Technology Memorandums of Understanding

Preferential pricing and technology discounts

We are committed to helping our customers save money on technology. 

When we sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with a supplier, we use our national buying power to agree preferential pricing and discounts on products and services across the technology landscape. 

You can access these savings through any route to market used for buying technology, such as one of our many technology frameworks. 

These savings may not be exclusive to Crown Commercial Service (CCS), but they are an important part of the work we do with our suppliers to make sure you get the very best prices. 

Let our team of technology experts help you to start saving today.

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Current MoUs

Take a look at our selection of MoUs across:

  • cloud
  • software
  • technology products and services
  • networks

Cisco

Provides public sector organisations with access to solutions that help to improve security, enable faster digital acceleration and achieve more value for money. 

It covers all areas of Cisco’s portfolio including:

  • security and compliance
  • digital transformation
  • cyber security
  • critical infrastructure
  • hybrid working enablement and collaboration tools: such as state of the art voice and video communications and conferencing solutions

Ways you can benefit

The Cisco MoU is defined as an ‘All Portfolio’ MoU meaning everything the public sector buys from Cisco is in scope.  

Public sector organisations can choose to buy Cisco hardware and software at discount rates previously reserved for large central government customers.

Both purchase models are in scope within this MoU and the MoU works to sit alongside and compliment the terms and conditions of all UK public sector frameworks, both CCS and non CCS.

As public sector spend increases across certain categories like Security or Meraki, so does the commitment from Cisco to increase the discount levels offered. This demonstrates Cisco’s commitment to continue to achieve value for money for the UK public sector.

Additionally, Cisco is offering a limited number of Cyber assessments free of charge as well as digital training available through Cisco’s Net academy.

Watch the webinar introducing the MoU and the benefits it can offer.

How to access MoU benefits

This MoU will run until 2 October 2025 with an optional 12 month extension.

Choosing the right CCS framework is important. We recommend both Technology Products and Associated Services 2 and Network Services 3. 

If you are:

  1. buying a managed service or managed network upgrade which involves buying more than Cisco hardware then Network Service 3 is appropriate
  2. solely buying hardware infrastructure then Technology Products and Associated Services 2 (TePAS 2) is the most appropriate framework. 

Cisco’s resellers and System Integrators will be able to flow down the available discounts. Best practice is for customers to also request discounts in line with the CCS-Cisco MoU.

So if you are using buying switches, networking infrastructure or hardware upgrades, use TePAS 2.

When buying network connectivity (WAN and/or LAN) as a managed service or a solution, please use Network Services 3.

 

ServiceNow

The ServiceNow MoU is the foundation for procurements centred on the Now platform, which offers products such as:

  • IT service management
  • operations management
  • asset management and strategic portfolio management

Ways you can benefit

The agreement covers the entire ServiceNow software portfolio and offers customers preferential licensing terms for key ServiceNow products.

The agreement has been designed to help stimulate skills within the public sector, through guaranteeing places on ServiceNow’s degree apprenticeships, as well as their workplace development programme. 

ServiceNow also offers applications to its innovation fund. This includes a committed number of days of free development time to generate ideas into workflows and processes that may help in developing citizen services by improving the way public sector organisations operate.

How to access MoU benefits

This MoU was signed on 1 January 2023 and will run until 31 December 2025. We recommend you access the pricing using our Back Office Software Framework.

Salesforce

This will benefit public sector customers with a baseline of Salesforce, Mulesoft, Tableau and Slack pricing.

The agreement includes end user licenses for Salesforce products like Service Cloud, and platforms such as Net Zero Cloud.

Customers can also access free experimentation projects with Salesforce’s panel of small to medium size enterprise implementation partners, and discounted training and support.

Ways you can benefit

This has been designed to increase value for money and ease in accessing Salesforce products and solutions. It will promote greater choice for the public sector, and support the government’s top priorities including:

  • leveling up
  • economic growth
  • health and social care reform
  • carbon net zero targets

It gives extra options to streamline public services, maximize cost effectiveness and, ultimately, improve the citizen experience.

How to access MoU benefits

Negotiations for this MoU are currently ongoing. We recommend you access Salesforce solutions through Back Office Software, and Technology Products & Associated Services 2 framework.

