Section one: Contracting entity
one.1) Name and addresses
NORTHERN GAS NETWORKS LIMITED
1100 Century Way Thorpe Park
LEEDS
LS158TU
Contact
Rebecca Rowley
Telephone
+44 7935077342
Country
United Kingdom
NUTS code
UKE42 - Leeds
Internet address(es)
Main address
www.northerngasnetworks.co.uk/procurement
Buyer's address
www.northerngasnetworks.co.uk/procurement
one.3) Communication
The procurement documents are available for unrestricted and full direct access, free of charge, at
www.northerngasnetworks.co.uk/procurement
Additional information can be obtained from the above-mentioned address
Tenders or requests to participate must be submitted to the following address:
Rebecca Rowley
Leeds
Contact
Rebecca Rowley
Country
United Kingdom
NUTS code
UKE - Yorkshire and the Humber
Internet address(es)
Main address
www.northerngasnetworks.co.uk/procurement
one.6) Main activity
Production, transport and distribution of gas and heat
Section two: Object
two.1) Scope of the procurement
two.1.1) Title
Managed Service Agreement WAN, LAN, WLAN & SD-WAN
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
Scope - Wide Area Network underlay
NGN would like the potential supplier to provide the following:
Wide Area network underlay to the following locations with minimum speeds specified in the table.
Options for different connectivity types and speeds available at each for the site stated.
The potential supplier should include full-Service Management for the WAN
The potential supplier should include a full network management solution capable of providing NGN with full visibility to all aspects and elements of the network in real time.
Services at Locations should adhere to the following:
• Office/Branch/Cross Connects minimum speed 100Mb/100Mb
• Office/Branch/Cross Connects desired speed 100Mb/1Gb
Resilient links at the location which can work in an active/active configuration, links can be of different types MPLS, VPLS, DIA, FTTC, FTTP or other services
Resilient devices at each location with no loss of service on failure of an active circuit
Diverse where possible entry points to premise, different exchanges, and service providers
1Gb AWS Direct Connect Links fully resilient connectivity via diverse physical locations. Please provide an indication of the expected time to recover from a failure if any.
Legacy data center connectivity as specified in the above
10Gb Internet breakout with full redundancy via diverse physical locations. Please provide an indication of the expected time to recover from a failure if any. Alternatively provide sufficient capacity to support all locations.
Can the potential supplier as part of their proposal confirm the period of notice required from NGN to cease a circuit?
Northern Gas Networks would like the potential supplier costs for the WAN to be broken down into non-recurring cost (NRC), that is one-off charges and monthly recurring revenue (MRR) for the duration of the contract
Security is of critical importance to NGN please confirm within your response that your solution prevents data visibility in the event of unauthorized access or theft, that is protected when data is at rest, in motion and in use.
Scope - Local Area Network Both Wired and Wireless
• The LAN equipment at office locations currently comprises of:
• · Cisco 3850, Layer 3, PoE switches
• · Cisco 2960-X, Layer 2, PoE switches
• · Meraki MR42 and MR33 wireless access points
The potential supplier should include full-Service Management for the LAN and WLAN connectivity.
The potential supplier should include full Network Management, that is full visibility of all aspects of all elements to the network in real time.
Northern Gas Networks would like the potential supplier costs for the LAN and WLAN to be broken down into non-recurring cost (NRC) that is one-off charges and monthly recurring revenue (MRR) for the duration of the contract.
Scope - SD-WAN
There is currently no SD-WAN solution in place at NGN, however implementation of the technology is currently being considered. The standard setup for NGN locations is a set of at least two underlay connections to ensure redundancy. SD-WAN technology provides benefits even on a single link and can create overlays utilizing any type of transport.
With the flexibility of each circuit configured for both MPLS and DIA, the most efficient and flexible solution would be to use one of the links as MPLS and the secondary as DIA.
A set of overlay tunnels will be created on top of both transports, but internet traffic as well as traffic destined for public cloud SaaS services will not be backhauled through the centralized internet breakout, thus minimizing latency.
The potential supplier should include full-Service Management for the SD-WAN.
Northern Gas Networks would like the potential supplier costs for the SD-WAN to be broken down into non-recurring cost (NRC), that is one-off charges and monthly recurring revenue (MRR) for the duration of the contract
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
Managed Service Agreement WAN, LAN, WLAN & SD-WAN
Procurement contact: Rebecca Rowley
Contract notice period ends 11th August 2021 at 12.00pm
In this timeframe please confirm to the NGN contact your expression of interest via email. If your interest to participate is not made to the NGN main contact provided on the front page of the tender documents within this timeframe you will not be able to participate in this tender event.
Brief introduction of the NGN estate
NGN are currently operating at 16 branches, connected by MPLS circuits to various data centers as well as AWS cloud services. Internet connectivity is provided centrally via one of the SCC data centers in Birmingham.
