited into discussions with Her Majesty’s Land Registry (HMLR) regarding the development of a connector to our Local Land Charge program. The project will see all Local Land Charges registers being centralised and held by the Land Registry, providing a consistent approach towards access, price and format.
Arcus Global appoints new Sales Director
Arcus Global, specialist cloud solutions provider for the public sector, has hired Paul Langridge as sales director.
In his role, Langridge will be responsible for the local government team, establishing and enacting a strategy to propel Arcus Global towards its growth goals by identifying new market opportunities and defining the actions required to take advantage of them.
Managing grants in a post COVID world
There’s a huge amount of social value in getting grant money to where it needs to be as quickly as possible. Supporting people, families and businesses is a key COVID recovery thread. The flipside to this for most Local Authorities is ensuring that the right people get the right amount for the right things. Prudence with the public purse. Operating prudently with a sense of urgency in a dynamic environment is incredibly difficult.
Arcus is now Cyber Essentials Plus Certified!
Security of your (and our) data is of paramount importance to Arcus Global. As a company who specialises in working with Local Government it can, and very often does, involve handling sensitive, personally identifiable information belonging to members of the public. Therefore, I am pleased to announce that Arcus Global has achieved the coveted Cyber Essentials Plus certification to add to its growing list of accreditations and underpins the company’s commitment as a key supplier to the public sector.
Arcus Global appoints Head of Marketing
Arcus Global, a leading cloud service provider to the public sector, has appointed Charlotte Fionda as Head of Marketing. She will be responsible for developing and implementing integrated marketing campaigns and communications aimed at building brand awareness and driving growth.
Arcus Global launches annual tree planting programme
As part of Arcus Global’s commitment to supporting sustainability, we will be donating 100 tree saplings to any new and existing Local Authority customers to enrich their local communities – it’s something that we’re pledging to do every year. We will work with our customers to carefully identify the right location and species and help them source and plant in their areas.
Implementation Success
Amongst other things, the Covid world has accelerated the expectations of its citizens, who are now increasingly demanding a fast and seamless digital element to their public services. They need to be able to interact on their own terms, through any device in any location. More advanced local authorities like St Albans City & District Council are taking significant steps to deliver this experience to the community.
Arcus Global sells AWS Managed Services division
Leading cloud services provider to the public sector, Arcus Global Ltd, today announces the sale of its wholly-owned subsidiary, Arcus Cloud Services Ltd (ACS), to leading UK-based managed service provider, Timico Ltd.
Arcus Global appoints Casey Crellin as new COO
Cloud services provider to the public sector, Arcus Global, has appointed Casey Crellin as Chief Operating Officer (COO) to drive operational excellence across the company.
Arcus Global appoints new business development director
Arcus Global, a cloud solutions provider for the public sector, has hired Tony Burrows as business development director. In his role, Burrows will be responsible for commercial activity, identifying new market opportunities, leading on bids, and driving outcomes for customers utilising the Salesforce platform.
Isle of Anglesey County Council takes planning and building control to the cloud
The Isle of Anglesey County Council has gone live with Arcus Global’s planning and building control applications. The new cloud-based system enables the Council to record and process all applications, notifications and enquiries. It provides a single source of data to drive business efficiency and enable remote working.
Arcus Global takes on Cambridge Judge Business School apprentice
Cambridge-based Arcus Global, a cloud solutions provider for the public sector, has hired an apprentice from Cambridge Judge Business School. Guneet Malik is currently working his way towards achieving an MBA with a concentration on digital transformation.
Arcus Global degree apprentice Thomas Dowell nominated for Tech Industry Gold award
We are proud to announce that Thomas Dowell, AWS degree apprentice here at Arcus Global, is nominated for a prestigious Tech Industry Gold award.
Construction sites helped to operate the new flexible working arrangements with automated application forms from Arcus Global
The UK Government’s construction and planning update on 14th May 2020 means that construction sites can now apply to work more flexible hours to enable social distancing. In response, Arcus Global has developed a fully automated online application form to support local planning departments manage this moving forward with the ‘new normal’.
Team AWESOME tackles Socialising from home
In a company that predominantly works using the cloud, many of us are familiar with working from home. However, in the ‘time before Covid’, home working could also include a variety of in-person meetings with clients, travelling into the office to work with our colleagues, meeting up with them, and maintaining that ‘face-time’ which is so important to our working relationships.
Arcus Answer bolster’s NHS response times to Covid-19
Arcus Global’s Arcus Answer call automation solution has been deployed by an ambulance service and the NHS to further support the response to Covid-19.
Arcus Global helps St Albans District Council to provide COVID-19 online grant forms to small businesses
With 2020 a tipping point for the digitalisation of building control and other crucial infrastructure services, we’re seeing many organisations look to cloud technologies as a way to maintain service delivery whilst managing risk.
Arcus Global Raises the Bar as AWS Advanced Consulting Partner
Arcus Global Limited, a market leader in GovTech cloud solutions, is pleased to announce that it continues to qualify as an AWS Advanced Consulting Partner following its annual AWS partner review. As an AWS Advanced Consulting Partner, Arcus Global helps its public sector customers design, architect, build, migrate, and manage their workloads and applications on AWS.
Reassuring insurers
We’re pleased to announce that we’re providing a managed service to PIB Group, a rapidly expanding group of specialist insurance and risk management businesses offering national coverage and local service through more than 40 locations across the UK. PIB Group has grown rapidly since 2015 and is expected to grow further next year.
Arcus & AWS make giving easier
Christmas is a time of giving, so Arcus are pleased to announce the service that we provide to a company helping UK charities. REAL Fundraising provides professional fundraising services to leading UK charities. As part of the service they offer their clients they need to call donors to confirm donations and also need to be able to handle donor opt-outs as well as voicemails.
‘Fixing the plumbing’ with a platform-first approach
Local government is changing. The Local Digital Declaration announced last year has laid the foundations for digital transformation across councils. One of its five guiding principles, ‘fixing the plumbing’, has now become a common catchphrase which is often used out of context.
Arcus Global Secures Spot on G-Cloud 11 Framework, for the Seventh Consecutive Year
All of Arcus Global’s products and services will be on offer across all three lots through the latest iteration of the G-Cloud framework 03, July 2019: Arcus Global Limited, a market leader in GovTech cloud solutions, is pleased to announce that it has gained a place on the new G-Cloud 11 framework, allowing it to… Read more »
Digital is about helping customers have a better day
Watch our recent webinar to hear from Arcus Global’s CEO Denis Kaminskiy and Director of Digital at AVDC Maryvonne Hassall about how this can be achieved.
