HM Treasury signs AWS hosting environment management deal with Keysource

HM Treasury has enlisted datacentre management services provider to help operate the AWS environment used to host cross-government spending data system

Caroline Donnelly,
Senior Editor, UK

Published: 20 Feb 2024 16:45

HM Treasury has signed two three-year deals with datacentre specialist Keysource, including one involving the maintenance of the Amazon Web Services (AWS) environment that hosts the second iteration of the department’s cross-government public spending database.

The system, known as the Online System for Central Accounting and Reporting (Oscar II), is used by HM Treasury to analyse and record the amount of money government departments spend, so it can keep track of the current state of public sector budgets.

Under the terms of the 36-month contract, Keysource has been responsible for maintaining the AWS environment hosting Oscar II to ensure its resiliency, performance and security since November 2023.

To this point, the company will be expected to conduct IT security-focused vulnerability management audits, and ensure there is a robust backup and disaster recovery protocol in place to support the setup.

The second of the two contracts, which also went live in November 2023, involves the provision of service desk capabilities – in the form of user support and service management – by Keysource on behalf of HM Treasury.

This means Keysource will act as a single point of contact for all users and Oscar II suppliers.

“Access and incident management and trend analysis also form part of the remit alongside a commitment to continuous service improvement and innovation,” said Keysource, in a statement.

The company did, however, decline to confirm to Computer Weekly the value of either contract.

Jon Healy, chief operating officer at Keysource, described the contract as “prestigious and important”, and said the company is “extremely proud” to have been awarded it.

“Oscar II was developed to put finance analytics at the heart of decisions across government, using more accurate data, and spending more time on insight and analysis and less on manual quality checks and validation,” he said.

“Our role is to help provide a secure, scalable and reliable platform for this financial management and reporting, ensuring the availability, performance and security of the system.”

Rachel Salim, deputy director of finance analytics, control and technology at HM Treasury, added: “Through the tender process, transition and first few months of delivery, Keysource has demonstrated a commitment to continuous improvement and innovation to both their own services and the service of Oscar II as a whole. We are excited to see how we can evolve the service together over the next three years.”

According to data shared with Computer Weekly by public sector-focused analyst Tussell, Keysource has secured 14 public sector contracts totalling £2.8m in value since 2015. The largest of these contracts was awarded to the firm by the UK Research and Innovation agency in 2021, and valued at £1.1m.

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