The ministry has awarded a new and expanded agreement for the provision of core COTS products from the major software vendor, with long-term provider Trustmarque signed for four further years
The Ministry of Justice has retained its long-standing Microsoft licensing supplier on a new contract valued in excess of £300m.
On 20 May, the department entered into a four-year agreement with IT reseller Trustmarque. According to a newly published commercial notice, the deal will see the tech firm continue to service as the MoJ’s “LSP for the provision of Microsoft Software Subscriptions”.
The LSP – or licensing solution provider – programme is a designation for the vendor’s biggest reseller partners. The badge enables companies to fulfil Microsoft Enterprise Agreements for large businesses and public bodies.
The MoJ has previously signed enterprise software engagements with Trustmarque in 2019 and 2022. These two contracts were respectively valued at about £60m and £140m, online procurement records indicate.
The latest Microsoft licensing deal awarded to the York-based firm comes with an estimated value of £332.6m, according to the contract-award notice. The deal was awarded as a call-off via the Crown Commercial Service’s £12bn Technology Products and Associated Services 2 framework.
The contract primarily addresses the provision of generic commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) software, to be provided to the ministry “on terms no less favourable than those standard commercial terms on which such software is usually made commercially available”, the text of the contract says.
Related content
- HMRC and Cabinet Office spend £100m on Microsoft licensing deals
- FCDO signs £67m Microsoft licensing deal
- EXCL: Cabinet Office revises plan to move off Google but insists ‘clear strategic direction’ for migration remains
The document specifies a range of special security specifications, including a stipulation that, if Trustmarque is required to process any classified government data, it “shall implement such additional measures as agreed with the [MoJ]… in order to ensure that such information is safeguarded in accordance with the applicable legislative and regulatory obligations”.
The contract also requires that “the supplier shall ensure that any [MoJ] data which resides on a mobile, removable or physically uncontrolled device is stored encrypted using a product or system component which has been formally assured through a recognised certification process agreed with the [MoJ] except where [it] has given its prior written consent to an alternative arrangement”.
The software reseller will also need to spend its own money on hiring “a CHECK or CREST certified supplier to perform an ITHC (IT health check) or penetration test prior to any live [MoJ] data being transferred into their systems”. The terms of the agreement set out additional requirements for the providers’ staff to undergo security checks.
The MoJ further requires that – unless it has given prior written consent – the ministry’s data should never be processed or stored outside the European Economic Area.
The contract also states that: “The supplier must be able to demonstrate they can supply a copy of all data on request or at termination of the service, and must be able to securely erase or destroy all data and media that [MoJ] data has been stored and processed on.”
Trustmarque is one of the public sector’s foremost providers of Microsoft and other software products. Recent big-ticket wins include a £21.5m Microsoft enterprise deal with the Care Quality Commission, a £25m agreement with NHS England consolidating various Microsoft requirements, and a £6m Microsoft agreement with Camden Council.
