The Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) has awarded a strategic IT infrastructure contract to services provider Capgemini, with the aim of improving the user experience of its internal platforms.

The contract is said to be worth £600 million and will run for five years, with the option to extend for an additional two years if needed.

The MPS is looking to improve its IT infrastructure services within the Pegasus Programme, a digital policing programme to procure new key IT suppliers for the police.

Capgemini will be working on moving the MPS away from its multi-supplier “Towers” model, essentially separated categories of services that led to unnecessary fragmentation.

The bulk of the contract work will involve amalgamating services such as the service desk, network services, end user services, cyber security services, and others under a single umbrella.

“We are delighted to have been chosen as the strategic infrastructure services provider for MPS, one of the world’s leading police forces and one of the largest public sector organisations in the UK,” said Nive Bhagat, CEO of Cloud Infrastructure Services at Capgemini.

Capgemini has a history of providing services to the police, including helping it to transform its budget control back in 2008. The contract was signed with the London’s Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime who have used Capgemini in the past in projects involving email services or agile scrum teams.

Angus McCallum, chief digital and technology officer at the Metropolitan Police, said: “Capgemini will help us continue to develop the next stage in our journey towards Met’s digital policing vision.

“Capgemini was chosen as our infrastructure partner based on the strong capabilities demonstrated throughout the bid process. We look forward to working closely with Capgemini in the delivery of critical infrastructure services over the coming years."

Last year, Capgemini signed a three-year partnership with Barts Health NHS Trust to modernise its ICT estate.

Traditionally, businesses would buy a range of printers, scanners and photocopiers for the different departments within the business. The IT team is generally responsible for the upkeep, like ensuring the ink and toner are stocked up, software is working and printer hardware is maintained. IT managers and decision makers do their best to match the printer fleet to business requirements, while providing scanning and document management capabilities to minimise paperwork and drive costs down.

Managed print services (MPS) takes a different approach, however, delivering printing, scanning and copying capabilities not through a set of products, but as a complete service. The deployment and management of all the hardware is outsourced to a single company, the MPS provider, who also handles consumables and maintenance, plus a print and document strategy, advice and support.

It is about more than just overseeing printers, and can include photocopiers, fax machines and anything else that generates paper. An MPS contract also normally includes managing all in-house printing and data capture devices.

Benefits of managed print services

One obvious benefit is that the workload of purchasing, maintaining and updating the firm's printers shifts from the internal IT team to the external provider, but MPS can also reduce printing costs, save time, transform working practices and boost productivity.

Another benefit is cost savings. MPS providers look for ways to rationalise and consolidate your printers, replacing many large, old laser printers or single use devices with a smaller number of newer, better distributed, faster devices or multi-function printers with all the necessary functions built in. This cuts down the size of your printer fleet without compromising productivity.

MPS providers also help to reduce waste by helping businesses better make use of high-quality draft modes, duplex printing and other features that cut down the amount of ink, toner and paper that they get through.

Because it's the provider's job to maintain the printers and keep them running with a steady stream of supplies, MPS can also help reduce support costs and free up your IT team to spend time on other projects. This also minimises the time employees spend waiting for printers to be fixed or working out the right settings.

Disadvantages of Managed Print Services

Although MPS might be ideal for some companies, particularly those looking to work more flexibly, there are also some cases, particularly for smaller organisations where MPS may be more costly than running and maintaining your own printers.

Confidentiality can be an issue with a more centralised printing system. For people handling sensitive data and documents, having individual printers in more private areas of the office may make more sense so that more sensitive documents can be printed without worrying that they will be lost or misplaced at a centralised printer.

Some MPS providers include clauses in contracts that prevent you or your employees from replacing any printer hardware on your own, which can cause delays should an issue occur. Contracts should be checked carefully to see whether there are restrictions on which hardware you're allowed to use, and response times if a printer needs attention.

Boosting productivity

MPS providers know all about printing, but they're also experts at scanning and document management. That puts them in a good place to recommend new processes or working practices that can help you reduce waste, cut down on paper-based file storage and share information more effectively.

They can also help support printing and scanning from mobile devices, or even from outside the office, through the cloud. This supports a more flexible working style, by giving workers the full range of printing and scanning capabilities, or allowing hot-deskers to print to the nearest printer from wherever they are.

