Selected vendor will be on track to pocket £300m
The UK's Network Rail Infrastructure Limited (NRIL) is looking for a provider to unify and manage its data center services.
It has published a preliminary market engagement for the contract, which is valued at £222m ($300m) and will last for seven years between January 2027 and January 2034.
NRIL is a subsidiary of Network Rail Limited, a non-departmental public body that manages the majority of the railway network in the UK.
Its digital infrastructure services are currently delegated across four separate contracts: ‘IT data center operate and maintain services,’ ‘telecoms data center operate and maintain services,’ ‘operational support services applications,’ and the management of the zLinux mainframe.
French companies Atos - currently undergoing partial nationalization amid financial difficulties - and Capgemini manage the first and second contracts. US firms Cognizant and DCX manage the third and fourth. All specialize in digital services and consulting.
The chosen provider will take over these ‘core’ contracts, as well as other unspecified ‘non-core’ contracts.
The contract will cover services to support infrastructure, including “data centers, LAN/Edge compute rooms, and Cloud Platforms. It includes networks (LAN and WAN), platforms, mainframe, servers, specified applications including tools and services required to effectively operate the infrastructure.”
The physical data center space and rental will continue to be managed by Crown Hosting Services, which is a joint venture between Ark Data Centres, a British data center developer, and the UK government's Cabinet Office.
The project intends to “provide better value for money from improved efficiencies and service performance.”
Prospective suppliers must complete a survey by 3pm, June 16.
Network Rail selected British telco Neos Networks as the preferred bidder for a communications infrastructure upgrade initiative, Project Reach, in February 2023.
The progress of the project, which sees Neos investing in the design and build of a new fiber optic communication network track to improve essential services, including signaling, trackside sensors, and CCTV, is currently unclear. DCD has reached out to Neos for comment.
