Command and control outsource contract review 2001-02

Report: 21d
Date: 20 November 2003
By: Commissioner

Summary

The purpose of this report is to provide an overview of the services provided by Unisys in the third year of the outsourcing agreement for Command & Control services, running from 24 September 2001 to 22 September 2002. The report gives details of the performance indicators for the main services and highlights the key changes that have been made during the reporting period. It concludes with a summary of the service and business improvements expected in the coming period.

A. Recommendation

That the report be noted.

B. Supporting information

Performance

1. The core Command and Control (C&C) service consists of the Computer Aided Despatch (CAD), Message Switching System (MSS) and Special Operations (MetOPS) applications, together with an interface to the Police National Computer (PNC). Non-core applications comprise the Training and Development environments, plus the CAD Management Information System (CADMIS) and CAD Audit Trail System (CADATS). Service provision throughout the year has been expanded and now includes C3i design and development, Alarms Data Management System (ADMS), HOLMES2 and development of an interface for the new MPS Corporate Gazetteer.

2. The standard of service delivery provided by Unisys remained very high. Throughout the period under review, the live C&C system was available for 99.87% of the time, against a target of 99.85%. There were only 5 unscheduled stops during the period resulting in a total downtime of 43 minutes, the lowest since the commencement of the Agreement in 1999. This equates to an average of just 49 seconds per week. Service levels for all the other C&C-related systems were met.

3. For the Training System, actual availability was 99.84%, for CADMIS 99.85%, for CADATS 99.86% and for ADMS 100%. There were 4.2 million incidents entered on the live C&C system during the period. Average weekly actual availability has steadily improved over the course of the Agreement, from 99.79% in Year 1, to 99.83% in Year 2 and now 99.87% in Year 3. The total number of CAD incidents entered has actually fallen in the last period (from 4.42 million to 4.23 million). This is thought to be mainly due to the way that “silent mobile calls” are now handled.

Key changes during the period

4. A number of enhancements were made to the CAD system. These involved changes to the Incident Entry Screen and associated functionality, changes to end user areas such as Open Incident Lists, and improvements in the Common Data Interface to allow connection to other systems (both internal and external), such as London Ambulance Service and Mobile Data Terminals. System software has been upgraded to ensure the system remains at fully supported levels. Other systems have had various updates, such as ADMS, which was updated for a number of Officer Safety enhancements. A CAD/CRIS interface has been developed and assistance has been provided to the Corporate Gazetteer team to define their project requirements. Unisys have also proposed a range of enhancements under their C3i project work, defining work needed to enhance the current C&C system to meet C3i objectives and Resource Management requirements.

5. Unisys put in considerable effort in support of the rollout of C&C services over the corporate IP network, called AWARE. In addition, the MPS corporate system for managing the HR recruitment and training functions (MetHR), was taken into support by Unisys via a separate “managed service” contract. The support of HOLMES2 was also provided by Unisys under a separate contract.

6. Six meetings took place between senior managers of Unisys and the Directorate of Information during the reporting period. These provided an opportunity for direct contact between Unisys and the MPS at board level. One example of positive action from these meetings was the Unisys decision to enhance the service delivery team and re-organise the management of the MPS account. This provided enhanced support to the MPS and put Unisys into a better position to be a “partner of choice” across a range of information service requirements.

Future outlook

7. The extent of MPS business being awarded to Unisys has increased dramatically during the period and is likely to increase substantially during 2003. It is acknowledged that this needs to be reflected by improved business arrangements and value for money. The MPS has emphasised the need for such benefits to be realised and to be clearly demonstrable. Both parties will be making a concerted effort to address this via the negotiation and agreement of an effective business and contract framework.

8. During the next reporting period, Unisys will ensure that service availability and stability for all systems are maintained at the highest possible levels. The major deliverable will be to continue the development of the C&C applications and infrastructure in line with MPS business requirements under the C3i programme. Substantial effort will also be put into further enhancements to other MPS systems, including ADMS, MetHR, AWARE, AWARE 2 and HOLMES 2. Unisys will also become responsible for developing and supporting the Contact Handling System (CHS) and MetDuties phase 1 (under a separately negotiated service contract) and their integration to C&C as part of the C3i programme.

9. The MPS will work with Unisys over the coming year to clarify these requirements, and to ensure that the contractual relationship continues to meet current and future operational and business needs.

C. Equality and diversity implications

There are no equality or diversity implications arising from this report.

D. Financial implications

The financial implications are contained in the linked Exempt Appendix.

E. Background papers

This report was based on information from the Unisys 2002 Annual Report “Provision of MPS Services” (October 2002), which covers the contract year 2001 to 2002.

F. Contact details

Report author: Chris Pierce, Service Delivery Group, DoI, MPS.

For more information contact:

MPA general: 020 7202 0202
Media enquiries: 020 7202 0217/18

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