Section one: Contracting authority/entity
one.1) Name and addresses
Met Office
Fitzroy Road
EXETER
EX13PB
Contact
David Golledge
david.golledge@metoffice.gov.uk
Country
United Kingdom
Region code
UKK43 - Devon CC
Justification for not providing organisation identifier
Not on any register
Internet address(es)
Main address
one.4) Type of the contracting authority
National or federal Agency/Office
one.5) Main activity
Environment
Section two: Object
two.1) Scope of the procurement
two.1.1) Title
Mainframe Support Services
two.1.2) Main CPV code
- 50000000 - Repair and maintenance services
two.1.3) Type of contract
Services
two.1.4) Short description
Support service for existing IBM mainframes and associated operating systems and the overall environment. The requirement includes a technical knowledge transfer before the end of September, on-going support, 24x7 support and ad hoc work such as completing an enterprise storage refresh, carrying out a planned upgrade to the z/VM mainframe and other works.
two.1.6) Information about lots
This contract is divided into lots: No
two.1.7) Total value of the procurement (excluding VAT)
Value excluding VAT: £416,075
two.2) Description
two.2.3) Place of performance
NUTS codes
- UKK - South West (England)
Main site or place of performance
Met Office
two.2.4) Description of the procurement
Support service for existing IBM mainframes and associated operating systems and the overall environment. The requirement includes a technical knowledge transfer before the end of September, on-going support, 24x7 support and ad hoc work such as completing an enterprise storage refresh, carrying out a planned upgrade to the z/VM mainframe and other works.
two.2.11) Information about options
Options: No
Section four. Procedure
four.1) Description
four.1.1) Type of procedure
Negotiated without a prior call for competition
- Extreme urgency brought about by events unforeseeable for the contracting authority
Explanation:
The primary driver behind the urgency to put the support service in place is the premature and unforeseen departure of key technical resources within Met Office that will effectively leave existing IBM mainframes without support and expose the Met Office to significant operational risk. For the z/OS mainframe this would mean a stop to the critical services/products issued from the Product and Commercial suites where currently the key technical resources are needed to manually generate products on a daily basis for systems and internal/external customers. For the z/VM mainframe the impact would be on important internal systems and services such as WAVE/Ripple, Decoupler, the Cloud Transfer Service (CTS), as well as other services.
An immediate urgent need is for knowledge transfer from the current support resource who is scheduled to leave in early October 2024 and the selected provider. If Met Office is unable to proceed this opportunity will be lost and critical technical knowledge will be lost to the Met Office and the 3rd party support provider.
The Met Office undertook market discussions with a number of providers and concluded that the market for supporting the full scope of Met Office requirements for this support service is niche. Only the selected provider was able to evidence a sufficient depth of technical knowledge, experience and resource capacity to fully meet the Met Office requirements in the timescales needed.
four.1.8) Information about the Government Procurement Agreement (GPA)
The procurement is covered by the Government Procurement Agreement: Yes
Section five. Award of contract/concession
Title
Mainframe Support Services
A contract/lot is awarded: Yes
five.2) Award of contract/concession
five.2.1) Date of conclusion of the contract
14 August 2024
five.2.2) Information about tenders
The contract has been awarded to a group of economic operators: No
five.2.3) Name and address of the contractor/concessionaire
Vertali Limited
Unit 13 The Courtyard, Buntsford Drive
Bromsgrove
B60 3DJ
Country
United Kingdom
NUTS code
- UK - United Kingdom
Companies House
08662195
The contractor/concessionaire is an SME
Yes
five.2.4) Information on value of contract/lot/concession (excluding VAT)
Initial estimated total value of the contract/lot/concession: £416,075
Total value of the contract/lot/concession: £416,075
Section six. Complementary information
six.4) Procedures for review
six.4.1) Review body
High Court
London
Country
United Kingdom