--- title: "Home Office Crossing the Border Procurement 2024 - Products, services and Support (Border crossing, Helios, Border Platforms and Level 2 Support)" ocid: "ocds-h6vhtk-04b18b" canonical_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-h6vhtk-04b18b" markdown_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-04b18b.md" json_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-04b18b.json" source: "Find A Tender Service" current_stage: "Tender" buyer: "HOME OFFICE" published: "2024-10-25" --- # Home Office Crossing the Border Procurement 2024 - Products, services and Support (Border crossing, Helios, Border Platforms and Level 2 Support) Buyer: HOME OFFICE Current stage: Tender OCID: ocds-h6vhtk-04b18b [View canonical contract page](https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-h6vhtk-04b18b) [Download OCDS JSON](https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-04b18b.json) ## Summary The Home Office is inviting tenders for the "Crossing the Border Procurement 2024" project, which seeks to manage, develop, and support various systems relating to border control, including Border Crossing (BX), Helios, Border Platforms, and level 2 support services. The procurement is in the tender stage, with a focus on software support services in the technology sector. This significant procurement, with an estimated value of £195 million, involves multiple lots such as BX and Helios (£120 million), Borders Platforms (£50 million), and level 2 support for BX and Helios (£25 million). The contract period spans 1440 days, with provisions for a possible 12-month extension. Key dates include an end of tender period on 31 October 2024 and bid opening on 14 November 2024. The location for delivery of services is throughout the UK. This procurement presents valuable opportunities for businesses specialising in software development, system management, and support services. Companies with expertise in managing complex national infrastructure systems, especially those familiar with biometric verification, watchlist data management, and hybrid platform development, will find this tender particularly lucrative. Smaller enterprises and larger corporations alike, capable of providing high-resilience and high-availability services vital to the UK's border operations, will have the chance to enhance their business portfolios significantly while contributing to national security and operational efficiency. The open procurement method welcomes diverse and competitive bids, ensuring a robust selection process. ## Notice Crossing the Border (CtB) is the steady state services and products which controls the flow of people and services across the borders. This is done principally via the Primary Control Points, mediated by a Border Force officer, or via an e-gate indirectly supervised by an officer. Information from ports is processed by a central collection of systems, hosted in the cloud and on premise. Home Office are seeking a system management, development and associated level 2 support partner for the listed systems - Border Crossing (BX), Helios, Border Platforms and Border Crossing (BX) is made up of several parts. At the Passenger Control Point (PCP) BX allows Border Force officers to search passenger records using biometrics and documents. In addition, checks take place on the passport chip to verify its validity. In the back-office BX Tools allows Border Force officers to investigate passengers more thoroughly, either before, during or after they have crossed the border. The BX Admin tool provides authorised users with access to BX audit and performance data. Helios is a maintenance and sharing of watchlist data. This data then supports the end-to-end passenger journey - from visa applications and pre-departure checks right through to crossing the border. Borders Platforms is responsible for building and maintaining the hybrid platform which enables tenant teams (currently CtB) to effectively develop and run current and future services that keep the UK border operational. Level 2 support is in relation the Border crossing and Helios for the duration of the contract. ### Lot Information BX and Helios The Authority are seeking a system management & development partner to run, maintain and improve the Border crossing & Helios systems within an integrated product ecosystem. Border Crossing is made up of several parts. At the Passenger Control Point (PCP) Border crossing allows Border Force officers to search passenger records using biometrics and documents. In addition, checks take place on the passport chip to verify its validity. In the back-office Border crossing Tools allows Border Force officers to investigate passengers more thoroughly, either before, during or after they have crossed the border. The Border crossing Admin tool provides authorised users with access to BX audit and performance. Helios is a direct replacement of a previous system - Warning's Index (WI)/Argus, and will be used for the ingest, maintenance and sharing of watchlist data. This data then supports the end-to-end passenger journey - from visa applications and pre-departure checks right through to crossing the border. Additional information: Estimated contract value is PS110 - PS120 Million Renewal: Extension provisions for 1 X 12 months Borders Platforms The Authority are seeking a system management & development partner to run, maintain and improve the Borders Platforms which sits within the Migration and Border Technology Portfolio (MBTP). Border Platforms is responsible for building and maintaining the hybrid platform which enables tenant teams (currently CtB) to effectively develop and run current and future services that keep the UK border operational. Borders Platforms vision is to provide a stable and resilient, highly reliable, and highly available platform, with a route to production for our tenant teams. Borders Platforms works closely with internal and external, third-party infrastructure providers to ensure services are operating to the highest degree of availability and provide tenants with a resilient service. This includes building and maintaining components that enable secure data as well as building capabilities to other platforms. Additional information: Estimated Contract Value PS45-50M Renewal: Extension provision for 1 x 12 month Level 2 Support for Border Crossing (BX) and Helios The Authority are seeking a partner to provide level 2 support to ensure reliance and service of central systems, supporting a 24 hours a day 365 days a year operation, requiring high degrees of resilience and availability. The existing applications run on diverse technological stacks and have been delivered over a 3-year programme and are expected to evolve over the next 5 years in line with government policy and operational need. The system is critical national infrastructure, incorporating official and secret data sets and related processes. Additional information: Estimated value of contract is PS20 - PS25 million Renewal: Extension provision of 1 x 12 months ## Key Details | Field | Value | | --- | --- | | Publication source | Find A Tender Service | | Latest notice | https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/034734-2024 | | Notice type | Tender Notice | | Procurement type | Standard | | Procurement category | Services | | Procurement method | Open | | Procurement method details | Open procedure | | Tender suitability | Not specified | | Awardee scale | Not specified | | All stages | Tender | ## Dates | Field | Value | | --- | --- | | Publication date | 25 Oct 2024 | | Submission deadline | 31 Oct 2024 | | Future notice date | Not specified | | Award date | Not specified | | Contract period | Not specified | | Recurrence | Not specified | ## Values | Field | Value | | --- | --- | | Tender value | £195,000,000 | | Lots value | £195,000,000 | | Awards value | Not specified | | Contracts value | Not specified | ## Status | Field | Value | | --- | --- | | Tender status | Active | | Lots status | Active | | Awards status | Not specified | | Contracts status | Not specified | ## Buyer | Field | Value | | --- | --- | | Main buyer | HOME OFFICE | | Locality | LONDON | | Post town | Not specified | | Postcode | N/A | | Country | Not specified | | ITL 1 | Not specified | | ITL 2 | Not specified | | ITL 3 | Not specified | | Local authority | Not specified | | Electoral ward | Not specified | | Westminster constituency | Not specified | | Delivery location | Not specified | ## CPV Codes ### Divisions - 72 - IT services: consulting, software development, Internet and support ### Codes - 72232000 - Development of transaction processing and custom software - 72261000 - Software support services - 72262000 - Software development services ## Release History - 25 Oct 2024 at 15:01 - Tender - Tender Notice - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/034734-2024 ## Notice URLs - https://crowncommercialservice.bravosolution.co.uk/web/login.html - https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/home-office ## Provenance This Markdown file is an alternate public rendering of the D3 Tenders contract record. The canonical page is https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-h6vhtk-04b18b. The underlying structured data is available as OCDS JSON at https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-04b18b.json.