Cabinet Office flexing its VoIP update

The Cabinet Office is midway through developing new shared back-office systems to help modernise its major IT systems, claim reports.

Earlier this year the Cabinet Office unveiled a deal for a managed, converged voice and data network over IP (VoIP) from Fujitsu, named Flex, which has seen the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills (Dius) and the Office for National Statistics (ONS) both come on board in recent months.

The updated system will now support a network for around 8,000 people, although there are still 'big name' departments which have not yet succumbed to the charm of the new network.

"The challenge is knowing what the thing is," Peter Court, the department's chief information officer, told Silicon.com.

"All organisations tend to look after their own patch. I would refer to that as silo-based thinking. Increasingly the trend is networked convergence."

However, he noted that Fujitsu is continuing to promote the system with roadshows and that other departments may yet take it up.

"The contract is a four-year deal. During that time, the contract can be extended by a further seven years, and, the longer the deal, the more attractive the price point," he said.

"So, the opportunity is for around 11 years. During that time, I would hope we would have a lot more than the current 6,000 to 8,000 we have on board at the moment."