Future Calls: IT Operational Services and IT Technical Consultancy Advice and Support

Buyer: European Patent Organisation (EPO), Munich

Deadline for receipt of requests to participate: Oct 16

Scope of the services: The subject-matter of the Framework Agreements is the IT operational support of the EPO IT landscape as well as technical consultancy. This IT landscape is a modern setup, designed and built using common industry standards, focusing on offering a robust and performant environment to support EPOs core processes (patent search, grant, supporting processes, corporate processes, providing search, web and information services). The activities that need to be performed are grouped in the following lots, also called Service Areas:

Lot 1 – Infrastructure Operations (Operational Services): This is the physical IT infrastructure of the EPO Data Centres and the EPO buildings. It therefore encompasses the Data Centres themselves, the Data Centre and campus networks and the equipment in the data centres.

Lot 2 – Cloud Native Operations (Operational Services): This concerns Cloud platforms, CI/CD, Kubernetes, Windows servers, Linux servers, Databases, Virtualization technologies (VMware, Hyper-V) and Servers hardware maintenance (firmware and drivers’ deployment).

Lot 3 – Security Operations (Operational Services): The management and support of the Identity and Access Management systems, including the support systems such as Okta and MS Azure.

Lot 4 – End-User Services and Support (Operational Services): This includes Service Desk, Incident & Problem Management, Onsite Support, VIP Support, 2nd Level Support, Audio-Video support, endpoint management, software packaging, workstation engineering and user registration.

Lot 5 – Application Administration (Operational Services): This service area concerns COTS & SAAS administration and set-up, release and change management.

Lot 6 – Technical Consultancy: The Technical Consultancy will provide comprehensive consultancy services covering all aspects of BIT’s activities. This includes, but is not limited to: infrastructure assessment, systems integration, network design and implementation, software development, cybersecurity, data management, and cloud computing.

*** Interested parties may apply for one or multiple lots.

In order to participate to this restricted tender, interested parties are required to submit a completed and duly signed Confidentiality Agreement and Arbitration Agreement. Furthermore, interested parties shall answer the general questionnaire and selection criteria questionnaire further below in this document.