Analyst house IDC has estimated that simply moving from self-managed printers to MPS can save a business 30% of its printing costs, and there's scope to go further by rethinking how print is used in the business.

MPS makes printing costs predictable, and can free up office space wasted on bulky printers and copies so that you have the freedom to put it to more productive use.

Picture: Shutterstock

The Public Services Network (PSN) has focused on Whitehall at the expense of hundreds of councils, according to its new CTO, who has come up with a new vision for the body.

James Duncan, who became the PSN's new CTO last October, wants the service to be used more widely outside central government, and plans to allow users to encrypt their connections to the service.

As a shared network for public bodies to use common IT resources to save money, the PSN was just extended for another 12 months before its successor, the Network Services Framework (NSF), replaces it.

Despite this, Duncan wants to re-engineer the PSN to become easier to use for as many public sector customers as possible.

He wrote in a blog post that the PSN had focused too much on the needs of Whitehall, rather than the 380 local authorities it supports.

He said: "We can't forget about the central government departments that also use our network, but in the past it seems that we've focused on them at the expense of the many city, district and county councils that make up the majority of our customer base."

Schools, GP surgeries, emergency services, hospitals and charities should also be given greater attention to help them benefit from shared services, he added.

Single network

Duncan said his first priority, however, was to make the PSN a single network. Currently, the service was split into two one for public data rated IL2 under the government's impact level classification system, and another for IL3-classified data.

The latest Government Security Classification system rendered those networks redundant by grouping IL2 and IL3 data into one category, simply known as Official.

"We need the PSN to become a single network, where information can travel seamlessly from one end to the other," said Duncan. "We have been talking and will continue to talk to suppliers, customers and stakeholders about how best to achieve this."

Compliance

The CTO admitted the PSN has been "challenging" for users when it comes to compliance.

He added: "The compliance regime for customers wishing to obtain a connection to the PSN that is currently in place is fraught with problems."

Those problems range from time-consuming implementation and set-up costs to the PSN body not always actually knowing how secure a council or department's connection is.

Encrypted internet connection

Duncan voiced his support not only for more customers connecting via the internet, but doing so with encrypted connections despite Prime Minister David Cameron's comments this week suggesting he may wish to ban encrypted messaging services.

"We need to embrace the internet as a transit method for data that is, under certain constraints, suitable for Official," he said. "To that end, we're creating an option for connectivity that allows customers to connect using suitable encryption, via the internet."

The Government has extended the Public Services Network (PSN) framework for another year as it struggles to answer hundreds of questions from suppliers about PSN's replacement.

The Network Services Framework (NSF) the replacement for PSN - is still expected to go live in April, but the Crown Commercial Service (CCS) has acted upon its option to extend the existing PSN contracts for another year.

The CCS is facing hundreds of "clarification questions" from companies considering tendering for the NSF framework.

The PSN is a shared network for public bodies looking to save money by sharing IT services.

NSF is designed to improve on PSN by helping councils buy the services they want in the manner they wish to, as well as including emerging technologies not offered under PSN.

However, the CCS has just three months to answer queries on the new framework, which are understood to relate to technical aspects of NSF.

Phil Gibson, chairman of the PSN suppliers body, PSNGB, said his organisation is still supportive of the incoming NSF framework, but called the decision to extend PSN a "sensible" one.

"We believe that it will benefit both customers and suppliers," he said. "The move to extend, subject to certain conditions, the PSN Frameworks is a sensible, pragmatic one that brings an assurance of continuity to the marketplace, but the first priority must remain the successful and timely completion of Network Services."

He added: "CCS has tried to introduce a more flexible and innovative approach to procurement and it should be commended for this. The path of change and progress is often a rocky one; the extension of the PSN Frameworks provides some insurance during this change period, but this should not be a reason to stall."

Westminster City Council is set to lose its CIO role in an update of its shared services partnership with two other London authorities.

The council has had an interim CIO, Ben Goward, since June 2011, according to his LinkedIn profile, but the role will be deleted as of April this year.

Instead, Ed Garcez will become the single CIO for the tri-borough partnership established in December 2013 by Westminster, the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham and the Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea.

All three councils are cutting roles to reduce duplication, as they embark on a plan to share a single IT division.

