Published date: 21 December 2023

Awarded contract - This means that the contract has been awarded to a supplier.


Closing: 14 November 2023, 12pm

Contract summary

Industry

  • IT services: consulting, software development, Internet and support - 72000000

Location of contract

SP11 8HJ

Value of contract

£249,847.60

Procurement reference

708269450-0242 Provision of SPCB - FORENSIC DATA HANDLING NETWORK - ARES HARDWARE REFRESH

Published date

21 December 2023

Closing date

14 November 2023

Closing time

12pm

Contract start date

7 December 2023

Contract end date

6 December 2026

Contract type

Service contract

Procedure type

Call-off from a framework agreement

A mini-competition or direct purchase from a pre-established framework agreement.

Contract is suitable for SMEs?

Yes

Contract is suitable for VCSEs?

No

Description

The ARES system is approximately 7 years old, and elements are either failing, are at capacity, have little data resilience or are End of Life (EOL) and out of support. The system requires component hardware refresh, mainly around its primary and secondary processing and storage arrays. As part of this refresh the ARES system will undergo full assurance and accreditation activity concurrently in order that Confidentiality, Integrity, and Availability (CIA) of the network and data is assured, more resilient and ensuring the Service Police have appropriate policies and procedures in place to provide a safe and secure environment for processing digital forensic evidence as part of criminal investigations and judicial processes.
Army Headquarters is responsible for overseeing all non-MODNET ICS procurements for the Army.
Thirty-six (36) month contract for the Hardware Refresh combined with support for 'Defence Police' ARES contract. To commence on 07 December 2023 until 06 February 2026.
The Cybercrime forensic data handling network is a standalone Local Area Network (LAN) known as ARES, used by Service Police digital forensic analysts to process, exploit and store digital forensic evidence recovered by the Service Police. The SP3C typically handle large volumes of data usually digital images or full bit-by-bit file extracts from various devices including smart phones, HDD, PEDs, computers and network equipment.
This includes sensitive information and personal identifiable information (PII). As part of the National Digital Forensic codes of practice, multiple copies are taken to which they are then exploited using various specialist digital forensic tooling such as Encase, Cellebrite, Axiom and FTK. This does mean that ARES typically holds large volumes of data particularly during the investigative (Exploitation) phase of an enquiry. The same system also acts as long-term storage for digital evidence managed under Management of Policing Information (MOPI) and DPA18.

More information

Attachments

Award information

Awarded date

7 December 2023

Contract start date

7 December 2023

Contract end date

6 December 2026

Total value of contract

£249,847.60

This contract was awarded to 1 supplier.

BOXXE LIMITED

Address

Artemis House,Eboracum Way
YORK
North Yorkshire
YO31 7RE
GB

Reference

Companies House number: 02109168

Supplier is SME?

Yes

Supplier is VCSE?

No

About the buyer

Contact name

Claire Beckingham

Address

Army HQ, Marlborough Lines
Monxton Road,
Andover
SP11 8HJ
England

Email

Claire.Beckingham333@mod.gov.uk