London’s Metropolitan Police Service has signed a technology contract worth up to £350 million as it moves to modernise the digital systems supporting policing across the capital.
Technology company Atos announced on Monday, 5 October, that it had secured a six-year application management contract with the Metropolitan Police Service, with an option to extend the agreement by a further two years.
The deal will see Atos provide service management, application management and application security services across the Met’s technology estate. The Metropolitan Police will also have the option to add managed cloud and digital workplace services to the agreement.
The announcement highlights how increasingly dependent modern policing is on reliable digital infrastructure. Behind officers responding to incidents on London’s streets are hundreds of applications and digital systems that support everything from operational work to internal services, data and secure access.
A six-year digital transformation deal
Under the agreement, Atos will manage and maintain key business applications used by the Metropolitan Police. The company says the work will focus on improving the availability, resilience, security and performance of the systems.
The contract is worth up to £350 million over six years, with a possible additional two-year extension. The agreement also gives the Met the option to expand the services to include cloud management and digital workplace support.
The deal follows an earlier MPS procurement process for application services. The Met’s published commercial pipeline had identified the need to replace its existing application-services agreement, which was due to expire in October 2026, with an estimated procurement value of £320 million at the time.
The final announced contract value is therefore higher than the earlier pipeline estimate.
Met says technology will support frontline policing
Jamie Hewitt, Director of Digital Product Delivery at the Metropolitan Police Service, said the partnership would provide a “stable digital foundation” for officers and staff.
He said the agreement would support the modernisation and simplification of the Met’s application landscape, while helping improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the technology supporting frontline policing.
That focus is significant for a police force operating across one of Europe’s largest cities.
For officers, technology failures can have consequences beyond inconvenience. Police systems need to remain available, secure and resilient because they support services that may be required at any time of day.
Atos said IT Service Continuity Management would be central to the delivery model, while security measures would be used to protect data, systems and users across the Metropolitan Police technology estate.
Atos promises secure and scalable infrastructure
Michael Herron, Head of Atos UK&I, said the company was proud to continue its relationship with the Metropolitan Police and described the technology infrastructure as critical to policing London.
He said Atos would provide services that are secure, reliable and scalable, supporting both frontline policing and London communities.
The company’s involvement with the Met is not new. In November 2021, Atos announced an earlier application-management agreement with the police force, saying it would help maintain and modernise the MPS application landscape and support its digital policing strategy.
The latest contract therefore represents a continuation and expansion of a technology partnership that has been running for several years.
Cloud services could expand the deal
The new agreement also leaves the door open for the Metropolitan Police to bring more of its technology infrastructure under Atos management.
The MPS can choose to add managed cloud services, which would give Atos greater responsibility for application performance and service delivery.
A further option covers digital workplace services, including management of end-user devices and secure access to tools and platforms used by police staff.
That could become increasingly important as public-sector organisations move away from older technology systems and rely more heavily on cloud computing and digitally connected workplaces.
The security challenge
The scale of the contract also underlines the importance of cybersecurity.
Police forces hold highly sensitive information, meaning digital systems must be protected against outages, unauthorised access and cyberattacks. The contract specifically includes application security and measures designed to protect data, systems and users.
For London, the challenge is particularly significant because the Metropolitan Police is responsible for policing a city of millions of residents, visitors and workers.
The technology modernisation programme therefore has a dual purpose: making police systems more efficient while ensuring that the digital infrastructure behind them remains secure and available.
What the deal means for London
The £350 million agreement is more than a corporate technology contract. It reflects a broader transformation taking place inside public services, where digital infrastructure has become as important to day-to-day operations as physical buildings and equipment.
The Metropolitan Police has previously described modernising its applications and using data and digital technologies as part of its wider digital-policing vision.
The immediate focus of the new agreement is not on replacing police officers with artificial intelligence. Instead, it is about maintaining and modernising the technology that officers and staff already depend on.
The bigger question will be whether the investment delivers measurable improvements for the people who ultimately rely on those systems, London’s police officers, staff and the public.
For now, the six-year deal puts digital resilience and modernisation at the centre of London’s policing infrastructure.
