Section one: Contracting authority
one.1) Name and addresses
Essex County Council
COUNTY HALL
CHELMSFORD
CM11QH
Contact
Georgia Agius
Country
United Kingdom
Region code
UKH36 - Heart of Essex
Justification for not providing organisation identifier
Not on any register
Internet address(es)
Main address
one.4) Type of the contracting authority
Regional or local authority
one.5) Main activity
General public services
Section two: Object
two.1) Scope of the procurement
two.1.1) Title
Security Operations Centre
Reference number
CO0521
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
Essex County Council's Technology Services department operates a hybrid security operations centre (SOC) model, in which an internal team is complimented by an external supplier providing a 24/7 service.
This contract is to procure a service that will provide 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year monitoring and alerting service on the Council's systems designed to rapidly detect and alert the Council to cyber threats.
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: £205,031.06
two.2) Description
two.2.2) Additional CPV code(s)
- 72000000 - IT services: consulting, software development, Internet and support
two.2.3) Place of performance
NUTS codes
- UKH3 - Essex
two.2.4) Description of the procurement
This service will provide a 24/7/365 SOC service capable of detecting and alerting ECC to any potential cyber security incidents.
two.2.5) Award criteria
Price
two.2.11) Information about options
Options: No
Section four. Procedure
four.1) Description
four.1.1) Type of procedure
Award of a contract without prior publication of a call for competition in the cases listed below
- The procurement falls outside the scope of application of the regulations
Explanation:
Direct award via a waiver to the incumbent provider for one year only. It is not possible for another contractor to be procured for this one year period because it requires bespoke code to be written for the Council. Also, the current monitoring system is owned by Phoenix Software Ltd and was purpose built to the Council's requirements. Another organisation cannot provide the commissioned service given the code owned by the incumbent provider would not be transferrable. Failure to maintain this system, exposes the Council to a far greater risk of undetected cyber-attack.
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
Title
Security Operations Centre
A contract/lot is awarded: Yes
five.2) Award of contract
five.2.1) Date of conclusion of the contract
14 August 2024
five.2.2) Information about tenders
Number of tenders received: 1
The contract has been awarded to a group of economic operators: No
five.2.3) Name and address of the contractor
Phoenix Software Limited
Bytes House
Surrey
KT22 7TW
Country
United Kingdom
NUTS code
- UKJ26 - East Surrey
Companies House
2548628
The contractor is an SME
No
five.2.4) Information on value of contract/lot (excluding VAT)
Total value of the contract/lot: £205,031.06
Section six. Complementary information
six.4) Procedures for review
six.4.1) Review body
Essex County Council
Chelmsford
Country
United Kingdom