London's Met Police seeks business services, ERP refresh in £370M deal

The UK's largest police force is scoping the market for business outsourcing, an ERP upgrade and support in a tender that could be worth £1 billion ($1.27 billion) if other organizations join.

The Metropolitan Police Service is leading a procurement for the outsourcing of elements of HR, finance and commercial services, "including the provision of the supporting ERP system based on Oracle e-Business Suite, the current contract for which expires in September 2027."

The police force — which employs around 46,000 officers and staff — is also looking for suppliers to support duties management software.

"The Authority intends to re-procure this suite of services and software solutions to support our frontline operations and underpin the delivery of an efficient and effective Shared Services function (both internal and through a BPO provider)," a tender notice said earlier this month.

The current supplier is Shared Services Connected Limited (SSCL), which is owned by French services company Sopra Steria after it acquired the remaining shares in a joint venture it founded with the Cabinet Office.

According to a business case submitted to the London Mayor's office in 2023, the force began outsourcing to SSCL in 2015 under a "Business Support Services Transformation Programme." The 10-year deal was worth £234.5 million ($297 million) over 10 years and was expected to accrue savings of £101.4 million ($128 million) in that time. However, the MPS increased its size by £89 million ($112 million) in 2019 to account for "volumetric changes." Now the service has extended the deal again, adding a further £105 million ($133 million) to the cost, bringing the total contract price £428.5 million ($542 million). It is set to end in 2027.

• IBM and Oracle to support 280,000 users after winning mega ERP govt tech contract
• Brit civil service claims there's enough money for mammoth ERP refresh project
• UK Home Office awards Oracle a deal extension worth tens of millions
• Anyone for Palantir? UK.gov names gaggle of vendors to fight for contracts in £1.2bn back office application framework

The business case also underscores the challenges the incoming supplier might face. It says the Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system called P-SOP requires 55 separate interfaces, including interfaces with other legacy systems. Vendor support for the system, which is based on Oracle e-Business Suite, is due to end around 2032.

As well as support for existing systems, the current prior information notice — used to talk to suppliers before the competitive tender starts — said the police force was also looking for a systems integrator to implement Oracle Fusion ERP and resource management software, "including the associated systems integrations." It is also on the hunt for business change services to support the operating models that come with the new software.

The price of the ten-year contract is expected at between £350 million and £370 million ($443 million - $468 million), based on pre-market engagement projections and "an expected increase in automation by the market." However, by allowing organizations associated with the Met to access the same back-end services, the size of the deal could reach £1 billion ($1.27 billion), the document said. ®