---
title: "Hybrid Datacentre Managed Service"
ocid: "ocds-h6vhtk-06f6ba"
canonical_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-h6vhtk-06f6ba"
markdown_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-06f6ba.md"
json_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-06f6ba.json"
source: "Find A Tender Service"
current_stage: "Planning"
buyer: "Greater Manchester Combined Authority"
published: "2026-09-10"
---

# Hybrid Datacentre Managed Service

Buyer: Greater Manchester Combined Authority  
Current stage: Planning  
OCID: ocds-h6vhtk-06f6ba

[View canonical contract page](https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-h6vhtk-06f6ba)  
[Download OCDS JSON](https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-06f6ba.json)

## Summary

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.

## Notice

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.

## Key Details

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication source | Find A Tender Service |
| Latest notice | https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/085838-2026 |
| 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 |
| All stages | Planning |

## Dates

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication date | 10 Sep 2026 |
| Submission deadline | Not specified |
| Future notice date | Not specified |
| Award date | Not specified |
| Contract period | 1 Aug 2027 - 30 Jul 2032 |
| Recurrence | Not specified |

## Values

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Tender value | Not specified |
| Lots value | Not specified |
| Awards value | Not specified |
| Contracts value | Not specified |

## Status

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Tender status | Planning |
| Lots status | Planning |
| Awards status | Not specified |
| Contracts status | Not specified |

## Buyer

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Main buyer | Greater Manchester Combined Authority |
| Locality | MANCHESTER |
| Postcode area | Manchester |
| Postcode | M1 6EU |
| Country | England |
| ITL 1 | TLD North West (England) |
| ITL 2 | TLD3 Greater Manchester |
| ITL 3 | TLD33 Manchester |
| Local authority | Manchester |
| Electoral ward | Deansgate |
| Westminster constituency | Manchester Central |
| 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) |

## CPV Codes

### Divisions

- 72 - IT services: consulting, software development, Internet and support

### Codes

- 72000000 - IT services: consulting, software development, Internet and support

## Release History

- 10 Sep 2026 at 12:18 - Planning - UK2 - Preliminary Market Engagement Notice - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/085838-2026

## Documents

- https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/085838-2026
  10th September 2026 - Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender

## Notice URLs

- https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2023/54/contents

## 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-06f6ba. The underlying structured data is available as OCDS JSON at https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-06f6ba.json.