NGN is also increasingly reliant on cloud-based SaaS applications from providers like Microsoft, SAP and others.
IP telephony, with physical Mitel phone systems located at four different locations, is used across some of company's offices.
Video conferencing NGN operates a few video conferencing systems including Starleaf, and Creston.
NGN operate streaming services across all their locations.
There are several cross-connects in place with various third parties, like National Grid, Cadent Gas, Arqiva.
NGN utilizes Brand Communication client-based VPN.
The legacy applications and services have been partially migrated to Amazon AWS, As a result of the migration the connectivity to legacy data centers (SCC) will not persist for the length of the contract and will want to be decommissioned by NGN as soon as possible.
Scope - Wide Area Network underlay
NGN would like the potential supplier to provide the following:
Wide Area network underlay to the following locations with minimum speeds specified in the table.
Options for different connectivity types and speeds available at each for the site stated.
The potential supplier should include full-Service Management for the WAN
The potential supplier should include a full network management solution capable of providing NGN with full visibility to all aspects and elements of the network in real time.
Services at Locations should adhere to the following:
• Office/Branch/Cross Connects minimum speed 100Mb/100Mb
• Office/Branch/Cross Connects desired speed 100Mb/1Gb
Resilient links at the location which can work in an active/active configuration, links can be of different types MPLS, VPLS, DIA, FTTC, FTTP or other services
Resilient devices at each location with no loss of service on failure of an active circuit
Diverse where possible entry points to premise, different exchanges, and service providers
1Gb AWS Direct Connect Links fully resilient connectivity via diverse physical locations. Please provide an indication of the expected time to recover from a failure if any.
Legacy data center connectivity as specified in the above
10Gb Internet breakout with full redundancy via diverse physical locations. Please provide an indication of the expected time to recover from a failure if any. Alternatively provide sufficient capacity to support all locations.
Can the potential supplier as part of their proposal confirm the period of notice required from NGN to cease a circuit?
Northern Gas Networks would like the potential supplier costs for the WAN to be broken down into non-recurring cost (NRC), that is one-off charges and monthly recurring revenue (MRR) for the duration of the contract
Security is of critical importance to NGN please confirm within your response that your solution prevents data visibility in the event of unauthorized access or theft, that is protected when data is at rest, in motion and in use.
Scope - Local Area Network Both Wired and Wireless
• The LAN equipment at office locations currently comprises of:
• · Cisco 3850, Layer 3, PoE switches
• · Cisco 2960-X, Layer 2, PoE switches
• · Meraki MR42 and MR33 wireless access points
Can the potential supplier please include in their proposal sufficient LAN and WLAN at each NGN location replacing the existing managed service provider equipment?
The potential supplier should include full-Service Management for the LAN and WLAN connectivity.
The potential supplier should include full Network Management, that is full visibility of all aspects of all elements to the network in real time.
Northern Gas Networks would like the potential supplier costs for the LAN and WLAN to be broken down into non-recurring cost (NRC) that is one-off charges and monthly recurring revenue (MRR) for the duration of the contract.
Scope - SD-WAN
There is currently no SD-WAN solution in place at NGN, however implementation of the technology is currently being considered. The standard setup for NGN locations is a set of at least two underlay connections to ensure redundancy. SD-WAN technology provides benefits even on a single link and can create overlays utilizing any type of transport.
With the flexibility of each circuit configured for both MPLS and DIA, the most efficient and flexible solution would be to use one of the links as MPLS and the secondary as DIA.
A set of overlay tunnels will be created on top of both transports, but internet traffic as well as traffic destined for public cloud SaaS services will not be backhauled through the centralized internet breakout, thus minimizing latency.
Can the potential supplier please include in their proposal a SD-WAN that compliments NGN application use and security requirements?
The potential supplier should include full-Service Management for the SD-WAN.
Northern Gas Networks would like the potential supplier costs for the SD-WAN to be broken down into non-recurring cost (NRC), that is one-off charges and monthly recurring revenue (MRR) for the duration of the contract
The potential supplier should include a full network management solution capable of providing NGN with full visibility to all aspects and elements of the network in real time.
The duration of all the contracts should be 3 years, with additional options for an additional year extension and one final year's extension making the length of the contract a maximum of 5 years. The additional years if taken up by NGN should be priced at exactly same cost as the cost for the initial 3 years in term of monthly recurring revenue.
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
36
This contract is subject to renewal
Yes
Description of renewals
2 x 1 year extension provisions available for NGN to use at our discretion
two.2.10) Information about variants
Variants will be accepted: No
two.2.11) Information about options
Options: No
Section four. Procedure
four.1) Description
four.1.1) Type of procedure
Negotiated procedure with prior call for competition
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
11 August 2021
Local time
12:00pm
four.2.4) Languages in which tenders or requests to participate may be submitted
English
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
Rebecca Rowley
Leeds
Country
United Kingdom