Top tips for seamless digital transformation
With digital transformation sweeping across the public sector, it is important to understand what makes projects a success. Here are our top five tips on introducing a digital transformation project:
Arcus Global Secures £2.5 Million Additional Series A Funding
Arcus Global Limited, a market leader in GovTech cloud solutions, is pleased to announce it has raised an additional £2.5 million to support its growth ambitions into 2020 and beyond.
Hart District Council selects Arcus’ cloud platform to support digital strategy
Hart District Council has selected Arcus Global, a leading cloud solutions provider for the public sector, to deliver its Planning and Regulatory Services through the Arcus Global platform, to improve internal processes as well as to provide a better citizen experience.
Arcus and customers nominated for prestigious industry award – voting open now
Arcus Global and a select group of Arcus customers have been shortlisted for the Digital Leaders 100 List
How embracing digital makes Smart Planning a reality
New CLGdotTV broadcast with Arcus Global and London Borough of Redbridge
Arcus Global appoints Richard Sankey as Product Director
Leading cloud provider grows Arcus Place division with public sector specialist.
Arcus Global scores maximum points on the AWS Managed Service Provider framework
We are thrilled to announce that not only are we an AWS Next Generation Managed Services Provider (MSP) but we also scored maximum points in our latest AWS MSP audit.
Arcus Global to champion AI at ShareDigital event
The importance of AI for local authorities using AWS infrastructure
Ask an Apprentice Day: Thomas Dowell
Hi, I’m Thomas, I’m 19 and in Sep-18, I became Arcus Global’s first Degree Apprentice.
Procurement – an enabler to change, not an obstacle to it
By Colin Wales Business Development Director MPs on the Science and Technology Committee recently heard from a range of experts on how attempts to open up Gov procurement to SMEs has progressed over the last three years. The gist of the discussions was that early success in shifting contracts to a more balanced portfolio of suppliers… Read more »
Folkestone & Hythe District Council embarks on ambitious transformation project
· Council adopts a cloud first strategy with Arcus Global · Substantial savings through a combination of business and ICT transformation Folkestone & Hythe District Council (FHDC) has selected Arcus Global, a leading cloud solutions provider for the public sector, to deliver key aspects of an ambitious ICT transformation project. The Council is undergoing a… Read more »
Arcus and Amazon Enable the NHSBSA to See Potential for £500,000 Saving and Increased Customer Satisfaction Using Amazon Connect and Amazon Lex
By Richard Miller AWS Product Manager Penalty Exemption Checking Service – Drug prescriptions within the UK National Health Service (NHS) are free for eligible citizens who have been diagnosed with a chronic illness or are retrieving appropriate social security benefits. When visiting a pharmacy, if a member of the public declares themselves as being exempt… Read more »
Solace Summit 2018 – The call to make our local services sustainable
Attending events such as Solace Summit ensures that we are constantly kept abreast of the latest issues affecting local authorities and other public-sector entities.
Arcus sees success at the Computing Cloud Excellence Awards
It was a huge week for Arcus Global last week at the prestigious Computing Cloud Excellence Awards. We took home ‘Cloud Telephony Project of the Year’ for Arcus Answer and were also involved in the ‘Best Cloud Project’ win for NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA). The public sector is changing the way they communicate with… Read more »
Arcus Answer – the future of AI-powered customer service?
Arcus Answer – the future of AI-powered customer service?
What if your service users could speak to Alexa (Amazon Echo) rather than an automated service- answering up to 40% of calls and reducing call costs from nearly £4 to less than £1. This is a service that’s all about achieving savings, gaining efficiencies, having happier staff as well as providing a better customer experience.
The Sunday Times recognises Arcus Global as one of Britain’s fastest- growing tech companies
The Sunday Times recognises Arcus Global as one of Britain’s fastest- growing tech companies
The annual Sunday Times’ Tech Track 100 league, lists Arcus Global as 56 of Britain’s fastest-growing private technology companies,one of only five companies from the tech hub of Cambridge.
What connects the beach, talent, transformation and the digital future?
Well it’s the annual Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA) conference in Bournemouth on July 11 and 12. The theme is Talent, Technology, Transformation: Mapping the Digital Future. So we have to be there!
What role should philosophy play in artificial intelligence?
We are delighted to be hosting an event in collaboration with Anglia Ruskin University on June 21 in central Cambridge.
The event coincides with the annual Digital Leaders week which is a inspirational week in the digital transformation calendar in the UK. There are many events to choose from and we’re delighted to be running one in Cambridge.
Arcus Global secures £3m investor funding to enable further growth
…”Arcus has developed an enviable reputation for their innovative approach and we believe their solutions will fulfil an important role in helping public sector organisations drive efficiencies and to adapt to the changing digital landscape.” Charlie Robinson YFM
Arcus becomes a consulting partner for the Amazon Connect service
Arcus Global are rather pleased to announce that, following a rigorous assurance process, we have become the first validated ‘go to’ consulting partner in EMEA for the Amazon Connect service.
Amazon Connect is the artificial intelligence (AI) based, automated service that powers the contact centre of the world’s most customer centric company – Amazon.com. It is also the technology that we used for our successful project with the NHS Business Services Authority – which resolved 42% of calls to the European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) service.
Our work with NHS BSA is covered in Computing Weekly
NHS Business Services Authority considering a 24-hour virtual contact centre after trial with AWS Lex.
Arcus Global was delighted to work with NHSBSA on a three-week proof of concept during the end of the 2017. We are proud that set up took just two two weeks.
“We received just short of 11,000 calls, over the three weeks, [and] 4,300 calls were fully resolved by Lex. That is a 42 per cent success rate,” said Darren Curry, Chief Digital Officer, speaking at the AWS Public Sector Conference in London last week.
To read the full article, click here. For more information about Arcus Answer then click here.
We’ve made it onto the DL100 List
We’re delighted to be listed in the Digital SME category in this years DL100 list. We need you vote so please spare a moment to vote for us here.
Arcus Answer is shortlisted for its first award
Arcus Answer is a great example of artificial intelligence in action and we’re delighted that it’s been shortlisted in the Machine Learning / AI Project of the Year in the prestigious Computing Digital Technology Leaders Awards 2018 for our work with NHSBSA.
Brexit, economics and cloud
What is the impact of brexit on cloud? Peter Male, outlines the impact of brexit on the Sterling vs Dollar exchange rates to demonstrate why AWS continues to offer the best value for money for customers using cloud.
