Civica wins £17 million contract with ARK Schools

5 year IT outsourcing partnership introduces greater flexibility and efficiencies for

ARK schools across the UK

27th May 2014, London: Civica, a market leader in specialist systems and business process services has signed a five year partnership with ARK Schools to provide outsourced IT services for the 2,500 staff and 14,500 students it supports across 27 primary and secondary academies in the UK. The deal, worth £17 million, will see Civica deliver managed services to academies and business units, nationally and internationally.

ARK Schools was set up as a Trust in 2004 to create a network of non-selective academies offering high quality education to children of all backgrounds, with the aim of ensuring that every pupil gains the right skills and qualifications they need to go to university.

By partnering with Civica, ARK Schools will benefit from a flexible approach to delivering managed IT services that will grow with the Trust. Civica’s active partnership will ensure that services are designed in-line with local school requirements throughout the life of the contract, thereby providing a flexible support service that delivers against school outcomes.

In addition to the core managed service, Civica will be supporting ARK Schools in delivering a number of new projects looking at innovation, procurement and improvements whilst also looking at new academy projects (new builds, transitions, and conversions)

A major part of the service is to support planned, significant growth of ARK Schools as it takes on more academies. The service will be scalable to support increased users and staff across the growing number of schools and business units.

By streamlining services and transferring risk – essentially outsourcing the direct cost and burden of managing the Trust’s ICT to Civica – ARK Schools expects to make considerable cost savings and achieve economies of scale with their anticipated growth. Civica will provide a blend of core ICT services including on-site IT support, field service management and access to a remote support desk. As part of the agreement, Civica will support email, HR and finance systems, server administration, mobile telephony, storage and device management.

Diana Gerald, Chief Operating Officer, ARK Schools commented: “I am certain that we have the foundation for a strong partnership between ARK Schools and Civica. This agreement underpins our main aim of delivering great teaching and learning that enables our pupils to expand their education horizons, as well as improve university and career opportunities. We will be able to continue to grow, and invest our resources in the things that matter - improving education for all.”

Lee Burley, Managing Director of Civica’s education division, said: “Academies and Trusts want to deliver outstanding results and focus increasingly tight resources on educational outcomes. This new partnership illustrates just how they can enhance services, setting the framework for future growth and success. As the number of students that ARK Schools support continues to

increase over the next couple of years, this ability to efficiently streamline administrative capabilities will prove to be vital in maintaining outstanding performance.”

Civica has an excellent track record in providing flexible learning-led ICT solutions, migrating organisations to new network infrastructures, embedding new cloud-based technologies and innovations, whilst at the same time providing strong financial transparency. The company has an ambitious vision in encouraging collaboration to accelerate learning. Since September 2013, Civica has been providing managed ICT services to schools in Lambeth. Working in partnership with the ten schools to deliver a next generation managed support service, it has worked on different innovations including training and support to deliver against individual school outcomes. The company understands the need for flexibility, local customisations and innovative, up-to-date technology to teach relevant skills.

Civica will now review the IT infrastructure across the ARK estate, to determine the best solution for each academy. Consultation will begin with onsite IT support staff who will transfer across to Civica via TUPE. Systems will then be set up, and training provided for staff. It will also be providing service management, operational licencing and technical support.

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About ARK SchoolsARK Schools (http://www.arkschools.org/) is a network of high-achieving, non-selective schools and one of the country’s top-performing academy groups. We run 27 academies in London, Birmingham, Portsmouth and Hastings, educating around 14,500 pupils. 13 of the 13 ARK academies so far inspected by Ofsted are rated good or outstanding. Our aim is to create outstanding schools that give every pupil, regardless of their background, the opportunity to go to university or pursue the career of their choice.

About CivicaCivica (www.civica.co.uk /education ) is a market leader in specialist systems and business process services for organisations across the public sector and around the world. Through experienced people who understand service delivery, the Group applies software, cloud-based services and outsourcing to help customers transform the way they work. Drawing on a unique combination of people, technology and business process expertise, Civica supplies more than 2,500 organisations in the UK, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Canada and the USA.

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