United Kingdom-York: IT services: consulting, software development, Internet and support – Framework Lead

The current contract for IT services: consulting, software development, Internet and support – Framework Lead is projected to end on 23-APR-22 and may be available for retender. Application Maintenance and Support with Systems and Service Integration for the Genesis IT Application.
Natural England is a Non-Departmental Public Body (NDPB) sponsored by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra). Natural England administers agri-environment schemes under Pillar 2 of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) and the Rural Development Programme for England (RDPE). These schemes cover some 70 % of the farmed environment in England. Circa 400 000 000 GBP in scheme grants is paid to agreement holders annually to:
– create, protect and enhance wildlife habitats;
– protect soils and natural resources;
– conserve protected landscapes;
– protect archaeological sites and historic landscape features;
– provide opportunities for recreation and education.
Natural England is seeking to continue the provision of its current IT systems to enable us to administer our existing ongoing multi-annual agreements and meet our obligations under the regulations governing the EU-funded CAP schemes. Following the award of the Genesis Legacy contract (Ref: Contract Award Notice 2014/S057095641) last year, the contract to be awarded under the envisaged procurement procedure, together with 2 parallel procurement procedures, will replace the above referenced contract. This has been necessitated by an internal change of strategic direction within Defra in relation to the ongoing support and delivery of these particular schemes. The Genesis system is a complex, multi-environment set of IT capabilities and components employing multiple technologies, including databases, application server, workflow, web-server, Geographic Information Systems (GIS), Enhance Transform Load (ETL), business intelligence and reporting capabilities and bespoke Java components. The scope of the contract will consist of:
– Managing the successful delivery of an end to end service by providing a Service and Systems Integration function and managing and the successful Hosting and Application Development service providers;
– Providing application support and a service desk to Natural England’s business users and working with our service management team to provide a resilient service that meets Natural England’s business needs;
– Managing the deployment of changes to the application developed by third parties to meet changing business needs;
– Working in co-operation with Natural England’s other IT providers and those of other Government Agencies, to manage interfaces and dependencies;
– Working with our incumbent service provider and managing the successful hosting and application development providers to effect the seamless transition of services, minimising downtime and impacts to Natural England’s business;
– It is anticipated that the contract(s) will have a go live date of 1.4.2016, with an earlier transition period commencing from contract award.
Common procurement vocabulary (CPV): 72000000,