Fujitsu lands £34 million police contract

The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) is consolidating its managed IT services in a 34 million contract with Fujitsu Services.

The first aspect of the eight-year contract, which has the potential in the longer-term to be worth some 100 million, will consolidate the service's five IT providers to Fujitsu Services.

The firm will also manage the service's 10,000 PCs and laptops, which are used by police officers and other staff. It will also run the PSNI's service desk, telephone and data networks, applications hosting and support, as well as the network of automatic number plate recognition cameras.

John Tully, head of information and communications services at the PSNI, said: "Modern day policing is heavily dependent upon Information and Communication Technology and therefore the reliability and availability of service to the PSNI is paramount."

Tully added: "The agreement with Fujitsu will also allow existing ICT staff within the PSNI to work on other more strategic projects. We can reduce the complexity of service management for our staff by consolidating to a single supplier. There will be a better structure around reporting of issues and it will be much easier to manage and report on ICT performance."