Date Centre One (DC1) · UK public procurement notice

DHCW intends to enter into a deed of variation (“DoV”) with CDW to extend the duration of the existing Call-off Contract for a further 3 years to 3 February 2029 (the “Variation”).

The Call Off Contract was originally procured pursuant to a mini-competition under Lot 2 and 3B the Crown Commercial Services Technology Services 2 Framework Agreement (reference RM3804) and is governed by the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 (“PCR 2015”).

In accordance with Welsh Government’s cloud first policy, DHCW is in the process of migrating from on-premises servers to cloud servers with such transition to be completed by October 2028. This will include migrating from on-premises servers at DC1 to cloud storage.

As such, DHCW requirement for data centre hosting of its on-premises servers is reducing and DHCW aim to have fully transitioned to cloud hosting and storage by October 2028. This will include migrating from the on-premises servers located at DC1 to cloud storage (with a diminishing on-premise footprint between now and then).

The Variation is required for the following reasons:

• To provide DHCW with sufficient time to complete its activities set out in the Cloud Transition Programme, which is estimated to take circa thirty-six (36) months due to the complexity of the work and the involvement of multiple parties in the work
• To enable DHCW to maintain two (2) data centres at all times (to ensure operational resilience) until all equipment can be migrated to the public cloud, albeit with a reducing footprint.
• To ensure there are no disruptions to the delivery of key clinical operational services to NHS Wales, which could negatively impact on the delivery of patient care.
• To ensure that the Cloud migration remains a focal priority and not a Data Centre transition.
• To ensure reputational damage is minimised in the event of a major incident/service failure.

Due to the likely procurement, transition and implementation period involved (estimated at around a total of 18 to 24 months), it would not be possible nor practical for DHCW to procure and enter into new contracts with other suppliers for the period up to October 2028 requiring migration of the physical servers from DC1 to an alternate data centre where DHCW’s on-premise footprint will be reducing during that period and where any such contract, even once implemented, would be operational for a limited period of time prior to decommissioning of any remaining on-premise servers and/or could give rise to technical issues and risk continuity and stability of patient critical services.

As such, DHCW intends to extend the Call Off Contract for a period of 3 years to secure the continued provision of services at DC1 which will allow DHCW time to complete the transition to cloud storage and associated reduction of on-premise footprint.