Public procurement notice: Voluntary Ex Ante Transparency Notice
Published: 2024-09-26
Buyer: Dublin City Council
Country: IE
Contract type: Services
Procedure: Negotiated without a prior call for competition
CPV classification: 72212600: Database software programming services | 72320000 | 72415000: Website hosting services

Technical requirements: Dublin City Council gives notice to invoke Article 32.2(b) (ii) and (iii) for a derogation from public procurement whereby the works, supplies or services can be provided only by a particular economic operator as (ii) competition is absent for technical reasons and (iii) the protection of exclusive rights, including intellectual property rights. Dublin City Council intends to award a contract to Viatel Ireland Limited for 1 year. The maximum value of this contract is €37,300 ex VAT.

The RCOE system is a custom legacy application currently hosted externally on an unsupported operating system and unsupported database. 
Although there is an ongoing programme of work to migrate all utility companies to the new national system (MRL), there have been significant delays for various operational reasons and personnel changes in utility companies, therefore there is an ongoing requirement to have this legacy system available. 

It is expected that all remaining Utility Companies will be moved from RWC to MRL in a one year timeframe. 

This current servers are hosted in Amazon Web Services (AWS) and managed by Viatel, previously known as Sungard. The application was initially developed by GCI Ltd who went into liquidation and as a result there is limited documentation of the application. The application is managed and supported by Genbase who have carried out all modifications made to the application and are the only supplier capable of supporting and maintaining the application.

Due to the criticality of this system for issuing licenses and for the retrieval of data for court purposes, it is essential to upgrade this system to a more stable and secure operating system environment.  This will involve the setup of new servers in AWS by Genbase and Viatel, the migration of the application and data to the new servers, and the ongoing support of the database and server environment.  Once the new servers are up and running the old servers will be decommissioned and Viatel will support the new servers.  While it is expected that an upgrade will be successful there is no guarantee that the legacy application will work on an updated operating system and database. 

Once the servers are upgraded and the system is stable, a new tender process will take place to host the servers and provide database support. 

In 2023, Sungard pulled out of the Irish market and Viatel assumed the hosting responsibilities when they acquired Sungard, successfully facilitating a smooth transition to a new hosting environment. This was achieved through close collaboration with Genbase, who provides application support, and the DCC Digital Services team. However, this transition was a temporary solution and has highlighted the urgent need for an upgrade to both the servers and the application, as the current setup relies on outdated and unsupported software. It is critical to ensure the continued functionality and reliability of the application. If this system were to fail and data were lost, DCC would face extremely high financial and reputational risks.  Viatel is uniquely positioned to provide the necessary expertise and support for this upgrade, thanks to their deep understanding of the current system, recent successful migration and proven track record in managing similar projects and previous project experience of working with DCC and Genbase. 

Due to the unstable nature of the current operating environment, it is not feasible to migrate this service to another supplier until urgent remedial work and upgrades are completed.

To maintain the integrity and the security of this system, it is essential that this application and environment is updated as a matter of urgency. 

Article 32 of Directive 2014/24/EU Section 2. Provides for the award of contract without prior publication of a call for competition  (b) where the works, supplies or services can be supplied only by a particular economic operator for any of the following reasons:
(ii)	competition is absent for technical reasons;
(iii)   the protection of exclusive rights, including intellectual property rights.


Winner: Dublin City Council