A former manual system of collating information on almost 1,000 dogs and over 800 handlers is being converted into a digital online system based in a Microsoft Azure cloud environment

The Ministry of Justice has revealed work recently undertaken to digitise paper records containing information on the nearly 1,000 dogs that support the work of HM Prison and Probation Service across the country.

Before the start of the tech transformation initiative, the system of manual records – which, as well as data on 946 dogs, contained details of over 800 human handlers – “caused significant pain for the unit” in question, particularly as it grew larger.

According to a blog recently published by Chris Hodson, a product manager at the MoJ: “Printing costs were high, physical records wore badly over time or were lost entirely, access to information within records was limited, auditing was a logistical nightmare, investigations had bottle necks, [and] essential training could not be tracked effectively… The MoJ’s broader 2025 digital strategy, focused on eliminating legacy systems, called for a solution that was not only modern and secure but also flexible enough to meet the unit’s dynamic requirements.”

Digital specialists at the ministry have implemented the initial stages of a digital system hosted in a Microsoft Azure environment that prison-service users can access via the internet. Hodson describes the new data tool as “a secure, resilient, and scalable platform that could adapt to future needs”.

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“Transformation of this magnitude does not happen overnight,” he adds. “The onboarding of the HMPPS Dogs Unit to Azure required a well-coordinated, multi-disciplinary approach, starting with establishing the Azure infrastructure. This was the responsibility of our Azure landing zone team of engineers who worked tirelessly to ensure that every requirement was accounted for within our small services space. Once the core infrastructure was in place, we moved to the next phase; Configuring the virtual machines that would power the Dogs Unit’s operations. For this, we worked closely with the supplier. We navigated the complexities of networking changes, system specifications and organisational security requirements around secure systems and access for third parties.”

The blog explains that “there were bumps along the way” including, most significantly, the discovery of a firewall that kept apart development and production environments. This was circumnavigated by setting up virtual machines directly in the production environment, accompanied by “guard rails that would protect any test data”.

“The challenges we faced underscored one of our greatest strengths: user focus,” Hodson says. “Our close working with the Dog’s unit team meant we quickly adapted when user-impacting issues arose.”

He adds: “By the end of the project, the HMPPS Dogs Unit were in a position to begin national rollout. This will fully transition from an outdated, legacy, paper-based system to a cloud-native Azure environment. Over 800 users will be able to access services in a more flexible and efficient way than ever before. The new system isn’t just an upgrade, it represents a complete transformation, providing seamless access, improved functionality, and better security.”

The dogs employed by the prison service are used for patrolling duties, as well as detecting contraband.