Microsoft

We have negotiated a 5-year Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Microsoft, named the Strategic Partnership Arrangement 2024 (SPA24).  SPA24, which replaces the expiring Digital Transformation Arrangement 21 (DTA21) and will take effect on 1 November 2024, offers access to enhanced value across Microsoft’s portfolio of products and services to eligible public sector organisations, regardless of the size of the organisation or the procurement route used.

Ways you can benefit

The UK Government has a range of strategic initiatives supporting its digital transformation, including the National Data Strategy, the Cloud First Policy and the One Government Cloud Strategy, among others. SPA24 is aligned with this strategic approach by providing access to enhance value to all eligible public sector organisations, when procuring digital products and services, which they use daily in the delivery of public services.  The deal is available from 1st November 2024 until 31st October 2029, and eligible UK public sector organisations can access for any new or renewing Microsoft enterprise agreements via resellers.

How to access MoU benefits

Eligible public sector organisations do not need to use a particular procurement route in order to take advantage of SPA24 for Microsoft products and services and must ensure they undertake a compliant procurement process. We recommend using our Technology Products and Associated Services 2 (RM6098) agreement, or Cloud Hosting from our Cloud Compute 2 (RM6292) framework, but organisations can choose the route to market that best fits their needs.

CCS will be running a number of aggregated competitions via resellers to further improve the value for money on products and services for public sector organisations. For details of future planned aggregations, check our aggregation page.

Oracle

This MoU supports customers looking to modernise their Oracle estates, as it offers discounts and a wide variety of commercial benefits through the updated new agreement.

It covers everything from infrastructure to software, as well as support and maintenance through to cloud migrations. 

The agreement includes some newly added benefits such as Market Driven Support Transition Services, which give you the ability and freedom to migrate aging systems to Oracle Cloud Infrastructure, reducing risk and with minimal downtime.

Ways you can benefit

The entire public sector from central government and local authorities, to police and fire services, can now benefit from the MoU’s universal credit discount structure for cloud hosting. Oracle recently announced the first and only dual-region sovereign cloud for use by UK public sector customers. This announcement, in line with the universal credit discounts for hosting, will help foster the superior management and use of information for innovation, to better serve UK citizens.

How to access MoU benefits

This MoU was signed on 30 April 2021 and will run until 30 April 2024. We recommend you access the pricing using the following frameworks:

Google Cloud

This MoU provides a discount on Google’s cloud services, including analytics, infrastructure, artificial intelligence, collaboration solutions, and application development. 

Google Cloud’s new subscription agreement can be used alongside the current MoU. Customers using a subscription agreement can use any Google Cloud Platform service for their project while paying a fixed price for the workload, irrespective of consuming more than the subscription value (subject to fair usage policies).

Ways you can benefit

The discounts on Google Cloud services can help health and social care professionals provide better, more efficient care as digital records are more easily accessible. Improvements can be made in healthcare services and planning and patient care pathways can be enhanced for better health outcomes for the entire population. Google Cloud also allows patients to make informed decisions so that they can manage their own healthcare digitally.

How to access MoU benefits

Negotiations for this MoU are currently ongoing. We recommend you access the pricing using our Cloud Compute framework or G-Cloud 12 framework, or through resellers and various routes to market throughout the public sector, including CCS agreements.

Amazon Web Services - One Government Value Agreement 2.0

Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Crown Commercial Services (CCS) have launched the second three-year Memorandum of Understanding (MoU): One Government Value Agreement 2.0 (OGVA 2.0).

This MoU supports the One Government Cloud Strategy by enabling government departments, agencies and public sector organisations to get greater value from AWS. This MoU was signed in October 2023 and will run until October 2026.

Ways you can benefit

This MoU allows UK public sector organisations to come together and act as a single customer, offering greater benefits in terms of training, access to an OGVA credit programme that aligns with government technology missions, and enhanced cost savings for the whole of the public sector.

AWS has aligned the MoU to support a move towards a more efficient, secure and sustainable future, enabling the public sector to have digital skills at scale, remediate legacy, and build data platforms, whilst harnessing emerging technologies such as Generative AI. 

OGVA 2.0 consists of 3 tiers: 

  • Cloud Discoverer: features benefits aimed at organisations that have yet to adopt the cloud and helps these organisations conduct their first cloud projects
  • Cloud Scaler: supports organisations that have already begun their cloud journey and want to benefit from the greater use of cloud technologies 
  • Cloud Prime: features benefits for more cloud-mature organisations that are in the process of growing their cloud deployments and want to optimise the benefits of cloud technologies

How to access MoU benefits

Available direct or through AWS Partners, OGVA2.0 can be accessed directly from AWS or from an OGVA 2.0 qualified member of the AWS Partner Network (APN).

