OREANDA-NEWS. Outsourcery (AIM: OUT), a leading Cloud Service Provider ("CSP") focused on the provision of unified communications solutions based on Microsoft Skype for Business, via its wholly owned subsidiary Outsourcery Hosting Limited, has been awarded a place on Lot 10 of the Crown Commercial Service (CCS) Network Services agreement. Outsourcery is one of 59 suppliers under this agreement.

The agreement adds to Outsourcery's growing public sector pipeline amongst central government departments, local authorities, NHS and other government agencies all able to take advantage of the agreement to access non-PSN and PSN compliant services. The agreement provides a key route to market for Outsourcery and enables them to assist public sector organisations in realising the benefits of the latest unified communications and collaboration technology, whilst reducing timescales and procurement costs.

The agreement will have an initial term of two years with the option for CCS to extend for a further two years. Outsourcery recently stepped up the development of its direct sales and marketing activity, particularly in the public sector, as part of the refocused strategy announced at Interim Results on 29 September 2015. 

Today's announcement follows achievements earlier in the year to differentiate Outsourcery's public sector proposition. On 26th February, Outsourcery announced that Berkshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust had chosen Outsourcery - via the G-Cloud framework - to deliver its Microsoft unified communications solution from its O-Cloud PGA OFFICIAL Internet Platform. In March 2015, Outsourcery received formal Pan Government Accreditation (PGA) certification for its Assured O-Cloud Platform, permitting Outsourcery to deliver services with OFFICIAL over the Public Services Network (PSN) to the public sector. The Assured O-Cloud Platform is the only Microsoft-validated platform in the UK designed solely to deliver services to central government and public sector organisations. In June 2015, Outsourcery gained recognition in the Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference 2015 awards, in the category "Public Sector: Government Partner of the Year" and was the only UK company included in the global award.

Piers Linney, Co-CEO of Outsourcery plc said: "Today's announcement serves as evidence of Outsourcery's refined strategy at work. While we await the ramp-up of our third party channel, my colleagues and I have been targeting direct sales activities and our inclusion in the Network Services agreement marks a particularly pleasing milestone for our efforts in the public sector. As part of the agreement, Outsourcery will have access to this key market segment at a time when the government is opening up access to public sector business to a more diverse supplier base to encourage greater innovation and competition."