Redcentric wins place on public sector buying framework

Redcentric has won one of four places on the new colocation hosting services lot on the North of England Commercial Procurement Collaborative (NOE CPC) framework. As of today, NHS organisations and departments across the UK will be able to access resources and host their servers and data in Redcentric’s technically advanced, UK-based data centres. The healthcare departments will benefit from pre-negotiated favourable rates for colocation services. Colocation is ideal for organisations that want to improve the availability and redundancy of their servers, without incurring the expense of maintaining their own 24/7 secure building and operations.

Redcentric underwent a rigorous process to win its place on the framework. It was able to demonstrate excellence across a number of criteria, including mechanical and electrical engineering infrastructure, resilience, carbon footprint, management and support.

Peter Nailer, senior bid manager at Redcentric comments, “This is an important and strategic buying framework for us and for NHS organisations. With no colocation hosting services section available on G-cloud, NOE CPC represents a viable way for healthcare departments to access this type of infrastructure service via a buying framework. As an existing cloud, managed services and colocation supplier to public sector bodies across the UK, we’re delighted that we’ve been able to secure a place for this lot.”

Redcentric already provides cloud and managed services to public sector organisations, including Heath and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC) and Cegedim Rx. It recently won a £5million deal via the G-Cloud buying framework.

Colocation services will enable NHS departments to place their secure servers within Redcentric’s highly secure and technically advanced UK data centres. By utilising Recentric’s data centre resources, IT managers no longer need to maintain the in-house resource and skills to support servers and data centres. This can improve efficiency and allow managers to re-allocate resource to other projects. It’s an ideal first step for those wishing to move to the cloud eventually.

Redcentric’s regulatory compliant data centres are located at geographically strategic locations across the UK. Since each highly secure computing environment has multi-layered security and are ISO27001 and ISO9001 compliant and accredited with PCI DSS for Physical Hosting Services, Redcentric is one of a few providers that’s able to provide compliance to government requirements as standard. All the centres benefit from 24 hour A/C power; UPS with emergency generator backup; ventilation, air conditioning and computer monitored climate control for heating (HVAC); and fire detection & suppression. Each centre is powered by renewable energy.

The framework was established by Yorkshire-based NOE CPC who provide collaborative procurement and commercial solutions to the public sector. NOE CPC is one of the leading players in collaborative procurement within the NHS in England. Open to any NHS organisation, wherever they’re based, the framework aims to simplify purchasing of services for departments while ensuring that they obtain the best deal possible. NOE CPC has frameworks for services from oxygen supplies and blood tracking through to technology and uniforms. The current value of the IT Infrastructure Hardware and Services contract on the NOE CPC buying framework is £20-250 million. This is made up of multiple lots and includes the colocation hosting services that Redcentric has won a place on.