The Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs, commonly known as Defra, has announced a significant market opportunity by launching a major tender for UK hosting and storage services. This crucial infrastructure contract is estimated to be worth up to £226.8 million and is planned to run for a potential duration of up to seven years, encompassing an initial term and possible extensions.
The extensive scope of this requirement covers a wide range of technical needs essential for Defra’s operations. It includes both cloud-based and traditional non-cloud hosting solutions, alongside fundamental data centre services. Furthermore, the tender incorporates requirements for necessary managed services, resilient connectivity, and, critically, robust security measures to protect vital government data.
This procurement initiative is a key step for Defra as it works to modernise its IT landscape and replace expiring contracts. The goal is to ensure continuity of service while actively pursuing the department’s digital transformation agenda. A core objective is to advance a cloud-first strategy, leveraging modern platforms for greater efficiency and agility. However, the contract must also be capable of supporting and managing important legacy systems during this transitional period.
To foster flexibility and bring in diverse expertise, the tender is expected to be structured into multiple lots, enabling Defra to appoint various suppliers specialising in different areas of service delivery. Data security is paramount, with providers needing to demonstrate capability to handle information classified up to Official-Sensitive. The successful partners will be tasked with providing reliable, scalable, and highly secure infrastructure to underpin Defra’s diverse and critical services for the environment, food, and rural sectors across the UK.
This substantial investment highlights the ongoing government focus on maintaining a secure and modern digital foundation for essential public services. Companies with proven expertise in delivering high-level hosting, storage, and associated managed services within a secure government context are encouraged to explore this major opportunity via the relevant official procurement channels.
Source: https://www.datacenterdynamics.com/en/news/uks-defra-puts-out-notice-for-2268m-hosting-and-storage-contract/