AWS champion our work on artificial intelligence and NHS
You know you’re doing great work when AWS champion it. At Arcus we are all about how we can help the public sector improve their services. Peter Male writes how we have used AI to improve call handling in the NHS.
Cloud security & buckhammer
Peter Male, AWS Business Development Lead, reacts to the news of the latest security scare and argues why Buckhammer won’t be stopping him from storing data on the Cloud.
Hollie’s top tips for providing outstanding customer support
We know what we’re talking about when it it comes to providing excellent customer support. Well we should as we recently won the coveted Best Cloud Support Provider in Computing Cloud Excellence awards.
We thought we shouldn’t keep our expertise to ourselves and so we asked Hollie Armstrong, our Service Desk Manager to share her top tips for delivering first class customer service.
GDPR and what it means to the public sector in particular…
With four months to go, Peter Male, Business Development Lead, gives an overview and some advice on what GDPR means.
Four months from now on the 25th May the General Data Protection Regulation, GDPR, will enter law. At that point we will see the biggest, and arguably most important, change to the way in which personal information is handled.
We will see more power given to the individual (the data subject in GDPR parlance) to control who has their information, what those third parties can use it for, remove consent for third parties to use their data and most importantly tell them (not ask!) to delete the data they hold – the ‘right to be forgotten’.
AWS- A testament to demand
Peter Male, Business Development Lead, writes a blog on AWS and their new Availability Zone.
AWS recently announced the arrival of their 50th Availability Zone (AZ – which is defined as a data centre or centres that have separate risk profiles to other AZ’s, which work together to form a region e.g. London).
What’s surprising is not that AWS has opened a new AZ, we’re more accustomed to them announcing whole new regions at this point, but where this new AZ is – London.
Another award for Arcus 2017 Technology Fast 500 Deloitte EMEA list
Arcus Global is delighted to announce that we rank 251 on the Deloitte Technology Fast 500™ EMEA list. This is a ranking of the 500 fastest-growing technology, media, telecommunications, life sciences and energy tech companies in Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA). Arcus grew 491 percent during this period.
How Meltdown & Spectre underline the benefits of being on the Cloud
The Meltdown & Spectre CPU vulnerabilities will force all security-conscious organisations to patch their servers. This is something that has already been completed by AWS. While the speed of reaction to threats like these is a good reason to host your infrastructure on the Cloud, this issue also highlights another Cloud benefit which is that this change will result in a 5 – 30% reduction in server performance which can be easily fixed in a Cloud environment but is really hard to handle on premise.
What do you bring to the party?
We’re quite an interesting mixture of backgrounds and cultures. But diversity isn’t just about your background. It’s more than that and it includes what life experiences we bring with us.
Earlier this year, having a sense of the diverse background colleagues enjoyed, I sent around a email asking everyone what what the most interesting job they’d had. It set off a series of brilliant responses and here’s a flavour of what we bring to the party.
Come and say Hello to us at the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health Conference
“I’m finding the change over so much easier than I thought. It’s really useful and simply laid out, a lot simpler to use than our previous system. It is fabbb :)” from one very happy user.
A love letter to Arcus…
Dom, our first employee leaves Arcus. Read how Dom, left his boat and career as a psychiatric nurse to join Co founders Denis and Lars on the Arcus journey.
Arcus Global is listed in the Deloitte UK Technology Fast 50 Awards
We are delighted to announce that we are listed in the 2017 Deloitte UK Technology Fast 50, a ranking of the 50 fastest growing technology companies in the UK. Rankings are based on percentage revenue growth over the last four years. Arcus Global grew 491 per cent during this period.
Would you buy a house in the same way government procure goods and services?
Let’s for minute image that there are fixed rules for buying a house. Let’s stretch our imagination a little bit further and imagine that we had to buy a house using the principles that govern the procurement process.
Join us For AWS Transformation Day – Public Sector
As a Gold Sponsor of the AWS Transformation Day – Public Sector on Monday 30 October, we’re keen to ensure that everyone gets the most out of the day.
AWS Case Study – DCLG Datamart
The Department for Communities and Local Government’s (DCLG) purpose is to support the creation of great places to live and work, and to give more power to local people to shape what happens in their area. In 2015, the department chose Arcus Global to build a secure platform on AWS for hosting its applications.
AWS Case Study – DCLG Optimisation
The Department for Communities and Local Government’s (DCLG) purpose is to support the creation of great places to live and work, and to give more power to local people to shape what happens in their area. In 2015, it chose Arcus Global to build a secure platform on AWS for hosting its applications. By 2016, that platform was hosting a series of applications up to ‘Official Sensitive’ level and DCLG wanted to move more of its infrastructure to AWS.
AWS Case Study – Nourish Care
Nourish Care is a healthcare focused start-up that provides novel software based solutions designed to improve the lives of people who need care. Their tools help carers to plan, record, report and coordinate care to meet the needs of the individual.
Local Government and Artificial Intelligence – How to Begin a Special Relationship
Expectations that AI will transform the world economy have become commonplace. A recent RSA analysis suggested that 15% of British private sector jobs or about four million could be at risk in the next decade. But how could it affect Local Government?
Artificial Intelligence – Arcus Global Develops the World’s First Alexa Skill for Local Government Transactions
Initially the Alexa skill will be used to ask for payment options for council tax, to obtain information on recycling, waste collections, and recycled needle collections. Residents will also be able ask questions on the political and council leadership.
Arcus Global Wins Another Award!
There are some sore heads in the office this morning; I think some of us might be having an early night but it was worth it.
AWS Case Study – NHS Business Services Authority
“The NHSBSA’s engagement has been a positive collaborative experience with Arcus Global allowing knowledge, experience and ideas to be shared freely. Arcus have enabled the NHSBSA to bolster the security of our Cloud Platform with the knowledge and experience that they provide. Arcus also provide confidence and ensure the platform remains as secure as possible, which also has enabled the NHSBSA to become exemplars of cloud hosting within the UK Healthcare sector.”
Chris Suter, Lead DevOps Engineer, NHSBSA
How to Choose a Cloud Aware Penetration Tester
If security is important to you then you’ll want an external penetration test for your infrastructure. The work that Arcus does with central government and NHS means that we have been tested by several ‘experts’ but the truth is that many of these don’t understand the Cloud and so make some recommendations that are irrelevant while missing larger issues. Recently I met a penetration test company that understands the Cloud but before I come to that, let me explain about penetration tests.
We’re Shortlisted! SME National Business Awards
We’re delighted to announce that we’ve been shortlisted for the SME Business Awards.
Donuts, Post its and Sketchbooks
Here in the first of our occasional series of Acronaut blogs, Nicola Edwards, shares her secrets about how she gets the information she needs from clients.