A report on the matter read: "The disconnect between the three sovereign ICT functions, each with their own processes, policies and procedures, is an unnecessary overhead introducing bureaucracy and cost, and sometimes even providing contradictory advice to service users."

The boroughs believe scrapping these posts and relying on one IT department will save an annual 6.55 million from 2017/18.

They claim to already be on track to save 3 million by 2015/16 thanks to IT services already being shared.

The new IT division will be led by six executives responsible for digital services, information management, operations and enterprise architecture among other things, costing a combined 143,000 to establish.

The report added the new model would enable greater co-operation between the trio of councils, as well as others who could benefit.

It read: "The proposed model has been designed to be inclusive and easy to extend to further partners, and there have already been some successes in establishing wider shared services and joint working."

One example cited was a shared mobile device security solution with the boroughs of Westminster, Kensington & Chelsea, Kingston, Lambeth and Sutton.

All of London's local authorities have been migrated to the Public Services Network (PSN) with the help of Virgin Media Business.

London's 33 boroughs are the first to join forces as part of the UK government's wider initiative to connect all local authorities in the country, encouraging them to share data and services across all councils.

The London Public Services Network (LondonPSN) initiative gives all connected authorities access to the Department of Work and Pensions, the Government Secure Intranet service and the Department of Health N3 service.

It's thought the initiative will improve service efficiency as staff will be able to find information across the board more easily and allow staff to have a flexible working pattern.

A report by the Cabinet Office and Vehicle Licensing Agency in January 2014 revealed migrating all local authorities to the PSN will contribute to a saving of up to 500m of taxpayers' money through the digitalisation of public services.

John Jackson, chief information officer for Camden Council, said: "It's been fantastic to see the momentum this project has gained since we kicked off last year. I am particularly excited by the potential for savings which a shared service of this magnitude could bring. Experience to date indicates a cost reduction of between 25 and 75 per cent is deliverable for products and services delivered in this way which, depending on how we develop London PSN as a shared service, could top a billion pounds over the next decade."

Virgin Media Business won the contract to provide the LondonPSN with IT services in 2011. In total, 29 suppliers will be migrating local councils to the PSN and providing them with ongoing tech support.

"Creating one single network for London councils is a huge step in the right direction towards a truly connected capital," adds Mario Di Mascio, executive sales director at Virgin Media Business. "Bringing these boroughs together is not only bringing huge cost savings, but is ensuring that for the first time Londoners can benefit from a completely connected city and its streamlined services."

Virgin Media Business has been selected as the preferred supplier for the the West Midlands Public Services Network (WMPSN), which is expected to save participants around 5 million a year.

The procurement of a public services network for the region has been underway since April, when an invitation to tender was sent out.

The project, which is being led by Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council, aims to let schools, hospitals, emergency services and local government offices within the West Midlands share IT services and information.

Along with the council, other public sector partners signed up to take part in the project include Warwickshire County Council, Birmingham City Council, Worcestershire County Council, West Midlands Police, Herefordshire County Council and the Black Country Local Authorities.

It is hoped the project will save these parties more than 1.5 million a year, although this figure is expected to exceed 5 million as the number of public sector organisations involved rises.

Councillor Robert Hulland, Solihull Council's cabinet member for resources, said the organisation is looking forward to starting work on its shared services vision.

"The service has been procured to enable any public service organisation in the West Midlands (including health, fire, police, third sector and local government) to enjoy these [cost] savings. Indeed, as more organisations join, the cost to all participants reduces, which will drive out greater savings," Hulland added.

Mario Di Mascio, executive director of sales at Virgin Media Business, added: "PSNs are a great way for councils to save costs today and invest in the future. By sharing services and the economies of scale that come from collaborative procurement, public sector agencies can transform the way they work and the services they provide citizens."

Surrey County Council has enlisted comms provider BT to help it establish a public services network that can be used by all of its departments.

The deal, which is estimated to be worth around 120 million, will see BT replace 40 of the council's networks with a single, shared system.

Public sector bodies within Surrey and Berkshire will also be invited to use the network, which will link up all of their IT and communications systems.

Surrey County Council estimates the move will help it achieve more than 5 million in efficiency savings over the course of the seven-year deal with BT.

Denise Le Gal, cabinet member for Change and Efficiency, said: "Our aim is to provide the highest quality services...and developing a cloud platform as part of the single public services network is the latest example of our willingness to embrace new ideas.

