Peterborough council’s new IT system will save money ‘eventually’

Councillors were told that the new IT system currently being installed at the council’s new offices at Sand Martin House “will definitely save the council money”, but only after it has been up and running for some time.

The comment came from Peter Carpenter, acting corporate director of resources, at a meeting of the Audit Committee on Monday.

Cllr Christian Hogg asked Mr Carpenter about expected savings following the announcement earlier in the year that the council was reverting back to Microsoft 365 ‘Cloud computing’ from the Google system it has been using for some time.

“Moving back to 365 has many benefits for the council,” Mr Carpenter explained. “We will be using a system that most councils in the country now operate with, and we will be able to share data systems with Cambridgeshire County Council.

“The 365 IT system will integrate and share data saving time for both authorities and, it is hoped, significant financial savings as well.”

Mr Carpenter told councillors he believed the new 365-based IT system would eventually save the council money but not before the budget of 2021.

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Robert Alexander, Local Democracy Reporting Service