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Hybrid Datacentre Managed Service

Greater Manchester Combined Authority

This public procurement record has 1 release in its history.

Planning

10 Sep 2026 at 12:18

UK2 - Preliminary Market Engagement Notice
Summary of the contracting process

Greater Manchester Combined Authority, acting for Greater Manchester Police, plans to procure a hybrid datacentre managed service covering on-premise and cloud-hosted infrastructure. The requirement spans two physical datacentres, at Claytonbrook in Manchester and Corsham in Bristol, together with a private Azure cloud environment. The service will support a mixed estate that includes legacy systems which are not necessarily cloud-native, alongside infrastructure requiring continuous support and very high availability. The work is classified as IT services, including consulting, software development, internet and support services. Delivery is intended across England. Existing arrangements include Telefonica managing the on-premise server estate, ANS managing the cloud service and Alemba as the service-management tool. The authority is seeking market input before finalising the specification and route to market.

This procurement is at the planning stage: the buyer has announced its intention to procure, but has not issued tender documents or an invitation to bid. It is planned as a single lot and is identified as suitable for small and medium-sized enterprises. Greater Manchester Police is undertaking preliminary market engagement through an expression of interest and questionnaire, with possible one-to-one sessions, to understand the market and develop the specification. Completed engagement responses are expected by 12:00 on 2 October 2026. The buyer expects the resulting contract to run from 1 August 2027 to 30 July 2032. The procurement procedure, route to market, evaluation criteria and contract value have not yet been settled in this planning notice.

This planning exercise is relevant to managed-service providers with experience operating complex hybrid datacentre estates for critical public services. Suppliers should be prepared to support both physical infrastructure and private Azure environments, integrate with established service-management arrangements, and manage legacy systems alongside cloud-hosted services. The requirement is likely to suit organisations able to provide resilient 24-hour operational support and sustain an availability target of 99.99999%, with robust monitoring, incident response, service continuity and performance management. Experience coordinating multiple infrastructure environments and incumbent providers would be useful, including working with Telefonica, ANS and Alemba-based arrangements. SMEs are expressly considered suitable, so capable specialist providers and consortia should use the engagement to explain their delivery models, technical strengths and approach to meeting the eventual specification.

How relevant is this notice?

Notice Information

Notice Title

Hybrid Datacentre Managed Service

Notice Description

Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA), as the contracting authority for Greater Manchester Police, are looking for a supplier who can provide a managed service across its on-premise and cloud hosted infrastructure. GMP operate a mixed estate due to the nature of some of the legacy systems not necessarily being cloud native or the support requirements are 24x7 at a 99.99999% availability level. Our physical datacentres are currently in two locations, Claytonbrook in Manchester and Corsham in Bristol. The cloud based environment is a private Azure cloud service. Our on-premise server estate is managed by Telefonica and our cloud service by ANS. Our existing service management tool is Alemba.

Planning Information

Prior to any procurement process, GMP is undertaking a period of market engagement. Interested parties will be invited to express an interest in this engagement and complete a short questionnaire, which will allow GMP to better understand the current market and assist the Authority in the development of the final specification and most appropriate route to market. Expressions of interest, and requests to complete the questionnaire can be made by contacting Chris Garner (GMP Procurement Officer) via email at procurement@gmp.police.uk. Clarifications may also be sought via the same address. Please quote reference A1345 on all correspondence. There may be scope for a number of 1-2-1 sessions with interested parties, dependant on the content and information gathered during this engagement. It should be noted that tender documents have not yet been issued for this contract. The full specification will be made available at that start of any formal procurement process. The deadline for receipt of completed responses is 12:00 on Friday 2nd October 2026.

Notice Details

Publication & Lifecycle

Open Contracting ID
ocds-h6vhtk-06f6ba
Publication Source
Find A Tender Service
Latest Notice
https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/085838-2026
Current Stage
Planning
All Stages
Planning

Procurement Classification

Notice Type
UK2 - Preliminary Market Engagement Notice
Procurement Type
Standard
Procurement Category
Services
Procurement Method
Not Specified
Procurement Method Details
Not specified
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
10 Sep 20266 days ago
Submission Deadline
Not specified
Future Notice Date
Not specified
Award Date
Not specified
Contract Period
1 Aug 2027 - 30 Jul 2032 Over 5 years
Recurrence
Not specified

Notice Status

Tender Status
Planning
Lots Status
Planning
Awards Status
Not Specified
Contracts Status
Not Specified

Buyer & Supplier

Contracting Authority (Buyer)

Main Buyer
Greater Manchester Combined Authority
Contact Name
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →
Contact Email
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →
Contact Phone
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →

Buyer Location

Locality
MANCHESTER
Postcode
M1 6EU
Postcode Area
Manchester
Country
England
Major Region (ITL 1)
TLD North West (England)
Basic Region (ITL 2)
TLD3 Greater Manchester
Small Region (ITL 3)
TLD33 Manchester
Delivery Location
TLC North East (England), TLD North West (England), TLE Yorkshire and The Humber, TLF East Midlands (England), TLG West Midlands (England), TLH East (England), TLI London, TLJ South East (England), TLK South West (England)
Local Authority
Manchester
Electoral Ward
Deansgate
Westminster Constituency
Manchester Central

Further Information

Notice Documents

Open Contracting Data Standard (OCDS)

View full OCDS Record for this contracting process

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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.

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