"We firmly believe public services should be seen as a single team, co-operating to make taxpayers' money go further wherever possible."

Neil Rogers, president of global government at BT Global Services, added: "BT is committed to making this work for the wider community in Surrey and Berkshire and to be an exemplar of PSN services in the public sector."

Two men have been charged with conspiring to commit fraud following an investigation by Gwent Police into funding irregularities at a council-run datacentre in south Wales.

The 3 million datacentre in Blaenavon, south Wales, has been the focus of a police probe since last September, which has so far resulted in three arrests.

The site, also known as the Shared Resource Centre, was opened in 2011 as part of Torfaen County Borough Council's plans to share ICT services with neighbouring local authorities.

In a statement sent to IT Pro earlier today, Gwent Police confirmed that a 51-year-old man from Pontypool had been charged with conspiracy to commit fraud and two accounts of false accounting, as a result of the investigation.

A 50-year-old from Trelewis has also been charged in connection with similar offences, and both are due to appear at Cwmbran Magistrates Court on Thursday 7 June.

Meanwhile, a 46-year-old man from the Caerleon area, arrested in connection with the case, has been released without charge.

A representative from Torfaen County Borough Council declined to comment.

Back in February, the deputy chief executive of Torfaen County Borough Council, Peter Durkin, revealed that a 400,000 funding black hole had been uncovered at the Shared Resource Centre.

In a progress report published at the time, Durkin asked to use council reserves make up the shortfall.

"In light of [the] ongoing criminal and disciplinary investigations, it would not be appropriate to publish the specific breakdown of this cost in full because it may be prejudicial to those investigations," wrote Durkin.

"Clearly some costs have been incurred through actions that may result in criminal charges being made and disciplinary hearings being convened."

Central government could make savings as large as 300 million a year by better managing its contracts for services including IT and security, according to a report published today by the National Audit Office (NAO).

The report found better contract management - in these and other procured service areas like catering and cleaning - could potentially generate estimated savings of between 160 million and 290 million a year, across total annual expenditure on service contracts of around 12 billion.

In addition, nearly all the organisations surveyed for the report thought that better contract management could improve the quality and/or quantity of the services provided by suppliers.

Edward Leigh, chairman of the Committee of Public Accounts was damning in his response to the report. "Each year central government spends billions and billions on external support services in such areas as IT and facilities management," he said.

"Despite the huge amount of cash lavished on these services, government departments do not take the process anywhere near as seriously as they should. Often, they do not have people with the right experience and skills managing these contracts, nor do they have oversight of how good the services being provided are. Which results in a great deal of waste."

The report referenced its previous criticism of the Rural Payments Agency and the difficulty its contractors experienced in implementing the IT systems for administering the single payment scheme for farmers. "The more recent delays in the marking of SATS tests have further highlighted the important role contractors play and the impact service failure can have," it added.

But the report also highlighted a number of cases where central government organisations were applying good practice, which needed to be shared more widely including IT procurement agency, the Office of Government Commerce (OGC).

It said a benchmarking exercise saved the Home Office 17 million a year on its IT contract, amounting to around 20 per cent of the total annual contract expenditure.

But it also found that much of this supplier development activity is uncoordinated with only 53 per cent of contract managers having a formal plan for supplier development. A further 37 per cent of the contract managers surveyed for the report did not have a risk register and 56 per cent had no contingency plan in case of supplier failure.

Leigh concluded: "It beggars belief that, where the services provided are found to be wanting, government departments do not always invoke penalty payments on suppliers, even when the contract stipulates that they can do so."

South Tyneside Council has signed a 184-million shared services partnership with BT.

The deal is expected to save the authority in excess of 28 million over ten years, through the creation of a new shared services development centre to more effectively deliver local information communication and technology (ICT) based resources - including more self-services.

The contract will be delivered by a new BT subsidiary business, known as "BT South Tyneside", which it said will bring in at least 1,250 new jobs and provide a catalyst for more.

Councillor Iain Malcolm, South Tyneside's council leader, said: "The ultimate objective of this partnership is to set about the sustainable development of a knowledge economy in the area."

The deal also includes BT investment to set up a UK-wide local government headquarters in a new 51,000 square-foot business centre in the South Shields area. In future, the service provider said it would provide a number of BT services for other regions across the UK.