MASS HPSS Support · UK public procurement notice

Official notice

Authority: Met Office (Central government)

Direct award

Sectors: Repair & Maintenance (50) Delivery: UKSouth West (UKK)

Awarded value£473,942published award · exc. VAT

Awarded 7 Oct 2025no call for competition

Awarded to IBM UNITED KINGDOM LIMITED, IBM Group3 awards

What is being bought

Published requirement description

The Managed Archive Storage System (MASS) and associated infrastructure is a critical adjunct to the supercomputer system. MASS is the sole long-term archive for Met Office operational and scientific research data. A key element of the MASS is IBM HPSS (High Performance Storage System) software which is the Storage Management product developed to interface with tape libraries.

The procurement is for a renewal of support to the HPSS software for a period of 6 months from 1st January to 30th June 2026.

The lotProcurement structure

single lot · no lot value published

Lot #1Awarded

Delivery: UK, South West

50000000 Repair and maintenance services 50300000 Repair, maintenance and associated services related to personal computers, office equipment, telecommunications and audio-visual equipment

Procedure terms & legal framework

From the official record

Procedure method: Direct award
Legal basis: UKPGA · 2023/54 Procurement Act 2023
Notice status: Awarded without competition
Procurement threshold: Unspecified in notice
Regulatory regime: Standard
Commercial structure: Stand-alone contract (no framework)
Competition type: Direct award (no call for competition)
GPA / WTO covered: Unspecified in notice
Recurring procurement: Unspecified in notice
First published: 24 Sept 2025, 14:48 BST
Last source update: 5 Nov 2025, 10:56 GMT
Authority reference: 1972
FTS notice number: 2025/S 000-071167
Latest notice: Contract details notice (UK7)
Delivery area: UKSouth West (UKK)
Official registry OCID: ocds-h6vhtk-05a136 Find a Tender

Why no open competition: Single Suppliers Intellectual Property Exclusive Rights; Single Suppliers Technical Reasons; Additional Repeat Extension Partial Replacement
Published justification: HPSS software is proprietary to IBM.

Notice history

4 events · 3 releases on Find a Tender · since 24 Sept 2025

Transparency notice published
24 Sept 2025, 14:48 BST
UK5
Contract details notice published
13 Oct 2025, 10:39 BST
UK7
Contract signature expected
31 Oct 2025, 23:59 GMT
scheduled
Contract details notice published
5 Nov 2025, 10:56 GMT
UK7

Commercial outcome & contract awards

Published awards, contracts and bid statistics, not a forecast

Awards 3

Awarded value £473,9421 award exc. VAT · 1 repeated publication of the same award counted once

Contracts signed 3latest 7 Oct 2025

Awarded to	Value	Date	Status
IBM UNITED KINGDOM LIMITED1 Jan 2026 – 30 Jun 2026	£473,942	—	Awarded
IBM UNITED KINGDOM LIMITED	£473,942 †same award published again · counted once	—	Awarded
IBM Group	£473,942 †	—	Awarded

Contracts

Contract 1 · IBM UNITED KINGDOM LIMITED
Signed
7 Oct 2025
Value
£473,942
Period
1 Jan 2026 – 30 Jun 2026
Status
active
No agreed KPIs: N/A
Contract 2 · IBM UNITED KINGDOM LIMITED
Signed
7 Oct 2025
Value
£473,942
Period
1 Jan 2026 – 30 Jun 2026
Status
active
No agreed KPIs: N/A
Contract 3 · IBM Group
Signed
7 Oct 2025
Value
£473,942
Period
1 Jan 2026 – 30 Jun 2026
Status
active
No agreed KPIs: SLA will be in accordance with IBM standard support & maintenance terms.

Contracting authority & participating public bodies

Met Office

Contracting authorityPublic authority - central government GB-PPON: PVZW-3234-DTLY Met Office, Exeter, South West, EX1 3PBContact email

Bidders & participating suppliers

2 commercial parties on the notice

IBM LIMITEDAwarded supplierGB-COH: 01503908GB-PPON: PYYP-3447-ZQCQ Building C Ibm Hursley Office, Winchester, South East, SO21 2JNContact email
IBM UNITED KINGDOM LIMITEDAwarded supplierGB-COH: 00741598GB-PPON: PNQM-8935-PYGQ Building C, IBM Hursley Office, Hursley Park Road, Winchester, South East, SO21 2JNContact email

Official documents & specifications (4)

Official links; attachments are not copied

Notices published for this procedure

Contract details notice contractContract details noticeUK7Contract details notice on Find a Tender5 Nov 2025, 10:56 GMT
Contract details notice contractContract details noticeUK7Contract details notice on Find a Tender13 Oct 2025, 10:39 BST
Contract details notice contractContract details noticeUK7Contract details notice on Find a Tender13 Oct 2025, 10:39 BST
Transparency notice awardTransparency noticeUK5Transparency notice on Find a Tender24 Sept 2025, 14:48 BST