LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM, 18 February 2008 ─  Mason Communications, a leading independent consultancy specialising in telecoms and IT (www.mason.biz), has gained a unique position on the Cabinet Office’s Pygmalion Specialist IT Suppliers Framework Agreement.

Mason was required to undergo rigorous evaluation and qualification, and eventually was selected to join a short list of public sector service providers that form the Pygmalion Specialist IT Suppliers catalogue. Mason was the only organisation to be awarded three Framework Lots, and as such will be able to support consultancy requirements within Lot 1: Strategic Consultancy; Lot 3: Specialist Data Services; and Lot 4: Security Testing and verification.

The Cabinet Office’s key objective for the Pygmalion Framework is to provide access to niche specialists to assist with proof of concepts and prototypes, supporting the role of Government Gateway and similar cross-Government applications in the Transformational Government agenda. The Pygmalion Framework can be accessed by all public sector organisations to call upon specialist skills and resources, using a Memorandum of Understanding.  Specialist projects are expected to be up to the value of £250,000, and the framework agreement will last for four years.

Competition for the Pygmalion Framework Agreement was intense, and Mason had to demonstrate agility, technical innovation and collaborative working, in addition to being proven specialists in niche areas of ICT.

The Pygmalion Framework Agreement supports the Government e-Delivery team’s (EDT) Government Gateway Alliance Programme (GGAP). The GGAP’s objective is to establish and formalise key partnerships with IT and business suppliers to allow them to:
-   integrate with and deliver common infrastructure products and any supporting    solutions direct to their new and existing customer base within Government
-   assist the EDT in the innovative delivery of the Transformational Government Agenda.

The EDT acknowledges the added value that Mason is able to contribute working alongside it to deliver Government Gateway services to EDT customers. Mason will help enable the EDT to gain additional channels to drive the take-up of EDT products and services to a greater number of Government departments.

Alex Smith, Managing Director of Mason commented, “This win underpins our activity within the public sector and a continued support of the Transformational Government Agenda. Mason welcomes the opportunity to embrace the EDT vision, and to work collaboratively with the chosen specialist SME suppliers to provide innovative thought leadership and solutions on a wide range of Government-led ICT initiatives. The  award of the Pygmalion Framework also complements our recent success in gaining acceptance on the Catalist Telecom Networks Framework Agreement”.