Notice Information
Notice Title
Technology Specialist Services Framework (TSSF)
Notice Description
Southern Water is going to market for technology specialist services under a Technology Specialist Services Open Framework Agreement to deliver digital expertise across the following areas; Customer & Corporate, Wholesale, Data & AI, Integration & Automation, Digital Workspace, Networks, Hosting & Cloud Services, Cyber, Site Based OT, and Managed Services. This procurement will follow a Competitive Flexible procedure delivering an Open Framework lasting for a total of 8 years. It is anticipated that the opportunity will be formally published during Q4 2025. Please follow the link below to the TSSF Market Engagement Video: https://vimeo.com/1124141977
Lot Information
Customer & Corporate
We require services to design, deliver and operate digital solutions across our existing and new digital platforms in our Customer & Corporate domain. These services will be used together with our existing Digital team and will be available through dedicated packages of work where required. These include: * Digital Architecture - Designing efficient and scalable solutions which work in conjunction with our wider digital landscape. Creating the solution architecture and high-level design that allows us to estimate and plan our overall delivery, working in conjunction with our delivery teams. * Business and Systems Analysis - Collaborating with stakeholders to assess our business needs and create the appropriate scope and requirements that matches the situation. * Engineering - Developing extensions or integration for systems to an appropriate testable quality that means the functional needs. Following development standards and guidelines to ensure that all work is done in an aligned way with our wider teams. * Delivery & implementation - Enabling the delivery of solutions through Project and Product teams through the effective management of requirements, scope, and planning. This ranges from work within larger Transformation programmes through to smaller scale continuous improvement. * Support & Maintenance - Ensuring applications within this lot are appropriately maintained in a live environment, including operational system administration. Supporting incident and defect resolution, platform availability along with minor improvements delivered under 'business as usual'. Working towards removing technical debt from our landscape, including work around system decommissioning when appropriate. In addition, we expect our partners to bring innovative ideas and insight as part of that they do, allowing us to apply innovative technology or innovation when appropriate to our business challenges. The main applications within the customer & Corporate lot include: * Core SAP Platforms (Finance, Procurement, Projects, HR) * SAP CRM and customer Billing * SAP Basis, Integration * SAP Portal * SAP PO and NetWeaver * SAP Business Warehouse * Workday * Corporate Website * Service NOW ITSM * Service NOW CSM * Experian power curve In addition, we also have smaller legacy applications within the estate which are custom built, often in .Net technology and java, and small SaaS based applications that support small groups of users and edge use cases across our customer and corporate teams.
Renewal: The procedure will follow the standard Open Framework model as described under The Procurement Act 2023.
WholesaleWe require services to design, deliver and operate digital solutions across our existing and new digital platforms in our Wholesale domain. These services will be used together with our existing Digital team and will be available through dedicated packages of work where required. These include: * Digital Architecture - Designing efficient and scalable solutions which work in conjunction with our wider digital landscape. Creating the solution architecture and high-level design that allows us to estimate and plan our overall delivery, working in conjunction with our delivery teams. * Business Analysis - Working with stakeholders to assess our business needs and create the appropriate scope and requirements that matches the situation. * Engineering - Developing extensions or integration for systems to an appropriate testable quality that means the functional needs. Following development standards and guidelines to ensure that all work is done in an aligned way with our wider teams. * Delivery & implementation - Enabling the delivery of solutions through Project and Product teams through the effective management of requirements, scope and planning. This ranges from work within larger Transformation programmes through to smaller scale continuous improvement. * Support & Maintenance - Ensuring applications within this lot are appropriately maintained in a live environment, including operational system administration. Supporting incident and defect resolution, platform availability along with minor improvements delivered under 'business as usual'. Working towards removing technical debt from our landscape, including work around system decommissioning when appropriate. In addition, we expect our partners to bring new ideas and insight as part of that they do, allowing us to apply new technology or innovation when appropriate to our business challenges. The main applications within the Wholesale lot include: * IBM Maximo - Strategic solution for Work and Asset Management * ESRI ArcGIS - Strategic solution for Geospatial services * Ellipse & WAMMI - Legacy solution for Work and Asset Management * Ovarro Prism - Strategic solution for operational alarm management * Aveva PI - OT historian containing operational data which is collected and stored to support processes such as spills reporting * PTC ThingWorx - Provides our strategic Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) platform which supports Sewer Level Monitors and how we digitally capture information from similar remote assets * Labware - Provides sampling capabilities for water regulatory compliance. * Waternet - Supporting our water operations and controlling our water balance to improve how we control our networks and detect leakage * Ovarro Pioneer - Asset Investment Planning solution that helps with forecasting costs and managing risks with our assets There are applications built upon these solutions, such as Aspire for spills reporting using PI, and Permit Compliance using ESRI for ensuring we have permits in place for appropriate operational work. We also have smaller legacy applications within the estate which are custom built, often in .Net technology. These include CATalogue for information on our operational sites, and PIRF/SIRF for incident recording. There are also Microsoft Access databases such as Pollutions Database which aren't supported by Digital services, but are in scope for modernisation within the projects planned in AMP8.
