--- title: "Preliminary Market Engagement: Network Analytics and Wired Infrastructure Licencing for Health and Social Care Northern Ireland (HSCNI)" ocid: "ocds-h6vhtk-079377" canonical_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-h6vhtk-079377" markdown_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-079377.md" json_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-079377.json" source: "Find A Tender Service" current_stage: "Planning" buyer: "Regional Business Services Organisation Procurement and Logistics Service" published: "2026-10-29" --- # Preliminary Market Engagement: Network Analytics and Wired Infrastructure Licencing for Health and Social Care Northern Ireland (HSCNI) Buyer: Regional Business Services Organisation Procurement and Logistics Service Current stage: Planning OCID: ocds-h6vhtk-079377 [View canonical contract page](https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-h6vhtk-079377) [Download OCDS JSON](https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-079377.json) ## Summary The Regional Business Services Organisation Procurement and Logistics Service is preparing a regional purchasing and licensing arrangement for Health and Social Care Northern Ireland. The requirement is for secure network analytics (SNA) licences, including associated Virtual Flow Collector and Virtual Management Console licences, and an Enterprise Licence Agreement (ELA) covering Cisco switches and routers. It is intended to replace fragmented approaches to SNA and wired-infrastructure licensing with regional purchasing and management. The anticipated scale is approximately 220,000 SNA licences and licences for around 2,300 switches and routers. This is a procurement of network security and infrastructure software licences, rather than physical network equipment. The services and licences are for HSCNI; the buyer is based in Belfast. The process is at planning: the buyer is undertaking preliminary market engagement to inform a future procurement, and has not issued an invitation to tender. Suppliers are being asked to provide market views through a questionnaire, with clarification questions expected by 5 November 2026 at 15:00. The buyer anticipates a contract period of either one or three years, with the planning period shown as 29 October to 12 November 2026. The published value is £1, which does not indicate the likely commercial scale of the requirement. The procurement is categorised as goods. No tender procedure, lot structure or evaluation basis has been set out at this planning stage. Participation in engagement does not commit a supplier to take part in any later tender. This requirement is most relevant to suppliers able to provide and manage network analytics licensing at regional health-service scale, together with enterprise licensing for Cisco switches and routers. The anticipated licence volumes point to a need for capacity to support a large, multi-site infrastructure and to coordinate purchasing and licensing across HSCNI, rather than a small standalone software deployment. Suppliers with experience in secure network analytics and Cisco wired-network environments are well placed to contribute useful market insight and prepare for the later procurement. The buyer is using engagement to understand potential providers and inform its requirement; the work may suit licensing resellers, network security software suppliers, or integrators able to supply the associated analytics and management licences. No specific accreditation or technical qualification is stated. ## Notice This Preliminary Market Engagement (PME) is being published by Business Services Organisation (BSO) Procurement and Logistics Service (PaLS) for the purposes of informing and engaging with potential service providers regarding the upcoming requirement for Secure Network Analytics (SNA) and Enterprise License Agreement (ELA) for switches and Routers within Health and Social Care Northern Ireland (HSCNI). There is currently there is a fragmented approach to SNA and licensing for wired infrastructure. HSCNI is looking to regionalise the purchasing and management of these licences. The anticipated requirement is for the supply of approximately 220,000 SNA licences, including associated Virtual Flow Collector (VFC) and Virtual Management Console (VMC) licences, together with a Cisco ELA for approximately 2,300 switches and routers, for a contract period of either one (1) or three (3) years. To this end, this market view will be obtained through the completion of a questionnaire. Instructions for the completion of the questionnaire are available via the eTendersNI CfT [Ref: 6785386] and relevant preliminary market engagement documents. Suppliers should note that any interest shown does not constitute a commitment to participate in any future tendering exercise. ### Planning Information Clarifications should be issued via the eTendersNI messaging portal by no later than 15:00 on the above date. ## Key Details | Field | Value | | --- | --- | | Publication source | Find A Tender Service | | Latest notice | https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/102599-2026 | | Notice type | UK2 - Preliminary Market Engagement Notice | | Procurement type | Standard | | Procurement category | Goods | | Procurement method | Not Specified | | Procurement method details | Not specified | | Tender suitability | Not specified | | Awardee scale | Not specified | | All stages | Planning | ## Dates | Field | Value | | --- | --- | | Publication date | 29 Oct 2026 | | Submission deadline | Not specified | | Future notice date | Not specified | | Award date | Not specified | | Contract period | 29 Oct 2026 - 12 Nov 2026 | | Recurrence | Not specified | ## Values | Field | Value | | --- | --- | | Tender value | £1 | | 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 | Regional Business Services Organisation Procurement and Logistics Service | | Locality | BELFAST | | Postcode area | Northern Ireland | | Postcode | BT12 6HU | | Country | Northern Ireland | | ITL 1 | TLN Northern Ireland | | ITL 2 | TLN0 Northern Ireland | | ITL 3 | TLN06 Belfast | | Local authority | Belfast | | Electoral ward | Blackstaff | | Westminster constituency | Belfast South and Mid Down | | Delivery location | Not specified | ## CPV Codes ### Divisions - 48 - Software package and information systems ### Codes - 48000000 - Software package and information systems - 48200000 - Networking, Internet and intranet software package - 48730000 - Security software package - 48900000 - Miscellaneous software package and computer systems ## Release History - 29 Oct 2026 at 12:48 - Planning - UK2 - Preliminary Market Engagement Notice - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/102599-2026 ## Documents - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/102599-2026 29th October 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-079377. The underlying structured data is available as OCDS JSON at https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-079377.json.