Networking & Communications - Market Update

This notice seeks to provide an update to the market regarding Essex County Council's (ECC's) direction of travel for its future Networking and Voice solutions. In July 2020, following publication of Prior Information Notice ref: 2020/S 121-298041, ECC undertook early market engagement with a broad range of Networking and Communications suppliers to explore innovation, horizon scanning and service delivery models across the market. In March 2021, following publication of Prior Information Notice reference: 2021/S 000-001471, ECC undertook further market engagement with five Networking suppliers through workshop sessions to explore in more depth: Network technologies; Technology products; Circuit provision and; Deployment. The learning from these sessions has highlighted to ECC the importance of trialling network technologies at an early stage and, therefore, ECC has identified three vendors' SD-WAN technologies it wishes to pilot: Cisco, Palo Alto and Silver Peak. Identification of these solutions for pilot is based on best-fit considerations and existing technology investments, as identified through market engagement. Pilots will be delivered in partnership with ECC's current managed service provider, DUCL (Daisy Updata Communications Limited) early in 2022. ECC anticipates that the SD-WAN pilots will lead to identification of a preferred product, which ECC would then implement as part of a network transformation project either through its managed service contract with the existing provider or following a competitive tender exercise. Regarding Voice, ECC recently commissioned discovery work to inform its Contact Centre requirements. Final outputs are due end of January 2022, following which ECC anticipates that it will engage with the market. ECC continues to undertake in-house discovery work in respect its future Mobile requirements. Also, ECC has recently transitioned its Unified Comms solution from Skype for Business to Microsoft Teams, through its incumbent supplier.