We recommend you access the discounted pricing through our Cloud Compute framework, G-Cloud and through resellers engaging through various routes to market throughout the public sector.

Current OGVA customers who would like to sign up to OGVA2.0 can contact their AWS account manager for further information and next steps.

Adobe

The Adobe Enterprise Term License Agreement (ETLA) is a long-standing arrangement that provides heavily discounted enterprise level Adobe pricing. It gives you access to both online and offline versions of their cloud product set, including Adobe Creative Cloud Suite.

Ways you can benefit

A range of public sector customers may benefit from this agreement. For example, the Police Digital Services in the UK have benefitted from using Adobe Acrobat DC to manage the redaction of sensitive information from case files in a quick and secure way. 

We helped 84 public sector customers save on average 31.75% the equivalent of over £2.8 million in our latest Adobe aggregation. 

How to access MoU benefits

This agreement was signed in March 2023 and will run until March 2026. You can access the pricing using our Technology Online Purchasing Content catalogue.

These are based on quarterly intakes, the catalogue entry description will reference the ‘Adobe ETLA’ if it is a MoU based opportunity. Visit our aggregation page to find out more.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise

This MoU offers access to a wide range of discounts across Hewlett Packard Enterprise’s (HPE) full range of compute, storage, networking, high performance computing and cloud solutions.

Ways you can benefit

All eligible public sector customers will benefit from the new discount structure, regardless of their size or size of order.

This MoU builds on the previous HPE MoU, adding key systems like the composable, software-defined infrastructure for hybrid cloud environments and high performance compute for artificial intelligence applications. It now also includes crucial storage capabilities, ranging from the full breadth of intelligent HPE Alletra Storage systems, covering everything from general purpose to business-critical workloads, to highly resilient storage solutions for mission-critical applications. For the first time, services are also included within this MoU expanding the scope but also expanding the practical use of this MoU across the wider public sector.

Additionally, as part of the new MoU, CCS customers can benefit from HPE’s environmental and sustainability services, including a free sustainability assessment for the first 100 customers to help them create a sustainability strategy. Customers can also benefit from an agreed free-of-cost advisory service providing a high-level migration roadmap for their workloads and guidance on suitability across public cloud, private cloud or on premise.

How to access MoU benefits

This MoU was signed on 17 May 2023 and will run until 17 May 2026. We recommend you access the pricing using our Technology Products & Associated Services 2 framework.

IBM

This next iteration of the MoU builds and expands on the scope of the previous agreement signed in 2020, with additional discounts to cover IBM’s suite of cloud and software products.

Ways you can benefit

CCS customers can now benefit from discounted pricing for sustainability software to support their Carbon Net Zero plans as well as increased cyber security offerings and free training and secondment opportunities, to address technology skills gaps, aligned with the government agenda. Free innovation projects will also be made available, so that eligible bodies can test and learn how IBM products and services can be used to meet their requirements. 

How to access MoU benefits

This MoU was signed on 19 July 2023 and will run until 14 July 2026. We recommend using a reseller on our Technology Products and Associated Services 2 agreement.

Virgin Media O2

This MoU will make it even easier for public sector organisations to buy, consume and manage all their telecom and network requirements, with discounts covering fixed and mobile connectivity products.

Ways you can benefit

CCS customers can benefit from the value for money the MoU represents on everything from mobile and internet connectivity, equipment and devices, to IP telephony, professional technical services and equipment maintenance. It covers all areas of Virgin Media O2’s (VMO2) portfolio including its award winning gigabit fibre and 5G-ready mobile.

Additionally, public sector customers can benefit from learning and development opportunities through the MoU, such as ‘Connect More’, a volunteering programme that enables VMO2 employees to work with public sector customers to build and improve their digital, telecommunications, and connectivity skills.

How to access MoU benefits

Customers can access the VMO2 MoU discounted pricing by going through our  Mobile Voice and Data Services, Network Services 3 and Technology Products and Services 2 agreements.

Get in touch

Our technology Memorandums of Understanding (MoU) team is here to support you on your buying journey with their knowledge and expertise. Tell us what you want to know more about and we will be in touch.

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Email: info@crowncommercial.gov.uk
Telephone: 0345 410 2222

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