The UK Ministry of Defence (MOD) has agreed a new enterprise deal with Red Hat, giving defence teams and approved suppliers centralised access to the software company’s hybrid cloud platforms.
The agreement is intended to reduce duplication across the MOD’s sprawling technology estate and provide a more consistent foundation for application development, automation and emerging AI workloads.
The MOD has long faced the challenge of modernising digital delivery across a complex estate, with different teams and programmes historically adopting different tools and approaches. The new agreement aims to standardise access to a core set of platforms, allowing teams to build and deploy software across on premise systems, public cloud and edge environments using a common approach.
Defence Digital Foundry expands its remit
Delivery of the agreement sits with Defence Digital Foundry, the organisation’s shared digital capability, which supports groups including the Royal Navy, British Army, Royal Air Force and cyber and space commands.
Defence Digital Foundry is expanding its existing relationship with Red Hat to make the platforms available not just to internal teams but also to approved third party suppliers working on defence programmes – a move intended to improve interoperability between partners.
AI is a key driver behind the deal. Defence leaders have said they want to move beyond isolated AI pilots towards systems that can be reused and scaled across the organisation.
Red Hat’s platforms are being positioned as a way to support that shift, providing common tooling for developers and data scientists and avoiding the need for bespoke infrastructure for each new AI initiative.
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The agreement also covers automation and modern application development tools, including Kubernetes-based platforms and infrastructure automation software.
The MOD said this should help teams reduce manual configuration, improve consistency and adopt DevSecOps practices more widely, while also supporting a gradual transition from legacy virtual machines to container-based systems.
The rollout of the agreement is being supported by IT services giant Computacenter, which will be responsible for onboarding MOD teams and approved suppliers onto the agreement and managing access to platforms including Red Hat Enterprise Linux, OpenShift, Ansible Automation Platform and Red Hat’s AI tooling. Its role is expected to extend beyond procurement, supporting teams as they move from local or programme-specific deployments to shared platforms.
‘A common foundation’ for delivery
Joanna Hodgson, regional manager for the UK and Ireland at Red Hat, said the agreement reflects a push for greater consistency across defence technology programmes.
“With Red Hat providing a centralised cloud-native platform and approach, teams across the Ministry of Defence can develop and deliver new digital services faster with a more consistent security footprint,” she said.
Mivy James, chief technology officer at the MOD, said the deal would make it easier for teams across the country to work together.
“People up and down the country working for the Ministry of Defence can more easily and reliably access tools and collaborate using common Red Hat-based platforms,” she said, adding that this would help improve efficiency and reduce duplication.