Renewal: The procedure will follow the standard Open Framework model as described under The Procurement Act 2023.
Data & AIThe supplier(s) must be capable of delivering services across the following areas: Data Science: * Exploration of opportunities with all directorates to identify the right solution * Identification of incremental value through data exploration and hypothesis testing * Design and delivery of analytical and ML models for advanced use cases * Model performance monitoring and improvement * AI literacy across Southern Water Data Analytics: * Deep understanding of directorates D&A objectives, processes, reports and data * Formulation of D&A delivery to support the directorate objectives * Proactive insights to improve SW effectiveness, beyond demand * Self-service enablement and governance * Lead cross-SW Community of Practice for data analysis BI Development: * Report Development: Design, develop, and maintain reports and dashboards to provide insights into business performance * Data Visualisation: Create interactive visualisations to enable self-service analytics * Data Integration: Integrate data from various sources into BI & reporting tools * Performance Optimisation: Optimise BI reports and dashboards for optimal performance * Support: Act as 3rd line support for incidents related to the performance of data products. Data Engineering: * Data Extraction: Design and implement efficient ETL processes to extract, transform, and load data into data stores. * Data Pipelines: Develop and maintain data pipelines to automate data ingestion, transformation in the sematic layer. * Data Integration: Integrate data from various sources into the data platform. * Metadata Management: Manage metadata to improve data discoverability and understanding. * Support: Act as 3rd line support for data incidents related to the ingestion and transformation of the data. DevOps Engineering: * Infrastructure Automation: Automate the provisioning, configuration, and deployment of data infrastructure. * CI/CD Pipelines: Build and maintain CI/CD pipelines for data applications and pipelines. * Monitoring and Alerting: Implement monitoring and alerting systems to proactively identify and resolve issues. * Security and Compliance: Ensure security and compliance standards are met in the data infrastructure Platform & Tool Engineering: * Platform Development: Develop and maintain the data platform, including data catalogues, data governance tools, and self-service analytics tools. * Data Governance: Implement data governance policies and procedures to ensure data quality and consistency. * Platform Performance: Optimise data infrastructure for optimal performance * Security: Ensure data security and privacy through appropriate security measures and compliance standards * Support: Act as 3rd line support for data incidents related to the platforms & tools. Data governance: * Governance and data management framework, policies and processes. * Data quality: standards and target setting, measurement, reporting and improvement plans * Open data leadership * Data literacy and certification programmes * Participate in cross-SW Community of Practice for data owners and stewards
Renewal: The procedure will follow the standard Open Framework model as described under The Procurement Act 2023.
Integration & AutomationWe require services to design, deliver and operate digital solutions across our existing and new digital platforms in our integration domain. These services will be used together with our existing Digital team and will be available through dedicated packages of work where required. These include: * Integration & automation Architecture - Designing efficient and scalable solutions which work in conjunction with our wider digital landscape. Creating the solution architecture and high-level design that allows us to estimate and plan our overall delivery, working in conjunction with our delivery teams. * Business and Systems Analysis - Collaborating with stakeholders to assess our business needs and create the appropriate scope and requirements that matches the situation. * Engineering - Developing extensions or integration for systems to an appropriate testable quality that means the functional needs. Following development standards and guidelines to ensure that all work is done in an aligned way with our wider teams. * * Delivery & implementation - Enabling the delivery of solutions through Project and Product teams through the effective management of requirements, scope, and planning. This ranges from work within larger Transformation programmes through to smaller scale continuous improvement. * Support & Maintenance - Ensuring applications within this lot are appropriately maintained in a live environment, including operational system administration. Supporting incident and defect resolution, platform availability along with minor improvements delivered under 'business as usual.' Working towards removing technical debt from our landscape, including work around system decommissioning when appropriate. In addition, we expect our partners to bring innovative ideas and insight as part of that they do, allowing us to apply innovative technology or innovation when appropriate to our business challenges. The main applications within the Integration and automation lot include. * Web Methods ESB * Web Methods API GW * Web Methods Active Transfer * Web Methods Cloud Streams, JMS UM and BPM * SAP Process Orchestration and JAVA BPM * Power Automate * Azure API * ESRI FME * RPA Technology (Blue prism, UI path, Automation anywhere, Power Automate * Create flows to support attended and unattended RPA
Renewal: The procedure will follow the standard Open Framework model as described under The Procurement Act 2023.
