Defra Cloud Infrastructure Engineering Service - Extension

Description of the procurement before modification The digital services delivered by CCOE provide a critical service for Defra's user base >30,000 users which require service continuity for Defra to deliver a reliable platform service in its primary cloud environments (AWS/Azure). The CCOE Microsoft M365 platform administration team provides platform support to the common Microsoft platforms including, but not limited to, SharePoint Online, Exchange Online, Power Platform, Dynamics, and Teams. CCOE provide subject matter expertise on the products and services and platform level administration, including problem and incident management. Description of the modification This contract is being modified in accordance with Regulation 72(1)(b) of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015. The modification will extend the contract for 4 months from 01/12/2024 to 31/03/2025. No other changes are being made to the scope of service. Reasons for modification Due to unforeseen delays and an elongation of the re-procurement process to facilitate an extended clarification period, the procurement of the new CCoE requirement will not be completed in time to enable commencement of the new CCoE services prior to expiry of the contract on 30 November 2024. A short-term extension is necessary therefore to allow completion of the re-procurement process and finalisation of work that is in flight and an appropriate period of transition to reduce service impact. A change in contractor would give rise to significant inconvenience and substantial duplication of costs as the new contractor would need to deploy significant resource to take on inflight projects, along with service risk due to insufficient time to complete a service transition and value for money considerations (due to the unattractive duration of contract to the market).