UK5 - Transparency Notice - 715882482 - Cyber Mission Data – Lot 2 (Cyber Data Product Delivery)

1. Legal Basis

This contract will be awarded in accordance with Section 41 of the Procurement Act 2023 (Direct Award in Special Cases), relying on Schedule 5, Paragraph 20. The Authority is satisfied that the contract is a defence authority contract and a defence and security contract, and that direct award is necessary to maintain the operational capability, effectiveness, readiness, and security of the armed forces.

2. Justification

The expiry of the previous contract has resulted in a temporary pause in Defence's ability to onboard new systems into the Cyber Mission Data capability. This service supports the integration and exploitation of data from Defence platforms and systems, enabling information to be more accessible and usable within Defence cyber operations.

This may include data relating to network activity, system events, and access management processes. During the intervening period, Defence has remained able to utilise and exploit data from systems already onboarded prior to contract expiry, and priority systems were incorporated under the previous contractual arrangements. However, new onboarding activity has been delayed for approximately seven weeks, resulting in a growing backlog of systems awaiting integration. The identified risk relates to the impact of a prolonged inability to onboard additional systems rather than the short gap experienced to date. If this position were to continue for an extended period, Defence's ability to expand and enhance its cyber monitoring capability in line with evolving operational requirements would be reduced.

The Authority has therefore determined that continuation of these services through a direct award is necessary to maintain operational effectiveness, continuity of service and the ongoing development of Defence's cyber data capabilities whilst a future competitive procurement is undertaken.

3. Reasons for Limited Duration

The contract term is 8 months, representing the minimum necessary time required for the Authority to undertake a separate competitive procurement procedure and transition to a future solution whilst maintaining operational capability, effectiveness and security and avoiding risk and disruption to Defence's cyber detection and response capability during this time.