Public Technology reports that the UK Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) has ordered 11,000 iPhone SE (2020) from reseller XMA, not Apple. For a slightly lower price tag than the original consumer price, the deal will cost the UK government £4,181,628. In addition, the UK government has also signed a deal for the bought smartphones to run IBM software.
The second-generation iPhone SE was launched in April 2020. Powered by an A13 Bionic chip, it has a 4.7-inch Retina HD display, Touch ID Home button, Apple Pay support, wireless charging, Wi-Fi 6, Gigabit-class LTE, Dual SIM support with eSIM, and more.
UK government pays big buck for 11,000 iPhone SE and IBM enterprise
As per the report, the DWP is paying £19 less for the ordered 2020 iPhone SE than the standard retail price of £399. In addition, the smartphones will be waterproof and have identifiable bar codes and serial numbers.
The department agreed a price of £4,181,628 for 11,000 mobile devices, £380 each. According to a document published with the contract award notice, these will be iPhone SE 2020s with 64GB of memory, which the UK Apple store sells for £399.
However, as part of the deal DWP’s devices will be supplied with waterproof and tamper-evident asset tags holding bar codes and numbers, with XMA providing the details of the tag number, IMEI identifier and serial number of each phone issued.
It is also claimed that DWP has awarded a £4.25m contract to another consultancy firm to acquire IBM software.
The department has also awarded procurement consultancy Bramble Hub a deal worth up to £4.25m to provide third-party independent support for IBM software for 24 months, in this case using the cloud support lot of CCS’s G-Cloud 12 framework agreement. Origina, which supports more than 800 IBM software products that were acquired by HCL Technologies, is listed as the subcontractor.
The title, contract agreement and supported software products have been redacted from the published version of the contract on the basis of commercial confidentiality, although detail on the ending of the contract suggests the software in question runs with an Oracle database. The consultancy services included will be delivered at DWP’s Peel Park office in Blackpool if Covid-19 allows.
