Supporting the Future of Secure, Seamless Border Operations

The Client

The Home Office (HO) is responsible for securing the UK border and managing critical national functions including immigration, law enforcement and counter terrorism. 

As part of this mission, it operates Advance Passenger Messaging (APM) — a Critical National Infrastructure (CNI) service that enables the secure exchange of Advance Passenger Information (API) data between UK Government and international carriers to protect the UK whilst facilitating legitimate travel.

APM supports real-time risk assessment, compliance validation and operational decision-making, before people travel to the UK. The service operates 24/7/365, processes up to 6 million messages daily, and provides carrier authorisation decisions in under four seconds.

To support the UK’s Digital Border vision and ensure ongoing operational resilience, the Home Office initiated a programme to modernise APM and transition it into a cloud-enabled, product-managed capability.

The Challenge​

To meet rising border security demands and support the UK’s shift towards a fully digital immigration and travel system, the Home Office needed a partner to further develop, support and modernise the APM service.

Legacy Technical Constraints

• Significant technical debt, outdated tooling and undocumented behaviour.
• Tight coupling to broader legacy services, limiting change and innovation.
• Limited observability and inconsistent development workflows.

Delivery and Operating Model Limitations

• Traditional waterfall and ticket-based processes that slowed delivery.
• Limited ability for the Home Office to directly manage, iterate or enhance the service.
• Insufficient agility to support emerging policies such as Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA).

Transformation of a 24/7/365 CNI Service

• No feasible windows for downtime — all changes had to be safe, incremental and reversible.
• Migration and refactoring needed to maintain continuous service integrity.

Capability Gaps

• HO required modern product management, cloud-native engineering, DevSecOps culture and scalable operational processes to manage APM in-house over time.

These issues meant APM could not evolve at the pace required to support the UK’s future border systems.

The Solution​

Following a competitive procurement, the Home Office appointed Aker and Fujitsu to modernise, support and productise the APM service. The joint delivery approach aligned to GDS principles: user-centred, iterative, data-informed and delivered through multidisciplinary teams.

Key solution elements included:

• Transition & Mobilisation
  
  • Rapid mobilisation of fully security-cleared engineers, DevSecOps specialists, Technical Architects and Delivery Managers.
  • Establishment of a joint, cross-supplier delivery model with clear roles, governance and shared SLAs.
• Cloud Migration and Engineering Modernisation
  
  • Development of new automated CI/CD pipelines to increase development efficiency and embed DevSecOps practices.
  • Extensive code and test refactoring to ensure compatibility with new cloud-native pipelines.
• Introducing an Event-Driven, Kafka-Enabled Messaging Layer
  
  • Aker introduced Kafka as part of a modernised event-streaming layer that complements the existing IBM MQ services.
• Zero-Downtime Transformation
  
  • Incremental, risk-managed migration with no impact on passenger data flows.
  • Parallel running, automated testing and progressive cutovers to ensure continuity.
• Resilient and Secure Platform Management
  
  • Secure by design principles protecting the services and data against malicious cyber attacks.
• Productisation and Capability Building
  
  • Clear definition of the APM product, ownership model and lifecycle.
  • Detailed documentation, runbooks, architectural artefacts and structured knowledge transfer.
  • Empowering HO teams to take increasing responsibility for APM’s evolution.
• Enabling ETA and Future Digital Border Capabilities
  
  • Build of a new, modernised CNI messaging capability to support Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA).
  • Ensuring APM scalability as digital permissions and travel channels expand.

The Technology 

Aker modernised APM by introducing a more flexible, scalable and AWS cloud-native technology foundation, blending proven, highly reliable messaging with modern real-time data streaming to support rising passenger volumes and new digital border initiatives.

Modern, Cloud-Native Architecture

• APM now operates on a secure, cloud-native platform that boosts resilience, performance and scalability.
• Cloud hosting enables the Home Office to deploy changes more safely, respond faster to operational needs and keep the service continuously available.

Real-Time Messaging and Event Streaming

• Aker introduced Kafka data streaming capabilities alongside the existing messaging.
• This hybrid model enables efficient handling of high-volume passenger data and provides greater flexibility for future enhancements and service integrations.

Improved Reliability and Observability

• New monitoring and alerting capabilities provide clearer, real-time visibility of system performance and message flows.
• Enhanced observability strengthens operational resilience and helps teams identify and resolve issues earlier.

Secure, Automated Delivery Pipelines

• Automated build, test and deployment pipelines allow updates to be delivered faster, with reduced risk and higher consistency.
• This modern DevSecOps approach reduces effort and cost while improving overall security and reliability.

A Foundation for Future Border Innovation

• The modernised technology stack enabled APM to support major programmes such as Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) and future digital permissions.
• It enables the Home Office to integrate new data sources, expand carrier connectivity and adopt more advanced analytics and decision-making tools.

This created an architecture that is scalable, resilient, easier to operate, easier to change and ready for future transformation.

The Value

The APM service now provides the Home Office with the scalable and resilient foundations required to support upcoming border reforms, additional digital permissions, expanded carrier connectivity and broader operational innovation.

Strategic Outcomes

• APM now forms a future-ready foundation for the UK’s Digital Border operations, including Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA).
• The Home Office has a modernised product that can evolve rapidly in response to policy, operational or security needs.
• Improved resilience and observability strengthen national security outcomes.

Operational Outcomes

• Faster, more reliable passenger data exchange for carriers and Government.
• Reduced dependencies on legacy platforms and long-term vendor lock-in.

Technology & Capability Outcomes

• APM is now managed through a product-centric, Agile delivery model.
• Cloud-native architecture enables easier scaling, faster releases and better security.
• Home Office teams now hold greater ownership, capability and understanding of APM.

Aker continues to support the Home Office in the evolution of the UK’s digital border, enabling secure, seamless and data-driven border operations.

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