Arcus: Inspiring Young Coders
Arconauts Dominic Myers and Simon Cull have been running a weekly Code Club after school at St Andrew’s School in Soham since September 2016.
Three or Should That be Four Cheers for Arcus?
We’re delighted to announce that we’ve been shortlisted in four categories in the Computing’s Cloud Excellence Awards. The Awards aim to recognise the very best of the UK’s cloud industry, from the most innovative and compelling products and vendors, through to the top use cases from end-user firms.
Why is Arcus Global an AWS Managed Service Provider you can Trust?
As an AWS Managed Services Provider (MSP) security is a key area of focus for Arcus and something our customers expect. The National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) has created a set of 14 cloud security principles that public sector organisations should be aware of, and adhere to, when selecting cloud services and solutions/service providers. This blog explores how those principles are met.
Why we use Amazon Web Services
Arcus was the first UK partner to gain AWS Public Sector competence. This is because we understand the sector inside-out. For the seventh consecutive year, AWS names as a leader in Gartner’s Infrastructure as a Service (Iaas) Magic Quadrant.
Denis Kaminskiy, Co Founder of Arcus Global is Shortlisted in the 7th Annual Enterprise Awards
The Annual Enterprise Awards celebrate the very best entrepreneurs in the UK technology industry. Uniquely focused on Founders, rather than Companies, the Enterprise Awards recognises those that demonstrate vision, growth, innovation, funding, use of capital, use of resources, strategy, execution, ambition, and determination to succeed. Previous winners include the founders of British unicorns FanDuel and Transferwise.
Come Along and See us at the Chartered Trading Standards Institute (CTSI) National Conference
We’re delighted to be running a workshop at the CTSI Conference in Harrogate.
Colin and Helen, our two representatives will be presenting the ‘Why’, ‘How’ and ‘When’ of a new generation digital platform for UK Trading Standards and will explain, and show, how cloud-based deployment can provide secure, mobile access to officers and managers from any location on any device.
What can Artificial Intelligence Offer to the Public Sector?
We’re delighted to be hosting the next Digital Leader East of England salon on June 21 at the Future Business Centre as part of the National Digital Leaders Week.
Arcus Global is Awarded a Place on G-Cloud 9
Arcus Global is delighted to be awarded a place on G-Cloud 9. The G-Cloud is an initiative targeted at easing procurement by public-sector bodies in departments of the United Kingdom Government of commodity information technology services that use Cloud computing.
Lessons from Security Attacks
It’s been all over the news since the weekend. The ransomware attack that disrupted the NHS and businesses around the world.
Arcus Global Clients Avoid Computer Malware
Over the weekend a computer malware spread across 150 countries. Arcus Global clients were not affected.
Arcus Global wins at the Cambridgeshire SME Business Awards
Arcus Global is delighted to have won two awards and been named highly commended runner up for another at the Cambridgeshire SME Business Awards held at the Huntingdon Marriott on the 5th April 2017.
Arcus Global Shortlisted for Three More Awards!
Arcus Global is delighted to have been shortlisted in three categories in the Cambridgeshire SME Business Awards. The three categories are Business of the Year, Business of the Year Greater than 50, and the High Growth Business Award.
Arcus Global Shortlisted for Cambridge Business Excellence Awards
Arcus Global are delighted to have been shortlisted in the Medium Size Business of the Year category.
In 2016 Arcus Global was honoured to have won the Small Business of the Year awarded by Cambridge Business Weekly. This year, reflecting our growth and success, Arcus Global qualified to enter in the medium size business category and are delighted to have our success recognised by being shortlisted.
Dan, Our First Apprentice, Is Hired!
Dan is very positive about his experience as an apprentice and could see no downside to being an apprentice other than his travel time. Dan says he enjoyed being in a more adult environment and preferred work to school.
Arcus Global joins Cadcorp Business Partner Network programme
At Arcus our applications are built to support digital service transformation in local authorities. Our applications often incorporate geographic information for the purposes of spatial data capture and plotting, creating efficiencies for users and ensuring data is available for public consumption in its most accessible form.
Arcus Global Goes Live with ‘101’ Services Across all 4 Lots on the Digital Marketplace Framework
Arcus Global has successfully listed 101 of their cloud-based products and services across the Digital Framework, making Arcus Global the largest SME provider to UK Local Government by sales volume, and one of the most successful SMEs on the G-Cloud framework overall.
PETERBOROUGH CITY COUNCIL WINS GLOBAL AWS AWARD
Peterborough City Council has won the prestigious AWS (Amazon Web Services) Global Public Sector Smart City Award which comes with a prize of $25,000 worth of promotional credits that can be used to offset Peterborough’s AWS cloud infrastructure costs.
Arcus Global First UK Company to Achieve Government Competency Status from Amazon Web Services
Arcus Global, an Amazon Web Services Advanced Consulting Partner already recognised for its Managed Services capability, has added to its growing reputation by becoming the first UK based AWS Government Competency Partner.
EuroCloud UK Award winners announced
London, June 22 (http://eurocloud.org.uk/) today announces the ten companies chosen by its judging panel as finalists and winners in this year’s UK Awards contest. nd 2016 – Cloud computing industry champion EuroCloud UK
Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council Chooses ArcusGlobal to Provide Digital Citizen Services
Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council (RMB() has contracted with Arcus Global (Arcus) following a thorough open OJEU procurement exercise to provide its Digital Services Hub. The new platform will enable citizens, businesses and other stakeholders across the authority to interact digitally with the council, enabling Rotherham to be an always on, always available Authority.
Better Connected Live – A View From the Back
The most telling session at the Better Connected Live event in Birmingham at the end of last month was the Q and A that ended the morning session on day one. The 20 minute Q and A drilled into the heart of the challenge and the problems of being a digital authority in 2016.
4 Causes of Legacy Systems Syndrome and Some Ways to Mitigate Them
Does your organisation have a system, which while critical to some business function is proving nearly impossible to update and change? Does every upgrade cycle take months and require serious effort and testing? Is the application starting to creak at the seams and proving occasionally unstable?
What Happens When You Push the AI Stop Button!
Last week saw a flurry of news concerning a new paper by Laurent Orseau from Google DeepMind and Stuart Armstrong from The Future of Humanity Institute at Oxford University.
Data Quality Is A Design Problem
Many organisations have data quality problems. Some organisations have data quality problems so serious it stops them from using key systems in a meaningful way. When that happens, sometimes the consultants get called.
