Customer Solution Case Study
/ Central Scotland Police Cuts Maintenance Costs 30 Percent By Replacing Linux Desktop Solution
Overview
Country or Region:United Kingdom
Industry:Public Sector
Customer Profile
Central Scotland Police delivers quality policing services throughout the three council areas of Clackmannanshire, Falkirk, and Stirling. With an annual budget of £46.6 million (U.S.$89 million) the force employs 810 police officers and 270 support staff.
Business Situation
The force reviewed its IT operating system against best value considerations, the need to meet government policing targets, improve productivity, and achieve better joint working with criminal justicepartners.
Solution
The force will replace Linux and StarOffice with Microsoft® Windows® XP and Microsoft Office on the desktop and Microsoft Windows Server™ 2003, part of Microsoft Windows Server System™.
Benefits
Productivity gains from flexible working.
30 percent saving on IT maintenance.
Partnership working with Microsoft.
Saves 25 percent of staff time.
Helps meet government policing targets.
Improves joint working with other agencies. / “We chose Microsoft Windows over some Open Source technologies, because it will best support the police modernisation agenda, help introduce more flexible working by front-line police officers, and enable the force to better engage with its criminal justice partners.”
Chief Superintendent Alex Robertson, Head of the Corporate Management Division, Central Scotland Police
Central Scotland Police delivers high-quality policing services to citizens living in the Clackmannanshire, Falkirk, and Stirling local authority areas. The force has a reputation for success in crime reduction and efficient administration. With many new policing challenges lying ahead, the force reviewed its IT infrastructure, which currently uses Linux and StarOffice. After the review, Central Scotland Police signed a Microsoft® Enterprise Agreement to migrate to Microsoft Windows® XP, Microsoft Office, and Microsoft Windows Server™ 2003, part of Microsoft Windows Server System™. The migration will save up to 30 percent of the maintenance budget and 25 percent of staff time. By using Microsoft SharePoint® Portal Server 2003, the force will avoid spending £100,000 (U.S.$191,000) on Freedom of Information Act compliance. The solution will also support the police modernisation agenda, help introduce more flexible working by front-line officers, and enable the force to better engage with its criminal justice partners.
Situation
Central Scotland Police, one of Scotland’s eight police jurisdictions, delivers high-quality policing services throughout the three council areas of Clackmannanshire, Falkirk, and Stirling. The force has a reputation for success in reduction and detection of crime, partnership working with other agencies, efficient administration, and highly motivated staff. With an annual budget of £46.6 million (U.S.$89 million), Central Scotland Police, based in Stirling, employs 810 police officers and 270 support staff.
Because crime respects no national or local boundaries, Central Scotland Police needs to work closely with other agencies to prevent crime. David Mulhern, Deputy Chief Constable of Central Scotland Police, says: “In the current security environment, there is a growing need for local force systems and national standard systems to converge where possible, and a constant need for us to streamline communication with criminal justice partners.”
Central Scotland Police has always been forward thinking in its use of ICT to help protect the public and provide efficient, value-for-money services to citizens. Until recently, Central Scotland Police made extensive use of Open Source computer programs. Its Linux-based operating system was introduced to the force in 2000, based on consideration at the time of business need, technical fit, and financial constraints.
However, in 2004, Central Scotland Police decided to review its IT infrastructure in line with the aims of modernised policing, government performance targets, the new Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), and the need to cooperate closely with criminal justice partners.
Chief Superintendent Alex Robertson, Head of the force’s Corporate Management Division, says: “In January 2005, a Best Value Service Review of the police IT Department concluded that the force should review its extensive use of Open Source computer programs to realise a number of key benefits. These include greater compatibility with partner organisations, increased staff satisfaction, opportunities to standardise on a single operating system, and increased accessibility to a wider range of software products.”
The technology review also examined the needs of frontline policing. Chief Super-intendent Robertson says: “We wanted a system where instead of wasting time going back to their base station, officers would be able to log on at any station. This would mean front-line officers having more time on the job to serve the public.”
The Linux-based operating system using StarOffice was also extremely burdensome for IT administrators. Roddy Shearer, Asset Manager of Central Scotland Police, says: “It was absorbing a hugely disproportionate 30 percent of our IT resources, which for a period of months was being used to service Open Source to the detriment of other users. Interoperability with our criminal justice partners and barriers to information exchange with their applications were also big issues.”
Nevertheless, in making any changes to its IT infrastructure, Central Scotland Police wanted to make the best possible use of its existing IT assets and to achieve any migration within existing budgets.
David Stirling, ICT Manager for Central Scotland Police, says: “We had run into difficulties when a software vendor failed to meet our needs for a document and records management solution. Rather than spend £100,000 on a new third-party application for FOIA, we were looking for a more cost-effective alternative.”
Solution
In March 2005, Central Scotland Police decided to partner with Microsoft through a three-year Enterprise Agreement, having evaluated an internal IT systems infrastructure review. The strengths of the Microsoft® Windows® operating system were rigorously analysed and benchmarked against other products including Linux.
The force examined the business benefits and risk profiles of a Microsoft solution. It involved Microsoft Windows XP and Microsoft Office on the desktop and Microsoft Windows Server™ 2003, part of Microsoft Windows Server System™ integrated software, and Active Directory® directory service. The business case concluded that productivity would increase through faster and more effective team working.
Shearer says: “Microsoft offers a lower total cost of ownership (TCO) than StarOffice and Linux for the desktop, because it includes cost of acquisition, deployment, training, support, migration, and application development.”
The annual cost of the Enterprise Agreement, which gives the 500 users at Central Scotland Police access to a wide range of applications, is offset by savings in other software licences and maintenance contracts that are no longer needed. Microsoft partner, Charteris, is providing a package of training and consultancy.
