Defence plans £750m digital workplace services overhaul

The Ministry of Defence is preparing a major recompetition of its digital workplace services, with a future contract potentially worth up to £750 million over five years, according to a prior information notice.

Published on the government’s Find a Tender service, the notice sets out plans for Defence Digital to appoint a new Managed Service Provider to take responsibility for operating and developing Defence’s end-user services at the OFFICIAL classification tier. The department has begun early market engagement to help shape the requirement ahead of a formal procurement process, according to the notice.

The proposed contract would cover Defence’s Digital Workplace environment, which supports more than 200,000 users in the UK and overseas. According to the notice, services are delivered through a mix of MOD-owned software-as-a-service, platform-as-a-service, infrastructure-as-a-service and on-premise systems, grouped under foundation, workplace and platform management functions.

Users access the digital workplace through desktop terminals, laptops, mobile devices and virtual desktop infrastructure. The future provider would be expected to manage the transition from the incumbent supplier, sustain existing services and deliver technical change aligned with Defence’s Service Management Framework, according to the department.

The scope also includes improving user experience, scaling services to meet fluctuating demand and maintaining resilience against what the MOD describes as an evolving cyber threat landscape. The notice indicates that renewal options may be available beyond the initial five-year term. The indicative contract value is listed as between £0 and £750 million, with delivery expected to run from May 2028 to April 2033. No procurement deadline has yet been set, and Defence Digital has stressed that the notice is intended to inform the market rather than launch a competition.