Digital WorkspaceWe require services to design, deliver and operate digital solutions across our existing and new digital workplace platforms and environment. These services will augment existing Digital team and will be available through dedicated packages of work where required. These include: * Digital Architecture - Designing efficient and scalable solutions which work in conjunction with our wider digital landscape. Creating the solution architecture and high-level design that allows us to estimate and plan our overall delivery, working in conjunction with our delivery teams. * Business and Systems Analysis - Collaborating with stakeholders to assess our business needs and create the appropriate scope and requirements that matches the situation. * Engineering - Developing extensions or integration for systems to an appropriate testable quality that means the functional needs. Following development standards and guidelines to ensure that all work is done in an aligned way with our wider teams. * * Delivery, deployment & implementation - Enabling the delivery of solutions through Project and Product teams through the effective management of requirements, scope, and planning. This ranges from work within larger Transformation programmes through to smaller scale continuous improvement. * Support & Maintenance - Ensuring applications are appropriately maintained in a live environment, including operational system administration. Supporting incident and defect resolution, platform availability along with minor improvements delivered under 'business as usual.' Working towards removing technical debt from our landscape, including work around system decommissioning when appropriate. In addition, we expect our partners to bring innovative ideas and insight as part of that they do, allowing us to apply innovative technology or innovation when appropriate to our business challenges. The main applications within the Digital workplace domain include: * Microsoft SharePoint on premise * Microsoft SharePoint online * Microsoft power apps * Windows 10 & 11 operating systems * Microsoft 365 services (Office, Teams, rooms etc) * Omnissa Virtual desktop (Horizon)
Renewal: The procedure will follow the standard Open Framework model as described under The Procurement Act 2023.
Networks, Hosting & Cloud ServicesWe require services to design, deliver and operate digital solutions across our existing and new digital platforms in our Infrastructure domain. These services will be used together with our existing Digital team and will be available through dedicated packages of work where required. These include: * Infrastructure Architecture - Designing efficient and scalable solutions which work in conjunction with our wider digital landscape. Creating the solution architecture and high-level design that allows us to estimate and plan our overall delivery, working in conjunction with our delivery teams. * Infrastructure Engineering - Developing extensions or integration for systems to an appropriate testable quality that means the functional needs. Following development standards and guidelines to ensure that all work is done in an aligned way with our wider teams. * Infrastructure Delivery & implementation - Enabling the delivery of solutions through Project and Product teams through the effective management of requirements, scope, and planning. This ranges from work within larger Transformation programmes through to smaller scale continuous improvement. * Support & Maintenance - Ensuring applications within this lot are appropriately maintained in a live environment, including operational system administration. Supporting incident and defect resolution, platform availability along with minor improvements delivered under 'business as usual.' Working towards removing technical debt from our landscape, including work around system decommissioning when appropriate. The successful supplier(s) must demonstrate capabilities across the following core service areas: Network Services * Design, management and optimisation of: o WAN, LAN, SD-WAN, DMVPN o Wired and wireless networks using Cisco, Cisco Meraki, Cisco ISE o Load balancing with F5 o Firewall services using Palo Alto, Checkpoint and NSX * Implementation of Zero Trust architectures and secure remote access solutions * End-to-end network monitoring and alerting using SolarWinds Hosting Services * Management and enhancement of: o Private cloud infrastructure built on VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) and Dell VxRail o Storage platforms (Isilon, ECS), backup and recovery (Rubrik, Data Domain, Avamar) o Capacity planning, performance optimisation and infrastructure scaling * Development and execution of disaster recovery, high availability and business continuity plans Cloud Services * Cloud migration planning and execution (IaaS/PaaS/SaaS), primarily to Microsoft Azure * Cloud cost optimisation, security posture assessments and governance (FinOps & SecOps) * Implementation and support of hybrid and multi-cloud architecture (e.g., Azure + on-prem + edge) * Container and platform services: OpenShift, Kubernetes Security Services * End-to-end security tooling and support including: o Endpoint Protection: Defender for Endpoint, CrowdStrike, Trend Micro o Identity and Cloud Security: Defender for Identity, Defender for CloudApps o Vulnerability Management: Qualys o Web and Data Security: Forcepoint o SIEM & SOC integration: LogRhythm * Development and embedding of security frameworks aligned to NCSC principles, ISO 27001, and Southern Water's internal security policies. Digital Twins for Infrastructure: Creation of digital twins of critical infrastructure components to simulate scenarios, predict failures, and optimize performance. With potential to be expanded to Digital Twins of OT Applications. Re-platforming and Re-architecting Applications: Expertise in modernizing legacy application infrastructure, including re-platforming to cloud-native architectures. Application Monitoring and Performance Management (APM): Implementing and managing APM tools to gain deep visibility into application performance, identify bottlenecks, and ensure optimal user experience. Consider tools integrated with Azure Monitor and potentially specialized OT APM solutions.
