Hampshire Constabulary reduces costs and environmental impact with consolidated lifecycle management contract

Customer challenge

Hampshire Constabulary relies on technology to support its policing activities. The force's 400 physical and virtual servers, 5,400 desktops and 700 laptops must therefore be highly available. The force also needs to meet the goals of its 2009 Policing Plan, which include reducing costs and minimising environmental impact. With 12 separate hardware management contracts, the IT team was unable to provide the cost reductions and efficiency gains required.

Computacenter solution

Hampshire Constabulary has consolidated its supplier agreements, appointing Computacenter as its prime hardware lifecycle management services provider. Under the four-year contract, Computacenter is responsible for hardware procurement, installation, maintenance and disposal. The consolidated agreement will enable the force to co-ordinate the annual disposal of 50 tonnes of IT equipment, the procurement and configuration of 1,350 devices and respond to user queries through a single supplier.

Results

By working with a single supplier, Hampshire Constabulary has been able to free up its IT team to work on other projects and lower IT costs. The partnership with Computacenter has also helped improve IT availability and minimise environmental impact. These factors are all important goals in meeting the force's 2009 Policing Plan and maintaining service quality for the local community.

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Customer profile

Keeping Hampshire and the Isle of Wight safe
Hampshire Constabulary provides policing services to two million people living in Hampshire and on the Isle of Wight. Headquartered in Winchester, the force has 7,500 police officers, police staff and special constables based at almost 100 sites across the two counties.

Hampshire Constabulary is divided into six policing areas known as Operational Command Units and has region-wide specialist operations, which encompass a Critical Incident Cadre, Roads Policing Unit, Air Support Unit, Dog Support Unit, Force Support Unit, Marine Support Unit, Tactical Firearms Support Unit and Operational Planning & Policy Unit.

The force's priorities include providing an excellent service, catching criminals and managing offenders, providing an active presence in every neighbourhood and making the most of resources.

Business challenge

Ensuring officers are well prepared
Hampshire Constabulary's officers rely on technology to support all their policing activities. The force has around 400 physical and virtual servers, 5,400 desktops and 700 laptops. These devices help staff respond quickly to 999 calls and gain access to the force's critical records management system, which stores vital data on criminal incidents. This system also provides intelligence data for trending and analysis and the reports needed to bring criminal cases to court.

To ensure Hampshire Constabulary continues to provide an excellent service to the community, all these systems must be highly available. The force also needs to meet the goals of its 2009 Policing Plan. As Stephen Vercella, Head of IT & Communications Services at Hampshire Constabulary, explains: "Our Policing Plan outlines a number of core objectives, including reducing energy consumption, increasing efficiency and lowering costs. In IT, we need to achieve these goals while also supporting policing activities."

Aligning with the force's strategic objectives
The force was using a number of different suppliers to procure and manage its hardware estate. Stephen comments: "In total, we had 12 separate contracts, which were time-consuming for the IT team to manage."

Consolidating this supplier list was an important part of the force's strategy to achieve its 2009 Policing Plan goals. The IT team also wanted to improve IT performance and functionality by providing staff with newer equipment. "We had an ad-hoc hardware refresh policy, which meant that some officers were using dated equipment that required extensive support."

To meet these goals, Hampshire Constabulary needed a new hardware management strategy that would:

• Improve the availability of core IT devices
• Avoid the increasing costs of equipment disposal
• Free up internal staff time
• Enhance sustainability by ensuring that newly purchased equipment meets environmental standards

Computacenter solution

Consolidated hardware lifecycle management
In May 2008, Hampshire Constabulary signed a lifecycle management contract with Computacenter following a competitive tender. The deal covers all aspects of hardware management - from procurement and installation to maintenance and disposal. Computacenter is now responsible for sourcing all of the force's hardware, including servers and storage systems, desktops, laptops, multi-functional devices and printers. All the devices are sourced in line with the government's environment and sustainability goals and come with a lifetime maintenance deal.

Around 1,350 desktops, 100 laptops and 20 servers are procured each year. The devices are pre-configured by Computacenter before being delivered and installed at Hampshire Constabulary's sites. Once installed, Computacenter provides ongoing support via a hardware maintenance service. Around 2,700 calls are dealt with by this service every year.

Computacenter is also responsible for decommissioning and disposing of Hampshire Constabulary's end of life IT equipment, through its specialist subsidiary RDC, in accordance with strict data security requirements and the force's environmental goals. "In total, we dispose of around 50 tonnes of redundant IT equipment every year," comments Stephen. "RDC remarkets and recycles these devices to reduce our disposal costs while minimising landfill in line with environmental regulations."

Enhanced print management and better data storage
In addition to providing lifecycle management services, Computacenter also assists Hampshire Constabulary with specialist projects. For example, the two organisations have worked together to develop a more cost-effective print strategy for the force. This will involve consolidating the force's 2,000 printers, photocopiers, scanners and fax machines to 500 multi-functional devices.

Hampshire Constabulary currently produces around 30 million pages of printed material a year. Once implemented, it is expected that the new print strategy and devices will cut the force's production by a third and reduce CO2 emissions.

"By changing our print strategy, we will not only reduce paper usage, but also have lower consumption rates for consumables, such as toner cartridges and power," comments Stephen. "As well as decreasing costs, this also helps to align with the force's green agenda."

Computacenter is also working with the force's High-Tech Crime Unit to increase its storage facilities. As Stephen explains: "When we seize a computer as part of a criminal investigation, we have to take a 'copy' of the device and all its data. With the number of seizures growing, this means we have increasing storage requirements. The project with Computacenter will ensure that we have a fit-for-purpose and scalable storage infrastructure."

Results

Reducing costs and enhancing environmental credentials in line with policing goals

By working with a single supplier, Hampshire Police has been able to free up internal IT resources. "The IT team now spends less time managing suppliers and can work on more strategic projects," comments Stephen. "Consolidating our IT suppliers has also enabled us to take advantage of more competitive pricing."

Ingrained in the contract is the flexibility to reduce costs over time. For example, part of the contract pricing is based on the number of support calls that Computacenter receives. "Despite reducing the hardware refresh rate to four years, we have still been able to lower overall IT costs," comments Stephen. "The newer equipment will result in fewer problems for users, thereby enabling us to lower our support costs as the contract progresses."

As well as reducing costs, the force's consolidated approach to hardware lifecycle management has resulted in:

• Improved IT availability
  
• Enhanced staff productivity and efficiency
  
• Attainment of environmental goals

All these factors help Hampshire Constabulary achieve the objectives of its 2009 Policing Plan and maintain its service levels to the local community. Stephen comments: "The partnership with Computacenter enables us to maximise resources and make the most effective use of public money in line with police goals."