Defence Digital, an agency of the UK Ministry of Defence, has set up a new contract with incumbent supplier Micro Focus for its electronic records management system.

The deal – valued at £8.35 million over three years – was awarded without competition, with Defence Digital saying only the one operator can provide the service.

The contract award notice says it will involve the implementation of a new records management system for the official domain, with a migration of records from existing systems

It states, “… there is no reasonable substitute Records Management System (which will be based around Micro Focus UK Ltd’s Content Management software) that will meet the MoD’s key requirements of interoperability between Official and Secret Domains in terms of search functionality and will also allow for planned essential cloud optimisation to ensure enhanced security and environmental benefits are to be met.

“Further, in terms of the support element of the proposed award, Micro Focus UK Ltd have the necessary technical know-how and expertise to meet the MoD’s requirements, including installing and migrating to a new Records Management System based around their proprietary software and it would be technically impracticable for a third- party supplier to carry out this support and ensure it aligns with the planned cloud optimisation.

“A third-party supplier even attempting to provide this support in these circumstances would result in disproportionate time delay and cost to the MoD.”