Image by Steve Cadman under CC BY-SA 2.0
The Home Office is seeking external support services for a range of projects featured in its Technology Platforms for Tomorrow (TPT) programme to revamp its IT estate.
The department has published four contract notices on the Digital Marketplace covering support services across a number of different areas and individual projects.
The first of these covers project management for an array of programmes of work that are already underway, including TPT’s “five key projects”: Windows 10 Build; Office 365; Mobile; Infrastructure; and Technology. The Home Office is seeking to appoint a supplier whose assistance can ultimately deliver “better run and managed project delivery across TPT”.
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The second support contract up for grabs covers support work related to stripping out software applications that are no longer needed, migrating to new Windows 10-based programs, and closing out contracts with incumbent software suppliers. By the time this work is completed, the Home Office intends to “remove the need for Citrix” software.
The contract notice says that rolling out new applications across the department’s eight core business areas “started in October 2017 and is largely complete”.
“However, additional organisations have joined the programme with their own application needs and there is now a requirement to repackage applications previously provided via Citrix,” the contract notice said. “During this transition, a wide range of end users will need to have uninterrupted access to their applications (during business hours) to enable them to continue working as they transition to new platforms and technology.”
The Home Office is also seeking a supplier to provide “solution and technical architecture support” for TPT.
The department said: “Architecture is required to ensure that end-user services and devices delivered by TPT are designed consistently prior to any implementation or delivery taking place, are documented to enable a common understanding among DDaT, and effectively assured to result in a stable and constant transition to live service.”
The final TPT contract up for grabs encompasses engineering support services. This deal will involve the “creation of operational manuals, processes and procedures”. The chosen supplier will also be tasked with the “provision of technical support and troubleshooting including 24/7 coverage”.
Bidding for each of the four opportunities is open until 19 November, with contracts expected to take effect on or before 15 January. Three suppliers are expected to be evaluated for each contract. The deals will run for an initial term of 12 months, plus an optional one-year extension.
“The Technology Platforms for Tomorrow Programme is deploying a corporate technology overhaul across the department, which will impact circa 29,000 staff,” the Home Office said. “We are delivering a modern Windows 10 OS (operating system) with Office 365 and associated collaboration tooling. The programme is also replacing the department’s legacy application estate end user device estate, including replacing the mobile phone estate with modern smartphones.”