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Metropolitan Police picks Innopsis to lead network procurement

London’s Metropolitan Police Service signs public-sector networking association Innopsis to lead engagement on network procurement

Alex Scroxton
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Published: 02 Jul 2015 10:45

Innopsis will take charge of supplier and industry engagement on a network tower procurement exercise for London’s Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) in autumn.

The industry association, formerly known as PSNGB, said it will take charge of ensuring the procurement sets “realistic expectations” of the supplier community.

PSNGB rebranded as Innopsis just after the general election because it was felt the body’s remit had shifted towards helping public sector bodies transform how they deliver services across the Public Services Network (PSN), as opposed to merely helping them connect to it.

Innopsis, a portmanteau of “innovation – public sector – information sharing” will continue to champion PSN as a common and trusted network for public sector organisations.

MPS £150m network

MPS’ network procurement is set to be worth between £100m and £150m, and will include a wide area network (WAN), local area network (LAN), telephony system, gateways, 999 call handling, secure networks, analogue, CCTV networks and mobile and voice data.

It will form part of the MPS’ Total Technology Strategy – first announced in February 2014 – with the intention of ensuring its systems and processes are supported by an infrastructure which is modern, agile, robust and scalable.

The Total Technology Strategy was developed by former MPS CIO Richard Thwaite in the wake of an investigation by consultancy Deloitte, which said the service needed to overhaul out-of-date legacy systems and invest in modern technology.

The use of industry standard technology will help MPS provide modern policing services to the public at reduced cost, it claimed.

MPS network tower lead Martin Farncombe said the strategy built on past experiences and lessons learned from them.

“The key drivers for MPS’ future supplier contracts include: Improved service performance/more flexibility and greater agility; speed to market, innovation and service standardisation; clearer supplier management; cost control and savings; but, above all else, access to the latest technology that can help us realise our transformation targets,” he said.

Innopsis managing director Mike Thomas said: “We are delighted that MPS has involved us and our members in the pre procurement consultation.”

“By working with Innopsis on pre-market engagement, MPS gets the opportunity to work with industry and the majority of suppliers that will likely participate in this procurement from the outset. In doing so, Innopsis and MPS can ensure the procurement sets realistic expectations of the supplier community but also delivers what the user needs.”

MPS’ decision to embark on a tower procurement – a style of contract designed to break up the old model of handing large ICT service management contracts to a single supplier – puts it among a number of bodies moving in opposition to the Government Digital Service (GDS).

Other organisations currently going through tower procurement exercises include the BBC and TfL.

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