IT Disaster Recovery

The Authority is seeking the provision of an IT Disaster Recovery contract for a term of 3 years with the option to extend by a further two 12 month periods with agreement from both parties All quotations are to be sourced from Lot 3a under the CCS Technology Services 2 framework agreement (RM3804).

In order to ensure the security of Ofwat's information and it's systems it is required that all suppliers must hold ISO 27000/1 accreditation and be able to demonstrate compliance. In line with Ofwat's plan to migrate it's systems to the cloud it is expected that the required equipment that would need to be provided for the recovery of its IT systems will reduce over the term of the contract and as such the value of the contract at each yearly payment point may need to be adjusted. At least 30 days before each annual payment point, Ofwat will confirm any changes required to the equipment list in Appendix C and the supplier will adjust the charges to be invoiced accordingly.The supplier must be able to provide the agreed equipment (Appendix C) within 4 hours of invocation (equipment 'on-site' time of 4 hours) at our specified preferred location, normally our London office, with the base operating systems loaded and in a state to begin immediate restoration of data from our backup tapes, with a view to restoring essential systems within 36 hours of invocation. In the past 5 years there has been 1 invocation. This is not given as a representation of future activity but to provide historical perspective. The supplier will provide suitably qualified technical personnel to assist in the restoration of data and getting the environment up and running. The supplier will assist Ofwat with periodic (annual) assessments of our IT DR arrangements and to facilitate the testing of them if required. This may include a full offsite infrastructure restore at the supplier's premises or another agreed location. Collection / delivery and offsite secure storage of data tapes Daily Collection / Delivery and secure storage of backup tapes to an agreed schedule (Monday to Friday within an agreed 2 hour time window). Approximately 4 tapes per day. Provide access/delivery of all stored tapes within 24 hrs, standard retrieval Provide 24/7 access/delivery of all stored tapes within 4 hour, emergency retrieval It is estimated that, if the tape retrieval options were utilised, the following would be approximate estimates of activity: Up to 10 standard retrievals a year (Based on 365 days per year that would equate to 3%) Up to 5 emergency retrievals a year (Based on 365 days per year that would equate to 1.4%) These figures are approximate estimates only and the actual demand figure may be higher, if the option were to be used. If the supplier is able to provide the collection/delivery of data tapes as described above, the costs of this service should be included in the pricing schedule as a separate item but included in in the grand total for the contract value.

Additional information: For Further Information,please contact procurement@ofwat.gov.uk