The UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) has signed a three-year IT support and maintenance contract with HP Enterprise Services worth $21m (£13.5m). The contract has an option for an extra two years.
The deal covers a number of what HP calls core service areas. Included in this is Hardware Break-Fix, which guarantees a quick response to any hardware issues. Business-critical users will get an even higher level of support, HP said. The MoD will also be offered access to a 24/7 UK call centre.
HP will also offer refurbishment, redeployment, disposal and recycling of hardware equipment that is no longer needed by the MoD. Asset maintenance, management of the IT asset database and asset reporting is also part of the deal.
The support is not just restricted to hardware – bespoke software support will be offered for both desktop and data centre environments.
"For the first time, the British Armed Forces – the Royal Navy, the British Army and the Royal Air Force – can rely on a consistent and transparent level of support for IT assets in the UK and at overseas bases," said Paul Beavin, Head of ICT Procurement team MoD.
"This contract has been adopted as a model by the Government Procurement Service, part of the Cabinet Office’s Efficiency and Reform Group, so could be used for other government departments," he added.
The MoD and HP have been working together for over 10 years and the tech giant now supports over 200,000 of the MoD’s PCs, office equipment and telecommunications assets.
