Prisons to tackle Windows XP upgrade

The Prison Service is working on a technology upgrade that will see it moving PCs and laptops to Windows XP.

A pilot roll-out is operating at seven sites with the start date of service-wide implementation scheduled for autumn 2005.

In total, over 200 prisons and head offices with around 48,000 users will be covered by the project, which is expected to be completed by autumn 2006.

A Prison Service spokesperson told silicon.com: "The partnership agreement with EDS requires two full ICT infrastructure refreshes during the 12-year contract. EDS and the Prison Service are working in partnership to establish the baseline for updating the hardware and software for the desktops and associated infrastructure."

PCs and laptops will be replaced with updated machines running Windows XP and MS Office 2003. Recently installed PCs and laptops will be rebuilt with Windows XP, and file and print servers with be replaced with new servers running Microsoft Server 2003.

In addition, 15" CRT monitors will be replaced with TFT monitors.

The project will include migration of user and mailbox accounts to the new architecture, and shifting "core strategic applications" such as offender management systems to Windows XP. Other non-core applications will also move to Windows XP compatible versions.

The Prison Service's 2005-6 business plan states that the project will see the refresh of around 200 servers and improve cabling across the entire Prison Service estate.

It also notes that "significant practical implications for individual prisons" mean that the work will be managed carefully through a series of phased projects.

"The IT refresh is a necessary precursor to the successful delivery of Nomis," the business plan adds.

Nomis - the National Offender Management Information System - will provide an offender management and information system to replace the ageing Local Inmate Data System application.

Through Nomis the Prison Service will share dates with other parts of the National Offender Management Service, in order to deliver "end-to-end offender management".

The Prison Service is also working on the Phoenix Programme, which will bring savings by replacing legacy IT systems and re-engineering out-dated ways of working in finance, HR and procurement.