The Police Service of Northern Ireland (Authority) has a requirement for the provision of Core IT Managed Services (Contract). The Core IT contract encompasses the Authority’s operational systems excluding Wide Area Networks, Local Area Networks, Printers, and those dedicated internal networks and systems supporting sensitive specialist departments. The Supplier may be required to interface with these systems and collaborate with relevant third parties as necessary to ensure the effective delivery of services. The primary focus of this Core IT procurement is, to make a strong contribution to public confidence in policing by driving improvements in public service delivery through the provision of world-class IT services, which enhances frontline policing efficiency and resilience. In parallel, the aim is to deliver improved value for money for taxpayers through robust and effective contract management that drive continuous improvement in supplier performance throughout the initial contract term. The Authority therefore wishes to procure a Core IT solution which: • Meets all existing business requirements, providing continuity of service across all Authority operations; • Supports the transition from the current contractual arrangements to the new contract, ensuring minimal disruption to ongoing IT services and operational capability; • Provides flexibility and scalability to accommodate future and evolving business requirements, including changes in operational scope, technology, or user demand; • Maintains the confidentiality, availability, and integrity of all Authority systems, networks, and data in accordance with applicable legislation, security policies and standards; • Ensures the secure storage and management of Authority data, both on-premises and within any approved hosted or cloud environments; • Complies with all relevant current and future requirements relating to IT infrastructure, operational standards, and data protection legislation, including but not limited to UK GDPR and associated security frameworks; • Implements continuous quality enhancements in all areas, identified as requiring improvement, ensuring that service performance and user satisfaction are maintained and developed throughout the contract term; • Supports the adoption of automated services and modern management capabilities to streamline operational processes across both on-premises and cloud-hosted environments, delivering infrastructure services through a standardised, service-oriented model that provides a consistent and simplified user experience regardless of where the underlying data or services are hosted; and • Actively explores and adopts innovative technologies,. including artificial intelligence (AI) and Automation, where such technologies demonstrably streamline processes, enhance efficiency, resilience, and value for money, whether on-premises or cloud. The Core Towers are: 1. Infrastructure and Hosting Services; 2. Application Support. 3. Desktops, Laptops, and Peripherals; and 4. Service Desk. Please see DRAFT Services Specification provided at PSQ stage for further details.

Renewal: Extension end date if all extensions are used is estimated to be 31 December 2042. Following contract award there will be an implementation period of approximately 12 months (but could be longer or shorter depending on circumstances) prior to "go-live". The initial term from "go-live" will be five years. There are 3 x three year optional extension periods, plus an additional one year extension period, all subject to review and satisfactory performance assessment by the Contracting Authority. Options: (13.2.1.1.) The Authority has incorporated within the scope “Volume Based Services” in order to provide the Authority with the flexibility to increase or decrease the volumes of such Services during the Term of the Contract in line with changes in its operational requirements and in order for the Charges for such Services to vary in line with the service volumes that are required. Required volumetrics for this contract have been included as part of Charges. (13.2.2.4) All such projects will progress through a project scoping, design and development process and their final implementation will be subject to there being an approved business case and allocated budgets and resources. Accordingly, it is not possible for the Authority to be definitive at this stage in relation to whether and how each of these projects might impact the scope and scale of the Operational Services for the Core IT Services in respect of Service Desk, Hosting Services, Application Support, and Desktops, Laptops and Peripherals. It should be noted that many of the impacts of these projects (e.g. in relation to service desk and hosting requirements) may be managed through the Volume Based Services mechanism described above and may not need to be called-off as Optional Services. Possible projects may include, but not be limited to: Supply of hardware as agreed and other hardware as defined by the Authority within the Service provision of this contract; Software upgrades; Changes to the number of applications hosted; - additional; Changes to the number of applications supported under Application Support; Supply of infrastructure, support and transition services for a potential replacement Data Centre; Server Refresh x 3 over length of contract; Backups and restores; Decommissioning and upgrading of end user devices; and Cloud storage. (13.2.2.7.) In addition to any new Services arising from such projects, the Authority has also listed a number of other Optional Services summarised below: Extension of the Term – Authority will require the option to extend the initial five-year term by three periods of three years each, plus an additional 1 year which provides a maximum contract term of 15 years, excluding the implementation period; Service Desk Hours – Authority may require a change to the hours of its Service Desk operation; Service Desk Location – the current Service Desk is provided on Authority premises; however, Authority may require an option to extend the Authority network to off-site locations in the UK to facilitate remote access by the Core ICT Managed Services provider; ICS Location – ICS may move location as the Authority estate changes; Software upgrades and hardware replacements – Authority will examine in dialogue its approach to software upgrades and implementing hardware replacements (and potentially other periodic services of variable frequency) through the Core ICT Managed Service contract, which may result in such services being defined and structured as Optional Services within the Draft Project Agreement; Storage Area Network (SAN) – Authority will need to replace its existing SAN during the Term of the Core ICT Managed Services contract, so the Authority will require the Core ICT Managed Services Supplier to support the security, design, implementation, and transition of Services to a new SAN. Equally, the Authority will require the Supplier to provide a similar set of services in respect of the replacement and/or implementation of other elements of ICT infrastructure such as server and backup solutions; and Additional resources – Authority may also require access to specialist ICT resources to provide expert support on ICT projects identified during the term of the contract. It is envisaged that the accessing of specialist ICT resources for this purpose would also be structured as an Optional Service. Further details of this requirement are provided in Section 7 of [the specification]. (13.2.3.1.) there may also be other changes in the scope and/or scale of the Services required from the ICT Managed Service during the Term of the contract that could not be identified or foreseen at the time of this procurement but which are consistent with; the overall nature of Buyer’s current and future operational requirements for Core ICT Managed Services; the Operational Services (i.e. the four service towers) described in this Schedule and the overall scope of the ICT Managed Services requirements as set out in the Project Agreement. In such circumstances the Authority may seek to agree a modification to the ICT Managed Services contract through the Change Control Procedure to facilitate the provision of such services by the Supplier, with the Charges for such services set by reference to the mechanisms and protections provided in the Draft Project Agreement (as outlined above). It is envisaged that such modifications would be made without requiring a new procurement procedure in accordance with the PA 2023.

Procurement Act 2023

Competitive flexible procedure

Tenders must be submitted electronically via the relevant Call for Tender (CfT) opportunity on eTendersNI, website details immediately below. Paper submissions will not be accepted or considered and will be rejected by the Contracting Authority / Buyer. The tender documents are available with unrestricted and full direct access, free of charge, at: URL https://etendersni.gov.uk/epps