Case Study: Northern Ireland Civil Service achieves 30% IT cost savings and a scalable private cloud with Hewlett Packard Enterprise

Private cloud sees NICS build an IT Base to Enable Service Growth

The Northern Ireland Civil Service, via its shared‑services unit IT Assist, faced rapidly growing demand from more than 40 public bodies and needed a secure, scalable way to provision services, cut costs and free skilled staff for higher‑value projects. After scoping options at a Hewlett Packard Enterprise workshop, IT Assist chose Hewlett Packard Enterprise’s HPE Helion Private Cloud (HPE CloudSystem/HPE Helion OpenStack) to replace its traditional server model.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise delivered an end‑to‑end HPE Helion Private Cloud built on HPE BL460 blades, HPE 3PAR storage, HPE OneView and HPE Helion Professional Services to plan, implement and mentor IT Assist staff. The solution sped provisioning and automation, freed staff for new work and produced measurable savings — migrating Exchange cut 12 racks to a quarter rack (saving more than £150,000/year) and the programme forecasts roughly 30–40% reduction in IT costs (about 30% conservatively).

Northern Ireland Civil Service

Barry Lowry

Director of IS Shared Services and Strategy