Mike Isherwood, Managing Director, APD Communications
APD’s Artemis solution helps police forces improve how they deploy their resources and how their vehicles are driven.
Artemis transmits data and messages between a box installed in each vehicle and the back-end system, enabling the control room to track vehicles in real time and send appropriate teams to deal with incidents.
APD wanted to save customers the hassle of buying and installing infrastructure to host the back-end system. The aim? Help them benefit sooner from their Artemis investment. It decided to redevelop Artemis for delivery as a service from the cloud.
The main challenges it faced were:
APD develops critical software and infrastructure for the national emergency services — one in two police forces uses APD technology. APD also supports the transport and aviation sectors — customers include Gatwick Airport and the London Underground.
APD’s Managing Director, Mike Isherwood, explains why they chose the UKCloud platform to host Artemis:
“UKCloud has all the security credentials and capabilities we — and our police customers — need, in order to feel confident about moving services away from a police environment and into the cloud.”
Police forces have peace of mind about the security of driver data. As well as being optimised for OFFICIAL (including OFFICIAL-SENSITIVE), the UKCloud platform is a verified Police Approved Secure Facility.
With Artemis as a service, data starts flowing as soon as a police force installs the first box. Full rollout typically takes a few months, rather than a year or more. That saves money, as APD estimates that each month not using Artemis costs the purchasing police force £39 per vehicle.
“The hosted Artemis solution is quick to procure and deploy, and comes with security and scalability built in,” says Isherwood. “Police forces can start saving money and delivering better service to citizens much faster than ever before.”
It’s also quicker and easier for APD to update Artemis. Instead of applying updates to each police force’s on-premises installation, APD simply updates the software centrally on the UKCloud platform. “We save time and effort, and our customers benefit from having access to new features immediately,” says Isherwood.
“UKCloud has all the security credentials and capabilities we — and our police customers — need, in order to feel confident about moving services away from a police environment and into the cloud.”