Renewal: The procedure will follow the standard Open Framework model as described under The Procurement Act 2023.
CyberWe require services to extend the capability of the in-house team and augment the skillset. This allows the team to provide services in the areas of SecOps, Security Consultancy and Security Assurance. * SecOps - Enabling the in-house delivery team to take the lead on incident management with the support of partners. Day-to-day vulnerability management including responding to known vulnerabilities that arise e.g. CVEs and keeping on top of released vendor patches. Threat modelling to be proactive to threats relevant to Southern Water. * Security Consultancy - Supporting the delivery of projects and supporting product teams. Providing audit services for existing systems to find weaknesses that could be change in a future release or replacement of the system. Design or oversee the security architecture of new solutions across the business. The security consultancy will issue guidance on best practices and advise on the response Southern Water should have towards current and future trends. * Security Assurance - Management of the ISMS and it's requirement for continuous improvement. Governance, Risk & Compliance support to stay aligned to the NIS, ISO27001 standards, data protection legislation and more. Managing the push towards gaining recognised security certification and maintaining it through the regular surveillance audits that are required. Managing the third-party assurance needed for onboarding suppliers. Conducting security audits of new solutions and technology employed by Southern Water. * OT Programme (NIS) - actions that are required to meet NIS requirements, implement a minimum ISA 62443 Level 2 security capability and satisfy requirements that have come out of the OT strategy workshops with various business groups In addition, we expect our partners to bring new ideas and insight as part of what they provide, allowing us to apply new technology or innovation when appropriate to our business challenges. The main services within the InfoSec & Cyber Security Services lot include: * SOC services - Security Operations Centre providing 24/7 monitoring of the estate and alerting to the in-house teams. They also assist with incident response and endpoint protection. * Recorded Futures - Real time threat intelligence service that monitors for chatter, and other things, on the web and dark web related to Southern Water which could indicate heightened chances of a targeted attack.
Renewal: The procedure will follow the standard Open Framework model as described under The Procurement Act 2023.
Site Based OTThe supplier(s) must be capable of delivering services across the following areas: Integration Services for NIS delivery programme: * Upgrade and remediation of onsite Process Control Networks, Telemetry RTU, PLC, HMI and SCADA replacement * Network Segmentation and NIS compliant activities that fall outside of the 'Secure by Design' solution. * Integration into Enterprise SCADA solution for OT processes * Installation and electrical services of OT components inc cabling & minor civils * Commissioning Services Technical Partner Services * Consultation and support services on delivery of the OT Standard through supply chain delivery streams. * Provide training and structure to implement standardised processes & governance of the OT Standard * Support business change and transformation in line with the OT Strategy
Renewal: The procedure will follow the standard Open Framework model as described under The Procurement Act 2023.
