Tender

Invitation for data scientists to support development of network and security product

  • XALIENT HOLDINGS LIMITED

F02: Contract notice

Notice identifier: 2022/S 000-016122

Procurement identifier (OCID): ocds-h6vhtk-03459f

Published 13 June 2022, 11:58am



Section one: Contracting authority

one.1) Name and addresses

XALIENT HOLDINGS LIMITED

3rd Floor,1 Ashley Road

ALTRINCHAM

WA142DT

Contact

Darren Hogan

Email

darren.hogan@xalient.com

Telephone

+44 2070963100

Country

United Kingdom

NUTS code

UKD34 - Greater Manchester South West

Internet address(es)

Main address

https://www.xalient.com

one.3) Communication

The procurement documents are available for unrestricted and full direct access, free of charge, at

https://www.gov.uk/contracts-finder

Additional information can be obtained from the above-mentioned address

Tenders or requests to participate must be submitted electronically via

https://www.gov.uk/contracts-finder

one.4) Type of the contracting authority

Other type

Private Business SME

one.5) Main activity

Other activity

Managed Services Provider


Section two: Object

two.1) Scope of the procurement

two.1.1) Title

Invitation for data scientists to support development of network and security product

two.1.2) Main CPV code

  • 72000000 - IT services: consulting, software development, Internet and support

two.1.3) Type of contract

Services

two.1.4) Short description

The core idea behind the innovation project is to develop our current innovation Martina (in Proof Of Concept (POC) currently), that uses artificial intelligence to predict, and in many cases remediate, network faults and security breaches before they occur to a standalone product. To achieve this, data scientists will be required to develop the models that create the relationships between network faults and cyber breaches.

two.1.5) Estimated total value

Value excluding VAT: £98,000

two.1.6) Information about lots

This contract is divided into lots: No

two.2) Description

two.2.3) Place of performance

NUTS codes
  • UKE - Yorkshire and the Humber

two.2.4) Description of the procurement

Further details of the requirements and scope will be provided on completion of a Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA) agreed and signed by both Xalient and the applicant.

We require specialist data scientist expertise to support and drive our productisation of Martina.

We have identified the gap in skills to deliver bulk data transformation, building machine learning models at scale incorporating supervised learning and unsupervised learning, data trend analysis and data pattern correlation. These are specialist data science and big data skills that Xalient does not possess.

The specific knowledge and expertise of the data scientists will be used to design and build the data collection, data processing and machine learning functions of Martina, ready for full productisation in the selected cloud environment.

Our product works based on a data collector to collect telemetry information and an "AIOps Module" to process and provide the machine learning functionality.

We have broken down the specification of the project into stages below. These stages form part of a larger productisation program to bring Martina to market - however the below stages represent the scope of tasks that are pertinent to this application.

• Data Collection - Inbound Integration Module - design and build

• Data Collection - ETL (Extract, Transform and Load) Process - Design and Build

• Data Collection - Outbound integration module

• Machine Learning - Pre-Processing Module

• Machine Learning - Machine Learning Module

• Machine Learning - Data Correlation Module

As a result of our POC work, we feel that the skills required to fulfil the stages in this specification would mainly include:

• Python programming

• REST APIs

• JSON

• Relational Database Management System (RDBMS) - MySQL preferred

• HTML, CSS, JavaScript

• React and Bootstrap

• Node.js

• Flask (Python)

Our research and findings have led us to speculate the above skills are relevant, however applicants are permitted to submit alternative tooling or languages provided they are backed by demonstrable domain experience and relevance.

Our goal is to take Martina to market in a "production ready" state. Applicants should detail how they will address the following aspects in their submissions:

• Scale - how will the solution scale effectively?

• Resiliency - how will the solution maintain service continuity in the event of any single discernible failure within the pertinent infrastructure and/or processes?

• Supportability - post launch and "go live" of the solution, what documentation and/or support mechanisms will be provided and in what format to ensure a successful transition into BAU?

two.2.5) Award criteria

Price is not the only award criterion and all criteria are stated only in the procurement documents

two.2.7) Duration of the contract, framework agreement or dynamic purchasing system

Duration in months

6

This contract is subject to renewal

No

two.2.10) Information about variants

Variants will be accepted: Yes

two.2.11) Information about options

Options: No


Section three. Legal, economic, financial and technical information

three.1) Conditions for participation

three.1.3) Technical and professional ability

Selection criteria as stated in the procurement documents


Section four. Procedure

four.1) Description

four.1.1) Type of procedure

Open procedure

four.1.8) Information about the Government Procurement Agreement (GPA)

The procurement is covered by the Government Procurement Agreement: No

four.2) Administrative information

four.2.2) Time limit for receipt of tenders or requests to participate

Date

27 June 2022

Local time

5:00pm

four.2.4) Languages in which tenders or requests to participate may be submitted

English

four.2.7) Conditions for opening of tenders

Date

28 June 2022

Local time

5:00pm


Section six. Complementary information

six.1) Information about recurrence

This is a recurrent procurement: No

six.4) Procedures for review

six.4.1) Review body

Xalient

East Parade

Leeds

LS1 2AA

Email

darren.hogan@xalient.com

Telephone

+44 2070963100

Fax

+44 2070963100

Country

United Kingdom

Internet address

www.xalient.com