The Enterprise Agreement paves the way for Central Scotland Police to work with Charteris on a cost-effective document management and data flow project to improve FOIA compliance.
Stirling says: “The solution is especially attractive to us as IT administrators. Management of software updates, configuration, and installation will be much easier through centralised IT administration, application repair, and inventory management.”
Mulhern adds: “Having a committed, reliable, and value-conscious software partner that shares our vision and recognises the service challenges and business drivers facing modern policing is critical.
“Unlike the Open Source community, Microsoft has huge resources of consultancy and support expertise, as well as training resources, to put behind our staff and IT systems. We are also excited at the enormous potential for our new partnership with Microsoft to deliver future benefits for our front-line police officers as well as for our station-based staff.”
Benefits
Enterprise Agreement Ensures Low Total Cost of Ownership
Central Scotland Police is gaining access to a significant number of Microsoft applications through the Enterprise Agreement with no increase to its existing IT budget. Shearer says: “We qualify to enter an Enterprise Agreement with Microsoft under terms secured by the Office of Government Commerce (OGC), an independent office of the Treasury. This channel provides a great deal of peer organisational support.”
A wholesale change of ICT infrastructure is a significant task for Central Scotland Police. It is not being undertaken without considerable forward planning. Stirling says: “We are already in the planning stage and are pleased that Microsoft, together with its partner,has agreed to offer us consultancy in phases, instead of in one segment. We started implementation after the G8 Summit, which took place at Gleneagles in July 2005.”
Saves £100,000 on Freedom Act Compliance
By using Microsoft Windows Server 2003, Central Scotland Police will have the reassurance that various applications will work well within the desktop environment.
Stirling says: “We are planning to work closely on a range of public-facing projects, including document sharing for police officers that will help deliver best practice and achieve value for money. Microsoft document-sharing technology is within the scope of the Enterprise Agreement. We can now use Microsoft SharePoint® Portal Server 2003 for the FOIA compliance work at no extra cost, instead of spending £100,000 on another solution.”
Flexible Solution Supports Frontline Policing Priorities
Modern policing is increasingly looking to reduce the burden of administration on front-line officers, so they can spend more time protecting the public and detecting crime.
In a largely rural area like Central Scotland, senior police officers often spend a considerable amount of time returning to base to file reports instead of logging on at any desktop connected to the network. Central Scotland Police is keen to innovate by following best practice and maintain its excellent reputation for crime reduction and protection.
Roberston says: “We chose Microsoft Windows over Linux because it will best support the police modernisation agenda, help introduce more flexible working by front-line police officers, and enable the force to better engage with its criminal justice partners and other statutory agencies. Our staff also welcome the change to Microsoft technology – many of them are already familiar with it from home and other use.
“Our partnership with Microsoft will also help us to meet new challenges and hit the performance targets set for us by government and those agreed with our local Crime & Disorder Reduction Partnerships.”
Migration from Linux Saves 30 Percent on Administration Costs
By migrating from Linux to Windows Server 2003, Microsoft Windows XP and Microsoft Office, Central Scotland Police IT administrators will no longer have to manage five separate systems. Other considerations were:
The Linux platform requires program development before a proprietary. application can be made to work, if at all.
“Plug and play” is not a concept associated with Open Source products.
Rolling out the Open Source solution for the desktops took a disproportionate amount of time and resources.
Stirling says: “The Open Source configuration places the force in a tiny minority of organisations using what is today still an emerging technology. The vast majority of organisations continue to favour proprietary products for the overall benefits they offer, despite licensing costs.
“With centralised control of our 500 desktops, we will adopt best practice in managing software updates. The outcome will be less time spent on “fire fighting”, fewer calls to the help desk and more opportunity for IT staff to concentrate on proactive rather than reactive management.
“A hugely disproportionate 30 percent of our IT resources was required for a period of months to service Open Source to the detriment of other users. Beyond this, an estimated 25 percent of additional staff time was routinely required to install and maintain Open Sources-based systems.”
National Interoperability and Partnership with Statutory Agencies
Police forces in Scotland increasingly recognise the need to collaborate. For this to happen, local force systems and national standard systems need to co-exist and converge where possible. Police forces need to improve their ease of communication with other criminal justice partners. Other considerations include:
Data sharing and storage–the ability to realise national data sharing and storage beyond the basic exchange of information to a level that involves common data sources.
Local key system–the readiness and preparation of migration plans from local key systems to national standard systems.
Organisational change–retention of the capability to respond dynamically to organisational change.
Best value–the need to demonstrate best value through a combination of best fit, service delivery, interoperability, user satisfaction and value for money.
Shearer adds: “We are convinced that a Microsoft desktop and server infrastructure will stabilise operating costs and deliver best value as we move forward with the police modernisation agenda.
“Under the Microsoft Enterprise Agreement, the force joined a scheme, which at the time of signing, acted on behalf of some 750,000 government licence holders, as opposed to Central Scotland Police with only 550 desktops. By following this route, the force was able to procure its required licences, without the need to instigate any form of tendering process.”
Making Best Use of Existing IT Assets
Having made its migration decision, Central Scotland Police is determined to make the best use of its existing IT assets. To that end, current plans will see the force retaining a Linux firewall and Linux servers for its database applications.
Stirling says: “Microsoft is deeply committed to helping us make the best use of legacy technology, and we are pleased with their positive approach. However, the recent Best Value Service Review showed evidence of user dissatisfaction with the Open Source environment. The Open Source system was unfamiliar to many staff and not interoperable with most office systems used by our partners. In addition, most ‘off-the-shelf’ programmes are now written for the Microsoft operating system.”
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