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Warwickshire county council deploys Microsoft cloud productivity suite
Teams, Office 365 and other cloud-based tools are being rolled out to give council staff greater flexibility
Warwickshire County Council (WCC) has rolled out Microsoft 365 as part of an 18 months transformation programme, to improve the efficiency of the local authority.
Through the programme, WCC aims to develop a new operating model designed to manage demand effectively and deliver economic growth priorities.
Microsoft 365 will be used to support the council’s How We Will Work programme, a key component of the council’s transformation programme.
The council said it plans to roll out Microsoft Teams, SharePoint and other Office 365 products to 4,700 employees. According to WCC, the new software will be used to enable staff to work more flexibly, promote collaborative working and meet the needs of the council.
Monica Fogarty, chief executive of WCC, said: “This move to fully implement Microsoft 365 fits in with our wider transformation programme, which will help us move towards a flexible, collaborative, high-performance culture.
“Introducing this new cloud-based infrastructure is a significant strategic move for the council and is the right technology platform for making our systems joined up, efficient and flexible.”
The council hopes Microsoft 365 will help its employees work remotely from their personal and mobile devices, even when accessing protected data. Remote working could enable staff to move quickly between work appointments and receive new information on the go.
Read more about digital transformation
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According to WCC, this could potentially allow staff to visit more clients in a day and have access to up-to-date information, or to move from task to task without having to return to a central office.
Councillor Kam Kaur, portfolio holder for customers and transformation, said: “Members of staff will be empowered to work in a far more efficient way. Staff will also be able to work more flexibly and fulfil their roles from a variety of locations.
“They will be enabled to work where they are most effective, at the most appropriate times. These efficiencies will be felt across the council and will benefit the services we provide to our customers.”