Mid Sussex District Council Chooses Arcus Global as Key Technology Partner
Mid Sussex District Council (MSDC) announce Arcus Global (Arcus) as a key technology partner following soft market testing, reference visits and a selection process carried out through the Digital Market and G-Cloud 7.
Arcus introduces NEW! Arcus Waste Management (AWM)
Increasingly waste and environmental services form a cornerstone of the citizen digital engagement programmes in Local Authorities.
Investing in our future: Overcoming digital challenges in East Anglia
East Anglia in 2016 is a growing hub for digital technology. My own city of Norwich is now officially a ‘Tech City’.
The Benefits of Cloud Computing
Cloud computing from Arcus gives the Public Sector many benefits, including a platform to run all your services from.
Arcus Global Awarded place on G-Cloud for fourth Consecutive Year
Arcus Global goes live with 91 services across all 4 Lots on the Crown Commercial Platform Cambridge UK, 26th November 2015 — Arcus Global has been awarded a place on the G-Cloud 7 framework by Crown Commercial services. Arcus Global is one of only 52 suppliers who has been awarded a place on all 4… Read more »
Evolution of Public Sector Technology
Citizens & other Stakeholders are demanding Digital interaction with the Public Sector. A tech savvy population want to use their mobiles, tablets & PC’s at a time & location to suit to book services & ask for information. Fact – Digital Service provision is more cost effective. Fact – Digital demand will grow consistently. With… Read more »
Changing how you access your data and interact with staff and citizens.
Changing how you access your data and interact with staff and citizens. Legacy systems are generally fit for purpose but most of them still propagate silo-based infrastructure and have a support and management overhead that works directly against a true low-cost service delivery model. Arcus Global has a genuinely NEW way of delivering real change and… Read more »
Peterborough City Council Webinar – Local Authorities Can Have it All
As local authorities look to solve pressing financial, productivity, and modernisation challenges, leading transformation lights are extending the scale scope and sophistication of Information technology to enable their Authorities to meet and beat the challenge head on. Richard Godfrey Assistant Director for ICT at Digital Peterborough, delivers a webinar, on how Peterborough is addressing key… Read more »
Gain a Research Edge: Harness the Power of Hybrid Cloud With AWS
Credits: David Blaikie @ flickr.com/photos/nikonvscanon/ © edited by Amish Gir http://sumo.ly/9ZGe Educators and researchers today navigate an extensive labyrinth of “proper channels” to grant their innovative ideas. Factors that slow down your progress include resources and funding limitations. This is where utility cloud can give you the competitive edge. Cloud computing like Amazon Web Services… Read more »
Evolving Councils Embrace a New Business model
Inspired by a New Contract Management System According to an article in the MJ, last week the new Local Government Minister anticipates tough spending choices amid greater devolved funding. Given this austere climate, councils need to think outside the box in order to save money and simplify processes. And, unlikely as it sounds, a new… Read more »
File System How-To
Introduction We’re presently developing a mobile application using Cordova and the whole process has been brilliant! Most recently we’ve been using the FileSystem of the mobile device we’re using (more often than not a virtual Android device using Genymotion) so we’ve had to get our heads around the File plugin. My team is comprised of… Read more »
Cloud Platform: A Shifting Landscape (Part 1)
– A paradigm shift is no longer just a possibility, but a reality – The 3 Ds ‘Design, Development and Delivery’ have always been at the forefront of technology, and never more so than today. The landscape is changing once again. In the past, the public sector (along with the private) moved away from… Read more »
10 reasons the removal of external accreditation from G-Cloud is a good thing.
Earlier this month, we have received confirmation the GDS and CCP were removing accreditation requirements from the G-Cloud catalogue. I always pay close attention to what is communicated about the G-Cloud framework. More than 40% of our revenue came from G-Cloud last year, and we are selling more and more through the framework every week.… Read more »
A new Portal from Janet, AWS and Arcus Global.
A new Portal for higher education and research. Arcus are proud to be part of the launch of a new Portal that enables users in the Janet community to procure AWS cloud services with new, additional benefits. The Portal provides a coherent admins facility and offers: monthly invoicing (no credit cards required for payment) itemized billing,… Read more »
Five years in the Cloud.
From humble beginnings Starting out in the back of the old company BMW, Denis Kaminskiy and Lars Malmqvist travelled the length and breadth of England presenting their new and innovative idea to local and central government departments. Six months later, they moved into their first office at Castle Hill, Cambridge and began to expand the team. From… Read more »
Update SalesForce rich text area in a VisualForce page
I’ve just come across this post by Matt Lacey, a day too late as I discovered this yesterday! Basically the issue is that Salesforce has rich text fields which are not in the least bit easy to re-render. A colleague had a requirement to change the text within the rich text area depending upon the… Read more »
Our new office
Back in December we moved offices to the Future Business Centre in the North of Cambridge. The Future Business Centre has been set up as an “enterprise hub that demonstrates the possibilities for combining good business practice with the business of doing good”. We have more space, lots of concrete “feature walls” and views of… Read more »
The fallacy of “national” systems
Merging Service / creating a “national” Software / Platform for Local Government.There have been suggestions that some councils are just too small. You can see the whole discussion here: I thought I would pull out some of the points I have made in the discussion, as I thought they were worth sharing: In terms of… Read more »
It is officially Christmas at Arcus!
