A new contract for IT systems will help staff at Lichfield District Council work with “more speed and efficiency”.
Councillor Doug Pullen, Cabinet member for community, told a meeting of the local authority that a 5.8% rise in the cost of operating systems was essential.
The council is now set to agree a three-year deal costing £152,850, up from £144,450.
But Cllr Pullen said the rise comes after a widespresad review aiming to make savings across the board.
“This increase is due to the Fit for the Future programme,” he said. “The new systems will enable the council to operate with greater speed and efficiency.
“The price can fluctuate based on the number of licenses we use each year, so we will be able to add to our current figure if required.”
A report from Cllr Pullen to the Cabinet meeting revealed that the council had decided not to look at alternatives to Microsoft, explaining that a the software was linked to many “business critical” programmes.
“While there are open source or free versions of most software packages, some lines of business software requires the Microsoft operating system,” Cllr Pullen’s report added.
“Many of the software programmes [used by the council] are not tested with other desktop systems and may not work as expected.
“While the software may be free there would be costs for supporting and retraining officers and technical staff in different software.”
