Cabinet Office blacklists Fujitsu from government IT contract tenders

The Cabinet Office has blacklisted Fujitsu and another IT supplier from tendering for government IT contracts because they constitute too high a risk.

According to FT.com, Fujitsu will not be considered by the Cabinet Office for new government projects for the time being.

Fujitsu would not comment.

The supplier has had problems with government projects recently. Fujitsu won a big deal with the Department of Work & Pensions (DWP) from HP, but the desktop deal was cancelled before any work could be done, after the DwP lost confidence in the supplier.

The Highland Council criticised Fujitsu for project failures to deliver parts of a £70m IT outsourcing deal that covered schools and the council’s corporate services.

Fujitsu is attempting to reduce its reliance on public sector business. It has moved from having about 70% of its sales in the public sector a few years ago, to having 55% in the public sector and 45% in the private sector. 

Fujitsu has said it wants to redress the balance even further. 

“We are trying to ensure we are going forward with our private sector business, because in the past we were mainly public sector,” Fujitsu UK head Duncan Tait told Computer Weekly in May.

The second supplier to be barred from tendering for new contracts has not been identified, but several sources in the IT services sector believe it to be CSC. 

The NHS recently clawed back £1bn from CSC in negotiations relating to its abortive deal to supply the Lorenzo electronic patient record systems.

CSC said: "[We are a] a strategic supplier to UK government and as such, maintain confidentiality on any matters relating to such contracts. CSC is committed to working with the UK government to add value and was pleased to have signed a new contract with NHS last week, representing a renewed commitment by the NHS and CSC to a long-term partnership; and just a few months ago we were awarded a major contract to work in partnership with the MOD on the Service Personnel and Veterans Agency. We have a strong and longstanding working relationship with our Crown Representative on all our UK government business.   We therefore anticipate continuing to provide services and solutions across many government departments into the future "

The Cabinet Office had not commented when going to press.