Moving a Council to “Infrastructure Free” on a shoestring
One council created quite a storm at the recent Public Sector ICT event by announcing that they will soon be the country’s first, completely cloud based council. Rocco Labellarte, CIO at the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead, has spent the last 12 months transitioning the council to Public Cloud based infrastructure. This was done… Read more »
Barriers to digital change in Local Government
The Department for Communities and Local Government recently conducted an extensive study into the use of digital technologies by those in Local Government. The report discovered that for 72.7% of authorities, legacy systems and infrastructure is the biggest barrier to developing their digital offerings. This statistic was echoed by the suppliers taking part in the… Read more »
Tandridge revolutionises Building Control
A revolutionary new building control system is changing the way the Council does business in Tandridge. Built in conjunction with Tandridge District Council and the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead, Arcus Global’s Building Control software is helping Councils to make significant savings by transforming the way their Building Control Officers work. Stuart Mitchenall, Head… Read more »
The Future of Open Data in the Public Sector
Opening up central and local government is a key priority in pushing for greater transparency and accountability in the public sector. Francis Maude, Minister for Cabinet Office, has described data as ‘the 21st century’s new raw material’ which can drive choice, efficiency and value for money in public service delivery by empowering citizens to hold… Read more »
Come along and meet us at the National Children and Adults Services Conference in Harrogate this October
Organised by the Local Government Association (LGA), Association of Directors of Social Services (ADASS) and Association of Directors of Children’s Services (ADCS), this conference is regularly attended by more than 1,000 delegates. The conference takes place from 16 – 18 October at the Harrogate International Centre. It is widely recognised as the most important annual… Read more »
How software can help children, families, and carers, all at once
It is widely accepted that early education is of major importance to an individual in the long term, especially for those most disadvantaged. However, the process of educating a child is not limited to primary school, being also highly influenced by a home learning environment and quality pre-schooling. The UK Government is trying to raise awareness and taking action… Read more »
Arcus and Quidgest Join Forces
Arcus Global and Quidgest have joined forces to form a new strategic partnership, focusing on bringing their innovative services to clients in the UK. The partnership will bring application development and services to the UK central and local government, as well as to the National Health Service. With budget cuts and the pressing need to save… Read more »
Five things Councils should consider when writing a software tender specification
When a Council writes a tender specification, they are often pretty specific in terms of the type of software they want and restrictive in the experience they require bidding companies to have. This process can often hinder new technologies or companies with new and innovative products from winning tenders, despite the fact that they can… Read more »
Five reasons why Councils should be using the cloud
Having recently joined Arcus from a District Council, I can see very clearly the benefits that cloud computing, whether software or infrastructure, can have on most public sector organisations. Here are my top five reasons why councils should be looking to the cloud for their ICT future.1 ) Cost Every organisation is feeling the effect… Read more »
Cloud solution gives library volunteers a flying start
IT has been held up nationally as a leading example of partnership working. It has saved hundreds of thousands pounds each year for taxpayers, and it has allowed the public to retain precious local services. But the highly-acclaimed project to create a new swathe of community libraries could easily have faced a serious flaw from… Read more »
News from the Cloudfront – Application to Product
Forecast: ‘generally sunny with a distinct lack of a personnel’ now that everyone is taking their holidays. The theme of this month is most definitely productize – a word that filled me with architectural suspicion previously – but now I can say with some certainty that the road from application to product can be broken… Read more »
Thousands of children to benefit from software switch
Thousands of children and their families are set to benefit from a County Council computer software change – which will also save taxpayers large sums of money. On August 6, staff working at the 35 children’s centres in Buckinghamshire moved to a Council-hosted system called Indigo, developed by Arcus Global, which gives them greater flexibility… Read more »
Taxpayers set to reap massive savings from new contracts system
A ground-breaking system revolutionising the way council contracts are stored and managed could save taxpayers at least £15million a year. And Buckinghamshire County Council could also bring in large amounts of additional money by selling the new computer software to other local authorities who are already interested in buying it. The Council aims to go live… Read more »
Success leads to new staff appointments
Cambridge based, public sector service provider, Arcus Global, are pleased to announce the appointment of two key members of staff. Lauren Gilman joins the organisation as Marketing Manager and Chris Jones takes up the role of Principal Cloud Consultant. Both join the organisation at a time of rapid growth, as the company continues to establish… Read more »
Hounslow to Become First Digital, Platform-Based Council
Forget ‘Council in the Cloud’: SaaS and PaaS deal with Salesforce underpins first strategy to transform the way a Local Authority will deliver service to residents Hounslow Council has just selected Salesforce as its first step to delivering its customer focused technology strategy utilising servicecloud, force.com, marketcloud and salescloud. The Council’s new platform-based approach puts customers at… Read more »
Are coders worth it? Hell yeah!
I’d like to talk about whether or not coders are worth it? My Dad was a structural engineer for his working life, he worked for various local governments around Yorkshire and worked very hard! He didn’t have a degree but he was ever so experienced and was often given the role of mentor to newly… Read more »
Arcus Global extends presence on UK Government G-Cloud Framework
Arcus Global extends presence on UK Government G-Cloud Framework Cambridge based SME brings flexibility, security and scalability of Amazon Web Services to UK public sector organisations. CAMBRIDGE – May 07, 2013 –Arcus Global, the leader in delivering cloud computing to the public sector, today announces that it has extended its presence on the UK government’s… Read more »
Silly Debates
There has been this article published recently on the Tech Republic. http://www.techrepublic.com/blog/10things/10-reasons-you-should-build-your-own-cloud/3637?tag=mantle_skin;content It is ridiculous and misguided to the point of being dangerous (just at the point where real cases of savings are appearing, it suggests a backwards approach), but it has promoted some pretty interesting debate: I am simply copying some of the comments… Read more »
Address Data
We’re having to process a lot of data at work. We’re spinning through data from a legacy system and parsing the data which has been kept in all sorts of different formats for addresses. An awful lot of data doesn’t have spaces where you’d think spaces should be so I’m left looking for solutions… I… Read more »
Season’s Greetings 2012
Wishing you all the very best for 2013! Thank you.
Colour vs Color
I’m not a designer by trade but by hobby so I’m always fascinated by colours. I live and breath HTML code so I end up using shed loads of hex values in page design work both at work and at home. As such I don’t really take much notice of the names of colours used… Read more »
Zoho CRM – Logos and Signatures (how to)
Zoho CRM is a flexible, low cost and fully customisable Customer Relationship Management system. One of its features is that email communications can be traced against contacts within the system, either by using a free Zoho Email account, or by purchasing the mail add-on and using your own domain email address. This post is about… Read more »
Security and the Cloud – Part 1
This will be the first of a number of op-ed pieces on the security landscape of cloud computing. Security is often quoted as one of the main reason people back away from embracing the cloud. This I believe is often due to a combination of an over estimation of how secure their current arrangements are… Read more »
Arcus Summer!
