Dear Mr Olde

Freedom of Information Request F2010-005

Thank you for your Freedom of Information request dated 5 January 2010 about DFID's IT strategies and applications. I have taken each of your questions in turn.

a) The latest copy of your IT Strategy / Strategies, including any "e" or web strategies.

You can find a copy of DFID's IT Strategy using the following link to our website: http://www.dfid.gov.uk/Documents/publications/ITstrategy.pdf

b) The names of any applications that you have purchased to manage your HR, Purchase to Pay, Finance, CRM, time sheet (including flexible working time) and IT Service Desk and/or Help Desk data.

DFID has purchased the following applications:

Human Resources: Northgate PSenterprise.

Purchase to Pay and Finance: Agresso Business World/Alito Strategic Procurement.

IT and HR service desk: Infra

DFID does not have a Customer Relationship Management application and we use a spreadsheet system to support timekeeping and flexible working arrangements.

c) The date and the initial capital and other costs for the initial implementation of these applications.

Human Resources: The system was introduced in March 2004 at a cost of £1.22 million.

Purchase to Pay and Finance; The system has been operational since November 2007 and the contract cost was £17.6 million.

Service desks: This was implemented in November 2008 and the initial purchase price for the installation of this product was £99,441. This included a Change Control system and 3 years maintenance and support as well as the service desk system

d) The names of the organisations that you have entered into a contract with to: firstly, supply these systems and secondly, perform annual support.

Human Resources: The primary contractor was Rebus Software Ltd (now Northgate-Arinso) who continue to provide support.

Purchase to Pay and Finance: The primary contractor was Agresso Ltd (now Unit4 Business Systems) who continue to provide support.

Service desks: The system was purchased from a company called Infra, (now known as Ionix) and included three years maintenance and support.

e) The values of any annual support costs that are payable in relation to these systems, broken down by system and organization the fee is payable to.

Please see (d) above for the names of the organisations providing support and para (c) for information relating to the service desk application. I confirm that we hold information relating to the annual support cost for the Human Resources and Purchase to Pay/Finance applications. However, we are withholding this under Section 43 (Commercial Interests) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

In applying this exemption, we have considered the balance of the public interest.

Factors in favour of disclosing this information include the general public interest in transparency in the use of public funds and in ensuring that the commercial activities of DFID and our partners are conducted in an open and honest way.

Factors against disclosure include the strong public interest in protecting the legitimate commercial interests of those who share information or work with DFID. Disclosure of the annual support costs would be likely to damage the ability of these organisations to compete in the market place and make it less likely that other companies or individuals would provide DFID with commercially sensitive information in the future. This would consequently undermine the ability of DFID to fulfil its role and to achieve value for money in the use of public funds in any future tendering of contracts.

We consider that the balance of public interest in this case favours withholding the information requested.

f) The expiration date of the contracts for each of these applications.

Human Resources: Annual maintenance is renewed in June each year; bespoke support is renewed in April each year.

Purchase to Pay and Finance: Support is renewed annually in April.

Service desks: There is no formal expiry date for this contract. Annual maintenance will be paid for and supplied on a year on year basis.

If you have any queries about this letter, please contact me, quoting reference F2010-009.

If you are unhappy with the service we have provided and wish to make a complaint or request a review of our decision, you should write to Openness Unit at the address shown above or email [DFID request email].

If you do make a complaint and are not content with the outcome, you may apply directly to the Information Commissioner for a decision. Generally, the Information Commissioner cannot make a decision unless you have exhausted DFID's complaints procedure. You can contact the Information Commissioner at the following address:

The Information Commissioner's Office,

Wycliffe House,

Water Lane,

Wilmslow,

Cheshire, SK9 5AF

Yours sincerely

Helen Kennedy

Openness Unit

NOT PROTECTIVELY MARKED

NOT PROTECTIVELY MARKED