Managed ServicesWe require partners to perform services and work effectively as part of a wider eco-system that underpins our capability delivery lifecycle. Specifically these are: * Programme and Project Management - Leading the delivery of Programmes and Projects utilising appropriate methodologies and working in accordance with the Southern Water project delivery lifecycle. This includes planning, budgeting, risk management and all other Project Management activities and leading matrix teams from across the Southern Water Digital organisation and potentially other third-party organisations. * Agile Delivery/Scrum Master - Supporting the successful delivery of value through Agile practices, fostering a culture of iterative improvement, collaboration, and transparency. Agile Delivery professionals may take on the role of Scrum Master, Agile Coach, or Delivery Manager, depending on the scale and context of delivery. Agile Delivery professionals are expected to operate across multiple delivery teams where needed and support the organisation's maturing Agile ways of working. Deliverables may include; Agile delivery plans and team charters, facilitation of sprint ceremonies and team retrospectives, team metrics and delivery reporting (e.g. velocity, burn-down charts), backlog refinement support, stakeholder engagement materials, Agile coaching plans and maturity assessments. * Business Analysis - Working with colleagues and other stakeholders to assess our business needs and to capture and represent the requirements and desired outcomes of any initiative. Business Analysts may be expected to lead or support process discovery workshops, use modelling tools to produce BPMN or equivalent process diagrams, and work with operational teams to identify areas for simplification, automation, or improvement. Deliverables may include; Business Requirements Documents, Functional and non-Functional Requirements, System Requirements, User Stories, Use Cases, Process Mapping (as-is and to-be) including cross-functional workflows, Process Improvement Proposals and Impact Assessments, Wireframes, Prototypes, Mock-ups, Traceability Matrices. * Solution Architecture and Design - Working within a delivery lifecycle to design efficient, secure and scalable solutions which work in conjunction with our wider digital landscape and conform to appropriate standards and principles. Creating the solution architecture and high-level design that allows us to estimate and plan our overall delivery, working in conjunction with our delivery teams. * Test and Quality Management - Managing and executing test and quality assurance activities in order to validate the functional and non-functional capabilities of solutions. This could include creation and delivery of; test approach documents, test management, execution of unit, system, integration, performance and security testing. Management and configuration of test and QA tools, management of test environments and associated data sets and other components. In addition, we expect our partners to bring new ideas and insight as part of what they do, allowing us to constantly innovate and mature of capabilities.
Renewal: The procedure will follow the standard Open Framework model as described under The Procurement Act 2023.
Planning Information
The engagement will consist of virtual market engagement session(s). Dates to be confirmed at a later date.
Notice Details
Publication & Lifecycle
- Open Contracting ID
- ocds-h6vhtk-055972
- Publication Source
- Find A Tender Service
- Latest Notice
- https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/061997-2025
- Current Stage
- Planning
- All Stages
- Planning
Procurement Classification
- Notice Type
- UK3 - Planned Procurement Notice
- Procurement Type
- Framework
- Procurement Category
- Services
- Procurement Method
- Selective
- Procurement Method Details
- Competitive flexible procedure
- Tender Suitability
- SME
- Awardee Scale
- Not specified
Common Procurement Vocabulary (CPV)
- CPV Divisions
72 - IT services: consulting, software development, Internet and support
-
- CPV Codes
72000000 - IT services: consulting, software development, Internet and support
Notice Value(s)
- Tender Value
- Not specified
- Lots Value
- Not specified
- Awards Value
- Not specified
- Contracts Value
- Not specified
Notice Dates
- Publication Date
- 3 Oct 20251 months ago
- Submission Deadline
- Not specified
- Future Notice Date
- 21 Oct 2025Expired
- Award Date
- Not specified
- Contract Period
- 23 Apr 2026 - 23 Apr 2029 3-4 years
- Recurrence
- Not specified
Notice Status
- Tender Status
- Planned
- Lots Status
- Planned
- Awards Status
- Not Specified
- Contracts Status
- Not Specified
Buyer & Supplier
Contracting Authority (Buyer)
- Main Buyer
- SOUTHERN WATER SERVICES LIMITED
- Contact Name
- Not specified
- Contact Email
- ryan.lightfoot@southernwater.co.uk
- Contact Phone
- Not specified
Buyer Location
- Locality
- WORTHING
- Postcode
- BN13 3NX
- Post Town
- Brighton
- Country
- England
-
- Major Region (ITL 1)
- TLJ South East (England)
- Basic Region (ITL 2)
- TLJ2 Surrey, East and West Sussex
- Small Region (ITL 3)
- TLJ27 West Sussex (South West)
- Delivery Location
- TLJ27 West Sussex (South West)
-
- Local Authority
- Worthing
- Electoral Ward
- Northbrook
- Westminster Constituency
- Worthing West
Further Information
Notice Documents
-
https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/061997-2025
3rd October 2025 - Planned procurement notice on Find a Tender -
https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/060324-2025
26th September 2025 - Planned procurement notice on Find a Tender -
https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/060323-2025
26th September 2025 - Planned procurement notice on Find a Tender -
https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/060321-2025
26th September 2025 - Planned procurement notice on Find a Tender -
https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/037562-2025
4th July 2025 - Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender
Open Contracting Data Standard (OCDS)
View full OCDS Record for this contracting process
The Open Contracting Data Standard (OCDS) is a framework designed to increase transparency and access to public procurement data in the public sector. It is widely used by governments and organisations worldwide to report on procurement processes and contracts.