As we head into autumn and people stop complaining about how hot it is, in preparation to complain about how cold it is, I thought I’d look back over what we got up to over the summer. The short answer is of course tenders – a necessary evil, presumably for both suppliers and procurers alike… Read more »
Arcus Cloud Newsletter # 8, Summer 2012
Read about Cloud news in public sector, updates from vendors, the latest projects Arcus is working on with local authorities in our Summer Newsletter. The main points of interest are: G-Cloud ii, BYOD and cloud security. Join the discussion. http://bit.ly/Arcus8
Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt over ICT jobs
There has been a recent survey highlighting the barriers to adoption of Cloud computing done by the Cloud Industry Forum (CIF). The survey was reported on publictechnology.net (can be found here) http://www.publictechnology.net/sector/central-gov/public-sector-cloud-booming-where-are-standards?goback=%2Egmp_2981638%2Egde_2981638_member_133502379 The survey comes up with all of the expected findings about growth, trajectories etc… One particular section is interesting (quote from the page… Read more »
Android Emulator for Development
Identify a suitable Android Emulator for Development with Arcus Global. Introduction We have identified a requirement for an Android Emulator for an application we’re creating using data hosted by a 3rd party. The 3rd party is in the process of developing their own HTML5 offering so it is envisaged that within the year we will… Read more »
Spring Newsletter
Arcus’ Sring Newsletter is out! This quarter was busy both for Arcus (winning Business Weekly award and working on exciting projects) and for all Cloud industry: First contracts and comments for CloudStore, reduced pricing from vendors, increased spending for SaaS, emerging BYOD and Big Data, the beginning of European Cloud Partnership, etc – please have a look at our… Read more »
jQuery UI modal dialog and its data object
I don’t know how many times I’ve had to re-research this so this is the last time as I’m going to document it! I really like jQuery UI modal dialogs but I always have trouble getting them to do the proper thing when they’ve closed! Poor Alex is forever reminding me after I’ve spent 20… Read more »
Testing ElastiCache
We’ve come to use lots and lots of caching in order to optimise a web application that we’ve been developing for longer than a year now. It’s passed it’s prototype stage and is being used in anger so we needed to make sure that latency was reduced as much as we could. Caching was the… Read more »
A response to the G-Cloud abstainer
This post is a response to the article published on PublicTechnology.net – please see this link..http://www.publictechnology.net/sector/central-gov/uk-tech-firm-why-we-declined-bid-g-cloud-work#comment-8197
The above response is very typical of “sour grapes” and protectionism from a company unable to openly compete in a commodity market. Contract terms, open pricing, definitions are all designed to give the same – identical in fact (to the greatest extent possible) to all providers, large and small. Even in this first version of G-Cloud they are adequate, hence there are plenty of companies (255) including tens of private Cloud providers, that have bid. They believe that the definitions are flexible enough to accommodate their services.
GovCamp 2012 – public sector ‘unconference’
Last year as part of the G-cloud accreditation process I found myself in the hallowed Google offices in London attending an event where the Government Procurement Service (GPS) were trying to de-mystify the tendering process. A noble aim indeed but I was confused by their odd choice of name for the event, “ApplyCamp“, given the… Read more »
What’s a Benjamin?
Image: nuchylee / FreeDigitalPhotos.net An interesting post at the Software Advice (website) blog on Public Sector and the Cloud was recently pointed out to me and it got me to thinking about the differences between the Public Sectors in the UK and the USA. It also brought to the fore the similarities. In the post… Read more »
Arcus Newsletter – Winter 2012 issue is out!
The last few months have been very busy for Cloud industry: interesting developments from vendors, launch of Government-Cloud Framework and several large-scale adoptions of Cloud products proof that 2012 is going to be a year when Cloud becomes mainstream. In the latest issue of Arcus Newsletter we are looking both at predictions for the new… Read more »
Smaller Projects = Fewer Failures
One of the most heartening things the current government has been doing on ICT policy is the attempt to reduce overall contract size and lifetime value of projects. When the government came into power it established a temporary moratorium on projects over £1M (see this report from the Audit Office for details on this initiative). The new… Read more »
Season’s Greetings
A Business Case For Local Clouds…?
There’s a fascinating article on Public Technology NET talking about how companies are finding it difficult to move their stuff onto the cloud thanks to what is being called trade barriers (http://www.publictechnology.net/sector/central-gov/data-location-issue-still-bugging-cloud-plans). This is interesting as I don’t see the cloud being hosted anywhere in particular… I’m guessing this is probably naive but it’s a… Read more »
Role of Developers in Organisations
As Cloud and especially SaaS and PaaS is quickly becoming reality, many internal IT pros working the public sector are asking themselves whether the skills and career paths are shifting. Is it required to have a development team to cater for “small” user requirements such as a DB here and there, or perhaps a complex… Read more »
So the G- cat is out of the bag!
Earlier this month, central government released the first iteration of the G-Cloud Framework. It is being wildly discussed on the partner networks, with lots of cloud providers planning to bid. Indeed, according to a Linked in post by Mark Craddock, it attracted something like 80 suppliers on the first day. This is hardly a surprise.… Read more »
The proliferation of layers in the Cloud and what to do about it
There’s an old adage in Computer Science, which goes: “There’s no problem, which cannot be solved by adding another layer of indirection.” One usually goes on to add: “Except, of course, for the problem of too many layers of indirection.” Truth is, layers are great. They have been intimately involved in almost all the great… Read more »
Oracle Cloud Buys Fish
The technosaurs continue their battles to become the kings of the cloud, by innovation and aquisition. Oracle just put $1.5bn on the barrel head for RightNow and it doesn’t look like being the last software as a service (SaaS) company that they will snap up. The purpose of this spree is fairly clear: if you are… Read more »
Accessing RDS using HeidiSQL
Whilst looking at family-tree type things yesterday at work (it was for a work-based project, honest!) I remembered that my boss was looking at a way to administer our database on RDS. After reading shed loads of documentation, which said that it couldn’t be done or that you needed to jump through loads of hoops… Read more »
Arcus as a Service
It’s hard to spend much time reading about cloud computing without running across the IaaS, PaaS and SaaS acronyms. Respectively standing for Infrastructure, Platform and Software as a Service they are frequently used to characterise the different models for cloud service delivery. While IaaS involves supplying low-level computation resources such as processing or data storage, SaaS corresponds to delivering… Read more »
Arcus’ autumn edition of Newsletter is out!
Selected news on G-Cloud and public sectors’ ICT, latest developments from vendors, discussion on some “hot” Cloud topics and update on some of exciting projects Arcus is working on. Special points of interest: Cloud computing standards and migration Security in the Cloud on example of Google Apps Isle of Man moves to the Cloud, expects… Read more »
Nice JavaScript code snippet
Had the need to send a set of hex colour codes to a method which used them to create a chart using Google charts. The initial list was too short so that some of the colours ended up being repeated and the data became difficult to read. I pottered around the code base and “borrowed”… Read more »
It’s ALIVE!!
