Keysource, the global data centre specialist, has been chosen to provide critical facilities management for Surrey County Council (SCC) and its partners, following a competitive tender. Under the terms of the two-year deal Keysource will be responsible for two dedicated, purpose built, state of the art data centres operated by the council which provide secure hosting space, applications and infrastructure services to over 8000 users.

These data centres are critical to the day to day business of the Council with the technology touching almost every aspect of the organisation. In addition, SCC also hosts for a number of other public sector and private sector clients including Orbis, a shared services partnership between Brighton and Hove City Council, East Sussex County Council, and Surrey County Council.

Keysource will provide coordinated Planned Preventative Maintenance (PPM), critical help desk and out of hours support, statutory critical maintenance and a vital 24/7/365 emergency response service that includes an on-site within four hours guarantee.  The new two-year contract includes support for the infrastructure that forms a part of the PPM strategy including generators, UPS, switchgear, Cooling, ventilation, fire detection and suppression, security gates and access control, CCTV and AV.  The agreement includes the transfer of some Council staff to Keysource under TUPE.

Paul Clarke, Data Centre Manager at the Orbis Partnership, said: “We were keen to find a partner that understood our requirements and the unique and critical nature of the data centre infrastructure.  Keysource was able to demonstrate this with their unrivalled experience in the sector, inhouse quality, business continuity and compliance and a commitment to supporting our core values.”

Richard Clifford, Senior Consultant and Head of Innovation at Keysource, said: “We have over 40 years of experience in designing, building and supporting critical environments and our operating model has evolved to a unique, streamlined delivery service supporting all aspects of facilities management. Driven by our inhouse specialist team we’re helping our clients focus on maximising availability, lifecycle of plant, energy efficiency and sustainability of their environments.”