Home Office cloud services contract may net AWS £1B
Planning notice puts renewal at nearly twice the 2023 value, just as Whitehall frets about US tech dependence
Amazon Web Services (AWS) is on track to secure a £1 billion UK government contract for public cloud hosting under a new Home Office agreement. The contract, set to run from December 2027 to December 2029 with a possible extension to December 2031, has an estimated value of £881,621,007 ($1.18 billion), which includes VAT. AWS won the existing contract with the Home Office in 2023 for approximately £450 million ($603 million).
The bidding process for the new contract is scheduled for December 8, allowing suppliers to pitch for the lucrative opportunity. The Home Office has not revealed other potential bidders, citing ongoing procurement sensitivity. The growing concern over digital sovereignty has made the UK government more cautious about relying on US technology companies, with a recent survey indicating that three-quarters of businesses in the UK, France, and Germany fear US authorities may cut off access to their technology platforms for political reasons.
The Cabinet Office has acknowledged the government's over-reliance on American hyperscalers, such as AWS and Azure, which has led to vendor lock-in and limited negotiating power. Despite pledges to support UK cloud providers and include smaller suppliers in the G-Cloud 15 framework, the UK government's actions have largely failed to deliver on these promises, as reported in previous years.
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