Public procurement notice: Voluntary Ex Ante Transparency Notice
Published: 2022-11-25
Buyer: DRAMMEN KOMMUNE
Country: NO
Contract type: Services
Procedure: Contract award without prior publication
CPV classification: 72220000: Systems and technical consultancy services
Estimated value: 20000000 NOK

Technical requirements: The municipality currently has a contract with Atea for, amongst other things, technical consultants. This expires on 02.12.22, and it is used to hire in assistance for the security and operation of vital systems. The municipality does not have the resources competence itself to undertake these assignments.
At the same time, work is being done on establishing a computer room in Azure, where the current systems will be moved to. This work is being carried out in close cooperation with Atea and Microsoft, and has been ongoing since spring 21. When the design and construction of the computer room in Azure have been sufficiently developed, the municipality will announce a contest for its operation and consultancy services connected to this computer room. The contest is expected to be published at the turn of the year 22/23.
In the period between the expiry date of the current contract and the establishment of a new contract, the municipality needs further consultancy services from the current supplier in order to finish the work and see to secure operation of the current systems.
Drammen Municipality intends to enter into a contract with Atea AS for technical consultancy services.
Drammen Municipality currently has a framework agreement with Atea that comprises software license, licence administration, computer room equipment, and technical consultants. This contract expires on 02.12.2022.
The current contract is used, amongst other things, to hire resources such as managers and assist in daily security work at the ICT unit, assist with expertise in vital systems, and other support for the operation of the municipality's platform. This assistance is vital, as the municipality does not have the resources and competence for these assignments.
At the same time, the municipality is working on establishing a computer room in Microsoft Azure, where the current systems will be moved to. This work is being carried out in close cooperation with Atea and Microsoft, and has been ongoing since spring 2021. When the design and construction of the computer room in MS Azure have been sufficiently developed, the municipality will announce a contest for its operation and consultancy services connected to this computer room. This contest is expected to be published at the turn of the year 2022/2023, and the goal is to have a main supplier in place before summer 2023.
In the period between the expiry date of the current contract and the establishment of a new contract, the municipality needs further consultancy services from the current supplier in order to finish the work with the computer room in MS Azure and see to secure operation of the current systems. There will also be operational assignments connected to MS Azure as and when trade systems are migrated to the new computer room. For security reasons the construction and operation of the new and old computer rooms must be seen as connected.
A thorough assessment has been made of what services the municipality needs to procure, and the length of the contract,  and several measures have been implemented to reduce the scope of the contract.
Contract signing without a prior contest. Due to technical reasons, a contest is not possible, cf. the PPR § 13-4, first paragraph b, no. 2.
Drammen Municipality currently has a framework agreement with Atea that comprises software license, licence administration, computer room equipment, and technical consultants. This contract expires on 02.12.2022. The current framework agreement covers many areas. These are now split into several contests, which reduces the need for call-offs under the direct procurement. The contest for the procurement of network and computer room equipment was published on 21.10.2022 (Doffin reference: 2022-944020), the contest for licence procurements and licence administration will be published by the end of November 2022, and the procurement of technical consultancy services will be included in the contest for the operation of the computer room, which will be published at the turn of the year 2022/2023.
In the period between the expiry date of the current framework agreement with Atea and the signing of a new contract, the municipality has a critical. need for assistance in an in-between phase until a new main supplier is in place, both in order to see to the secure operation of the current computer room and systems, and to finish the work on the computer room in Azure.
Alternatives have been assessed, and all services that are not strictly necessary to include in the contract with regards to the security and continuation of the developed technical expertise in the municipality's ICT systems in a short in-between phase until the started project has been completed, have been taken out of the contract and separate contests will be held for them. Completion of the project on the construction of a computer room and migration of the current trade systems to the cloud will facilitate increased competition for its operation and consultancy services connected to the computer room, and the contest is expected to be announced at the turn of the year 2022/2023.
See the annex 'Detailed Description of the Assignment' for a review of the various alternatives that have been assessed and for details on the need.


Winner: Atea Norge AS
Award value: 20000000