Microsoft has inked a fresh pact granting the UK public sector discounts on its software, including – for the first time – 365 Copilot.
The software giant has entered into a five-year agreement with Crown Commercial Service on behalf of the UK government.
It follows on from a three-year Memorandum of Understanding the duo struck up in April 2021.
As well as being for a longer period, the latest agreement includes Microsoft’s shiny new AI tool, 365 Copilot.
It means that eligible public sector organisations can “pursue their digital transformation and innovation ambitions” by “leveraging the size and scale of the UK public sector”, according to CCS Chief Commercial Officer Roger Gonourie.
“It shows CCS’s continued commitment to providing maximum commercial value for our customers, removing barriers to growth across the public sector. It’s about securing a better future for us all,” he said.
“Enhanced value”
Last week, one of Microsoft’s largest volume UK partners, Bytes Technology Group, revealed it has sold 130,000 Copilot for M365 licenses.
This is despite Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff recently characterising it as “the new Clippy”.
The agreement will provide the government with “enhanced value” to not only Copilot but across what Microsoft described as its “AI-powered products and services”. This also means Microsoft 365, the Azure cloud platform and Business Applications, for example.
As noted by the Times, the agreement comes just days after Microsoft UK CEO Clare Barclay was appointed as Chair of the UK’s Industrial Strategy Advisory Council.
In a LinkedIn post, former UKCloud Director Nicky Stewart questioned why the government has made such a deal with Microsoft while the Competition and Markets Authority is investigating the vendor over its cloud dominance.
The announcement also coincided with Microsoft’s “AI tour” coming to London. It was fronted by Barclay (see below).
“AI technologies present a unique opportunity to transform public services and fuel the UK’s economic growth,” Barclay said in a statement today.
“This exciting new five-year partnership will mean Microsoft can continue to support the UK Government to create a world-class, digital-first public sector infrastructure, that will improve service delivery for citizens across the whole of the UK and create opportunities for all.”
