Section one: Contracting authority
one.1) Name and addresses
DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENT, FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS (Defra Network eTendering Portal)
Seacole Building, 2 Marsham Street
London
SW1P 4DF
Contact
Mamun Islam
Telephone
+44 7123456789
Country
United Kingdom
Region code
UK - United Kingdom
Internet address(es)
Main address
https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/department-for-environment-food-rural-affairs
Buyer's address
https://defra-family.force.com/s/Welcome
one.4) Type of the contracting authority
Ministry or any other national or federal authority
one.5) Main activity
Environment
Section two: Object
two.1) Scope of the procurement
two.1.1) Title
Application Maintenance and Support (AMS) Services
Reference number
C26527
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 outsourced Application and Maintenance Support Services (AMS) will provide the following to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra):
• Application Monitoring.
• Application Maintenance.
• Application Support.
The purpose of this notice is to announce the award of the contract, which commenced on the 14th of October 2024 for the new Applications Maintenance and Support Services (AMS) contract. Please refer to II.2.4.1 for further information.
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: £78,800,000
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
- UKI - London
two.2.4) Description of the procurement
The outsourced Application and Maintenance Support Services (AMS) will provide the following to Defra:
• Application Monitoring – collecting data from applications to measure their performance and availability. This data can then be used to proactively identify and resolve issues before they impact users. Issues can include situations where an application is not performing as designed or, in the worst case, there is an outage and it is not available to end users.
• Application Maintenance – as technology progresses and the needs of end users adapt over time, continuous updating and modifying of applications is required to ensure they are running to the best of their abilities. This constant re-evaluating process means that faults can be corrected, and performance continue to be improved.
• Application Support – specialist support that can be contacted by receiving escalations from the service desk when they are unable to resolve a user’s problem. This includes fixing issues that vary in levels of priority (from P4 to P1), however always on a minor tactical scale as the focus is to enable the application to function (as opposed to large scale Application Development).
By outsourcing the provision of these services to a specialist external provider, Defra can allow its IT function to continue focussing on longer term, more strategic planning. Typically, leveraging AMS services enables an organisation to improve internal efficiency and increase user-satisfaction. This is because internal IT teams are not having to spend time fixing applications that are not working as the end user expects them to.
In Defra’s case, there are also regulatory requirements that must be adhered to, which makes the ongoing support of multiple applications even more critical. As well as ensuring that applications do not stop working, the AMS supplier will work to reduce the impact from outages and release fixes if a critical incident occurs.
Performing these duties limits the impact to farmers, borders and trade as a number of Defra’s application are integral to them carrying out their jobs. Solving critical issues is also key as the alternative is working via sub-optimal methods or workarounds that can cost significantly more.
two.2.5) Award criteria
Quality criterion - Name: Capability/Solution / Weighting: 33
Quality criterion - Name: Implementation / Weighting: 15
Quality criterion - Name: Social Value (inc. Sustainability) / Weighting: 12
Price - Weighting: 40
two.2.11) Information about options
Options: Yes
Description of options
+1+1 extension options.
two.2.13) Information about European Union Funds
The procurement is related to a project and/or programme financed by European Union funds: No
Section four. Procedure
four.1) Description
four.1.1) Type of procedure
Competitive procedure with negotiation
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.2.1) Previous publication concerning this procedure
Notice number: 2022/S 000-034120
Section five. Award of contract
A contract/lot is awarded: Yes
five.2) Award of contract
five.2.1) Date of conclusion of the contract
14 October 2024
five.2.2) Information about tenders
Number of tenders received: 3
The contract has been awarded to a group of economic operators: No
five.2.3) Name and address of the contractor
Accenture (UK) Limited
1 Plantation Place, 30 Fenchurch Street, London EC3M 3BD, United Kingdom
London
EC3M 3BD
Telephone
+44 2078444000
Country
United Kingdom
NUTS code
- UKI - London
National registration number
4757301
Internet address
https://www.accenture.com/gb-en
The contractor is an SME
No
five.2.4) Information on value of contract/lot (excluding VAT)
Initial estimated total value of the contract/lot: £78,800,000
Total value of the contract/lot: £78,800,000
Section five. Award of contract
A contract/lot is awarded: Yes
five.2) Award of contract
five.2.1) Date of conclusion of the contract
14 October 2024
five.2.2) Information about tenders
Number of tenders received: 3
The contract has been awarded to a group of economic operators: No
five.2.3) Name and address of the contractor
Accenture (UK) Limited
1 Plantation Place, 30 Fenchurch Street, London EC3M 3BD, United Kingdom
London
EC3M 3BD
Telephone
+44 2078444000
Country
United Kingdom
NUTS code
- UKI - London
National registration number
4757301
Internet address
https://www.accenture.com/gb-en
The contractor is an SME
No
five.2.4) Information on value of contract/lot (excluding VAT)
Initial estimated total value of the contract/lot: £78,800,000
Total value of the contract/lot: £78,800,000
Section six. Complementary information
six.4) Procedures for review
six.4.1) Review body
DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENT, FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS (Defra Network eTendering Portal)
Seacole Building, 2 Marsham Street
London
SW1P 4DF
Country
United Kingdom
Internet address
https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/department-for-environment-food-rural-affairs
six.4.2) Body responsible for mediation procedures
Public Procurement Review Body
N/A
N/A
N/A
publicprocurementreview@cabinetoffice.gov.uk
Country
United Kingdom
Internet address
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/public-procurement-review-service-scope-and-remit
six.4.3) Review procedure
Precise information on deadline(s) for review procedures
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/public-procurement-review-service-scope-and-remit
six.4.4) Service from which information about the review procedure may be obtained
Public Procurement Review Body
N/A
N/A
N/A
publicprocurementreview@cabinetoffice.gov.uk
Country
United Kingdom
Internet address
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/public-procurement-review-service-scope-and-remit