Contract for the NI public sector data centres

Project background

The strategic aims of this project were to identify a solution to:

• deliver data centre services that would meet the operational and security needs of the public sector clients,
• allow room for growth, and
• obtain savings through the use of combined, larger and more efficient facilities in this pan government collaborative approach.

CPD Supplies and Services Division worked closely with Enterprise Shared Services and the Shared Data Centre Project Team to put a contract in place that brings together the data requirements of the NI Civil Service, and much of the wider public sector, into two highly resilient and secure centres.

The two new data centres replaced a wide range of smaller and less efficient facilities, run by a number of different providers. Through this collective buying power, significant savings in running costs can be achieved - it is estimated that the Department of Finance will achieve savings of 25%.

The contract was awarded for an initial ten year period, with the potential for six further one-year extensions. The annual contract value is estimated at £1.28m.

CPD separated the procurement into two phases - phase one covers the NI Civil Service departments (with the Department of Finance acting as the contracting authority on their behalf), Translink and BSO Procurement and Logistics Service (health sector).

Phase two enables additional organisations to join the arrangement at a later stage. All the organisations subject to NI public procurement policy may join phase two; and in addition the Police Service of NI, education bodies, public health bodies, and local councils may join.