HP and DWP ink major desktop outsourcing deal

The Department for Work and Pensions has awarded a five year £316m desktop management deal to its incumbent supplier - HP.

 

The five-year 'Desktop 21' deal covers a range of desktop services including security, print, service desk and device provision and support, and will see the DWP move to HP's WorkPlace360 desktop management platform from 2013.

 

The ICT services giant will begin work immediately to put in place the infrastructure needed to support Desktop 21, before moving on to virtualise DWP's desktop applications on a rolling programme, according to the Department.

 

As part of the deal, HP will roll out new desktop hardware, including thin client devices, which will be able to "support full or partial moves to cloud services at DWP's discretion," the Department told Guardian Government Computing.

 

HP Enterprise Services, formerly EDS, remains the Department for Work and Pensions' (DWP) second largest supplier, despite a 4% drop in government spending with the firm: it received £629.4m in 2010-11, down from £656.9m in 2009-10.

 

The government awarded its Desktop21 framework contract to Atos Origin, Fujitsu Services and Hewlett Packard in March 2010. The framework will provide a wide range of desktop services to public sector organisations with requirements for more than 1,500 staff.