Virtualisation had been with us for a while now and it can generally be regarded as ‘a good thing’. It gives us more efficient utilisation of ‘real’ hardware and lets us do more with less – thereby realising cost efficiencies, which ultimately in this climate are very handy! These facts are all well-known and you’ll… Read more »
Tooth sucking isn’t helping
The IT Crowd premiered when I had no TV nor any interest in one, I still have no TV but I do get DVD box-sets every now and again to watch at home. After getting the The It Crowd I was really quite excited but the audience at home simply weren’t as in to it… Read more »
A bit like an iceberg…
When buying a car, apart from all the comfort and flexibility that it brings, we expect further expenses, beyond the initial list price of the vehicle. With expenses such as road tax, insurance, MOT tests, servicing and parking, the costs can soon build up, especially for car enthusiasts. This example is something many people can… Read more »
Screen resolution statistics
Being the geek I am I get carried away with statistics regarding the audience devices I’ll need to develop for, coming from an art(ish) background means that this is doubly important for me. While looking for some detailed metrics on this I came across this page on the W3C site which links to this page… Read more »
Getting Closer to the Dream
I have been a bit silly last week, and forgot to bring my laptop to work. Simply forgot that its on my desk in the study, just picked up an empty laptop bag and got in the car. I then drove for over 1 hour to client site, and upon arrival, realised that I dont… Read more »
Better than a tin of peas!
When I was 10 I went to the regular bingo game that my Gran ran at her local community centre in Lewisham. It was top as I once won a tin of processed peas (what with my Ma being something of a healthy eating nut I’d never seen a tin of peas before – the… Read more »
IE6 needs to go! But we can ease it’s passage…
Please don’t get me wrong, I’ve nothing against the victor in the general sense! I’m not overly afflicted with that particular British meme which means that we always root for the underdog. It’s just that it’s so old now, so very, very old! My dissertation for my MSc was in AJAX techniques and, in the… Read more »
New Commercial Models Emerging from the Cloud (PART 2)
Choosing the right solution for the right capability. Although standardisation undoubtedly brings benefits, easier interoperability of cloud systems means that, ultimately, the council can afford to have 3 different systems delivering the same capability to different user groups. Example: in a borough council, the desktop productivity solution could be Google for 800 or so users, with about 600… Read more »
Clear as glass
There is a brilliant poem by Rudyard Kipling called “I Keep Six Honest Serving Men…” (I’m assuming that it is out of copyright – if not I’ll happily remove it) which was published in The Elephant’s Child: I Keep Six Honest Serving Men… Rudyard Kipling I KEEP six honest serving-men (They taught me all I… Read more »
Do I Really Want One of Those?
When I was a kid I idolised another lad, he was so very cool. He could do that there robot dancing that was so very popular in the 80?s. He was called by his 2nd name rather than his Christian name (something I used for my own sprogs) and he had a Big Trak. Big… Read more »
New Commercial models emerging from the Cloud
As many people are no doubt aware, Cloud Computing is presenting a growing number of innovative commercial models. The next 2 posts will explore some of the ones that we have deployed with out clients
30% energy savings?
The environmental benefits to cloud computing were recently highlighted in a post on publicTECHNOLOGY.NET and it’s a fascinating read. We’re all very happy with the financial savings offered by moving to the cloud but this new spin means we can get even more excited. I guess it makes a lot of sense – it has… Read more »
“individuality is likely to carry a high price tag”
(Many thanks to txay for permission to use this fantastic image) Wow! What a quote from Martin Read, taken from this article in publicTECHNOLOGY.NET. It reminded me of something I read on gigaom some while ago when they were looking at barriers to the take up of cloud based solutions. To put the quote into… Read more »
LOCAL GOVERNMENT ICT BUDGET CUTS
Under the banner of LOCAL GOVERNMENT ICT BUDGET CUTS Brett Husbands, of our partner Firmstep, wrote in the FEEDBACK section of the September 2010 edition of ITNow from the BCS: The predicted fall in ICT budgets over the next year shouldn’t jeopardise local government efficiency savings – far from it. The findings of the recent… Read more »
Outsourcing Debate part 2
There seems to be a debate about the current drive for cost reduction forcing some of the councils to consider outsourcing. Sure: you are promised same or better for less, and you don’t have to worry your pretty little head about a thing. Your headcount drops too, and you may even get a capital injection – if not now, then perhaps in a few years time.
Threat to ICT jobs
Many more organisations in the local government are starting their move to at least hybrid provision of services. The path is pretty well etched now: ICT organisational restructuring -> Policy and Capability review (including data analysis and separation) -> TCO analysis -> Pilots / Migrations -> Integration -> Support and Management. This post is focused… Read more »
Public Sector Entrepreneurship
As everyone knows (and is almost tired of hearing), there are huge pressures on local government to cut costs.ICT teams, traditionally seen as being on the fringes of the organisation, are typically the first port of call for such cutbacks. Slashing systems, support, outsourcing solutions, consulting, and most importantly people, is the expected course of… Read more »
Local Government Moving to the Cloud
As farfetched a vision this may seem, the change in attitude towards Cloud in local government over the last several months is astounding. Just 12 months ago, when we started going around local authorities offering free consulting on how to move their services to the emerging industry, we frequently were met with blank stares, or… Read more »
Cloud in Local Government – when is a good time to act?
During our many many visits to local authorities across the UK, there is one question that we get very frequently: When is the right time to start taking action regarding the cloud? Generally, every ICT and business professional within Local Government in the UK that I have met has acknowledged that Cloud computing, in its… Read more »
We have classified the Cloud Services – but what about its Customers in the Public Sector?
Roughly, I could split ICT professionals that we meet into 4 major categories based on their attitude to the cloud: Believer/adopter. They have made the mental leap to the new delivery model, including the cloud part of it. They accept that they need to deliver services, not software, and all that this entails. They are… Read more »
Transparency Agenda in the Local Government
During the pre-election frenzy in the UK, all political parties are making commitments regarding the efficiencies and savings that can be achieved across UK public sector. The news commentators love it – this provides them with fantastic opportunity to feed more editorial content by reporting and analysing the numbers. For the citizen however, it is… Read more »
Arcus Persona
Recently the Mozilla project rolled out a new version of the Firefox browser which included the ability to utilise Personas, allowing users to change the appearance of their browser with a single click. We looked at our site design and just knew that the sky and ground would look brilliant as a Persona so please… Read more »
Cloud vs. Outsourcing in Public Sector
In many ways, Cloud Computing is closely related to a commercial concept of outsourcing: a 3rd party is providing key elements of IT service in an organisation. To an extent, some of the scepticism that exists around the Cloud Computing Industry is routed in this similarity. Many of the local authorities we are working with… Read more »
Evolution of the Cloud
Like Gas, Electricity or Water, Information Technology should be simple, ubiquitous, and cheap. Users / customers of the service should not enjoy or dislike using IT anymore that they do using the 220 volts of power from a socket. This is the key to Arcus’s methodology for advising and delivering cloud services to the public… Read more »