News and Press Releases
ATLAS Consortium, Led by HP, Secures Additional Phase of U.K.
Ministry of Defence Contract
PALO ALTO, Calif., Jan. 20, 2010
The ATLAS Consortium, which is led by HP Enterprise Services,
today announced the U.K. Ministry of Defence (MoD) has awarded it
an $890 million amendment to its contract to enable improved global
collaboration and communication between MoD and its allies.
The amendment, Increment 3a, is the next programmed, critical
phase of the Defence Information Infrastructure (DII) contract.
ATLAS will provide 42,000 computer terminals operating in the
Restricted and Secret domains to the remaining MoD fixed sites,
replacing outdated and expensive legacy systems. This improved
capability will support some 60,000 personnel, notably within the
Royal Air Force, at Joint Helicopter Command and other MoD
locations.
DII is the largest defense IT program of its type in the world
and is already delivering operational benefits to the U.K.'s
front-line troops and to the wider MoD. When delivered in full, DII
will provide enhanced capabilities to around 300,000 users at some
2,000 locations worldwide.
"It is critical to national defense that the MoD and its allies
have highly secure and real-time global access to the information
they need," said Huw Owen, chief executive officer, ATLAS
Consortium and vice president, HP Enterprise Services Defense and
Security - U.K. "This latest contract enhancement sends the market
a strong message about the trust that the MoD places in ATLAS to
deliver this critical capability, which is fundamental to realizing
the MoD's strategic requirement for a single, integrated
information infrastructure."
DII will enable many of the cost management and efficiency
measures required under the U.K. Defence Change Program. These
measures are to be achieved by extending into the Deployed
operational space, interfacing with Battlespace systems and
improving shared information between headquarters, battlefield
support and the front line.
The ATLAS Consortium is responsible for delivering the DII
Program. ATLAS is led by HP Enterprise Services and includes
tier-one partner Fujitsu and partners EADS Defence and Security
Systems, General Dynamics, and Logica.
Note to editors: The Ministry of Defence has a
requirement for a highly secure, pan-Defense information technology
environment ready to meet the challenges faced by Defense. This is
an essential capability to support success of operations and to
conduct day-to-day business. In 2000, the MoD began developing
plans to replace many diverse systems with a single infrastructure
to enable more effective communication and more efficient ways of
working and to obtain better value for money. In March 2005, the
MoD signed a contract with the ATLAS Consortium for the
installation and management of this new infrastructure, known as
the Defence Information Infrastructure Program. The contract will
run until 2015.