Vertical Markets MARKET REPORT
16.5% For September 2018, of all
people in paid work, 16.5% were
employed in the public sector.
attractive contractual terms.”
Myles Leach, Managing
Director for NFON UK,
says it’s crucial to invest in
becoming accredited on the right
frameworks.
“e RM1045 framework
has proved to be an important
framework for comms
suppliers. It replaced three
existing agreements RM860
PSN Connectivity, RM1498
PSN Services and RM1035
Telephony Services. e process
of accreditation can be complex
– as is evidenced by the fact that
some very large Telco’s failed to
get into lot 10 of the RM1045
framework.”
Which products and services
are selling well?
Myles Leach at NFON says
there is a huge push in the
public sector to switch to unied
communications.
“ere are two big drivers
for this – rstly the increased
mobility of the workforce and
rise in exible/ remote working,
and secondly the need to
consolidate oce space to reduce
property commitments.”
Bernie McPhillips at Pangea
clearly believes IoT is a hot
topic amongst many public
organisations.
“Smart solutions are often
key to achieving critical
objectives in reducing crime and
pollution, trac management,
refuse collection, and public
safety. Many local authorities
are now being awarded
budgets to adopt IoT and
similar technologies to enjoy
all the associated benets. e
Channel is in a prime position to
capitalise on this opportunity, as
it’s already the trusted supplier
of communications, hosted
services, infrastructure, and IT
to these organisations.”
Are there new products
on the horizon?
Myles Leach at NFON
sees one of the hottest
trends as the rise in
omni-channel contact
centres – interacting
with constituents
beyond voice, to
include webchat and
social media channels.
“Looking even
further ahead there are
denitely opportunities
with AI; the public sector
wants to automate where
possible to save costs, so it
may be a trailblazer for new
voice recognition technologies.”
According to Bernie
McPhillips at Pangea IoT
solutions drive all manner
of benets for public sector
organisations, including cost
savings, time eciencies,
employee and public safety,
positive environmental impact
and more.
“However,” he says, “the
initial conversations with clients
in the public sector and beyond
shouldn’t be based on products
at all; rather, they need to focus
on the client’s problems and
key objectives that your IoT
solutions are potentially the
answer to. ”
How is the purchasing behaviour
of this vertical changing?
Myles Leach at NFON says that
in the last ve years there has
been a clear move away from big
open tenders that are advertised
in a European journal, towards
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PUBLIC SECTOR UK – FAST FACTS:
• For September 2018, 5.36 million people were estimated to be employed
in the public sector.
• The number of people employed in the public sector was estimated to
have increased by 20,000 between June and September 2018.
• Between September 2017 and September 2018, public sector
employment fell by an estimated 120,000; this large fall was entirely
due to the transfer of housing associations in England, Wales and
Scotland to the private sector during this period.
• Excluding the housing associations transfers, the estimated number
of people employed in the public sector increased by 51,000 between
September 2017 and September 2018, due mainly to more people
working for the National Health Service and the Civil Service.
• For September 2018, 27.12 million people were estimated to be working
in the private sector, 516,000 more than for a year earlier.
• Source: Office for National Statistics (ONS) 11 December 2018
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