BBC on the lookout for enterprise IT and hosting services in £560m contract for Aurora project
Broadcaster invites suitable suppliers to a "market warming" event in two weeks
The BBC has released a tender for enterprise ICT and hosting services that will form part of its switch to a multi-sourcing approach for its Aurora programme.
The programme is to replace the broadcaster's existing 10-year, £2bn deal with Atos. The BBC believes that by using a number of companies it can get better value, more flexibility and specialised services.
The enterprise ICT and hosting services "towers" include end-user compute, hosting platforms, application services, and a technology service desk that will sit across all of the formed towers in the programme.
In the Official Journal of the European Union, the BBC details its need for enterprise ICT services as: a technology service desk, user tools, collaboration tools, unified communications, fixed-line telephony, mobile carrier services, security and identity services, software-as-a-service (SaaS) management services, device management services, hardware and software provisioning.
For its hosting platforms and applications services, the BBC said that it requires applications management, hosting infrastructure services, networking services, cloud management and technical accommodation.
The BBC said it intended to appoint a single contracting entity for a period of five years, which could be extended to an eight-year period. The value of the contract is between £400m and £560m.
The contract is covered by the Government Procurement Agreement, and the BBC said that the purpose of the prior information notice was to invite suitable suppliers to a "market warming" event on 18 April between 1pm and 2:30pm at New Broadcasting House in London. The deadline for registering is Monday 11 April.
Although the BBC is not a government department, it will have taken note of GDS deputy director Alex Holmes' comments last year that the tower model was "not condoned" and "not in line with government policy".
Holmes suggested the model combined outsourcing with multi-sourcing, but lost the benefits of either.
This led to some government departments, such as the Department for Work and Pensions, stating that it would abandon the tower model approach. Other public-sector organisations, such as the Metropolitan Police, the Tri-Borough Council and Transport for London (TfL), have decided to stick with the model.
"They've taken the model and either insourced it or outsourced it all, which is just like the old outsourcing method but dressed in a slightly different way," he said.