Bytes has won a huge £150 million deal that will see it roll out Windows 10 to all NHS England PCs.
For those who came in late, last year the NHS was hit by WannaCry which targeted old Windows versions. Now NHS is upgrading to Microsoft’s latest operating system, which the vendor says houses “cutting-edge security features”.
The move is part of the government’s cybersecurity spending initiative which will also see it invest £21 million to upgrade the NHS’ firewall and network infrastructure, and build a security operations centre.
Bytes was already partners with the NHS but will expand its team to handle the new work of rolling out Windows 10 Licences to the whole of NHS England.
Bytes is providing the licences while the technical deployment will be carried out in conjunction with a range of Microsoft certified partners.
The subscription-based contract, worth £30 million a year, will see Bytes more than double the business it transacts with the NHS, which currently sits at £20 million a year.
More than ten other suppliers applied for the contract when it was tendered via Crown Commercial Service.
Last year the company grew by 25 percent, and the new contract will help expand it further.
In a news release announcing the deal, Microsoft talked up the security capabilities of Windows 10, stressing the urgency required to protect the NHS after the “significant” impact of WannaCry.
Microsoft’s UK CEO Cindy Rose said: “The importance of helping to protect the NHS from the growing threat of cyberattacks cannot be overstated.
“The introduction of a centralised Windows 10 agreement will ensure a consistent approach to security that also enables the NHS to modernise its IT infrastructure rapidly.”
NHS England (NHSE) has called for tenders to help move and integrate its enterprise resource planning systems to the cloud.
