Thank you for your request under the Freedom of Information Act 2000.
We can confirm that Essex County Fire & Rescue Service (ECFRS) does hold some of the information you have requested.
Questions and final response:
Question 1 - You may have received the same request in the past and this information sent has now expired and I require an update as soon as possible for the following.
This is a request for information that relates to the organisation’s contracts around ICT contract(s) for Server Hardware Maintenance, Server Virtualisation Licenses and Maintenance and Storage Area Network (SAN) Maintenance/Support, which may include: Server Hardware Maintenance- contracts relating to the support and maintenance of the organisation’s physical servers.Virtualisation Maintenance/Support/ Licensing (VMware, Solaris, Unix, Linux, Windows Server)Storage Area Network Maintenance/Support (EMC, NetApp etc)
For each of the types of contracts described above, please can you provide me with the following data.
If there is more than one contract, please split the information for each separate supplier this includes annual spend: Contract Title:
Please provide me with the contract title.
ECFRS00398 HPE Server Support, FIRE0599 Microsoft Licensing Agreement, FIRE0540 SD-WAN
Question 2 - Type of Contracts (ABOVE): Please can you provide me with one or more contract types the contract relates to: Server Hardware, Virtualisation, SAN (Storage Area Network)
See response to question 1.
Question 3 - Existing/Current Supplier: Please provide me with the supplier name for each contract.
ACS IT services, Phoenix Software Ltd, Virgin Media Business Ltd. Respectively.
Question 4 - Brand: Please state the brand of hardware or software
I can confirm that Essex County Fire & Rescue Service does hold this information, however the information is exempt from disclosure to you.
The exemption applicable to the information you have requested is: Freedom of Information Act 2000 (legislation.gov.uk)
Section 24 of the Act - National Security Section 24(1) - information which does not fall within 23(1) is exempt information from 1(1)(b) (the duty to provide the requested information) is required for the purpose of safeguarding national security.
See response to question 12 for full exemption.
Question 5 - Operating System / Software (Platform): (Windows, Linux, Unix, Vsphere, AIX, Solaris etc.) Please state the operating system used by the organisation.
Windows
Question 6 - Annual Average Spend: Please provide me with the most recent annual spend for this contract?
ECFRS00398 £43,405 // FIRE0599 £352,540 // FIRE0540 £100,718
Question 7 - Contract Duration: (Please can you also include notes if the contract includes any contract Extension periods.)
ECFRS00398 12 months (no extensions) // FIRE0599 3 Years (Plus 1 year extension) // FIRE0540 5 years (Plus 5 year extension)
Question 8 - Contract Expiry Date: Please can you provide me with the date of when the contract expires.
ECFRS00398 06/02/2026 // FIRE0599 30/04/2026 // FIRE0540 29/05/2027
Question 9 - Contract Review Date: (An approximate date of when the organisation is planning to review this particular contract.)
ECFRS00398 15/12/2025 // FIRE0599 01/10/2025 // FIRE0540 01/01/2026
Question 10 - Purchase of Servers: Could you please provide me with the month and year in which most/bulk of servers were purchased.
06/11/2019
Question 11 - Number of Physical Server: Please can you provide me with the number of physical servers.
I can confirm that Essex County Fire & Rescue Service does hold this information, however the information is exempt from disclosure to you.
The exemption applicable to the information you have requested is: Freedom of Information Act 2000 (legislation.gov.uk) Section 24 of the Act - National Security Section 24(1) - information which does not fall within 23(1) is exempt information from 1(1)(b) (the duty to provide the requested information) is required for the purpose of safeguarding national security.
See response to question 12 for full exemption.
Question 12 - Number of Virtual Servers: Please can you provide me with the number of Virtual servers
I can confirm that Essex County Fire & Rescue Service does hold this information, however the information is exempt from disclosure to you.
The exemption applicable to the information you have requested is: Freedom of Information Act 2000 (legislation.gov.uk)
Section 24 of the Act - National Security Section 24(1) - information which does not fall within 23(1) is exempt information from 1(1)(b) (the duty to provide the requested information) is required for the purpose of safeguarding national security.
This exemption carries a public interest test, and I have set out below the factors I have considered when applying the exemption:
Factors in favour of disclosure:
• the public's right to information held by public authorities.
• disclosure would be consistent with government aims to improve accountability and transparency in the operation of public organisations.
• it could be argued there is a public interest in the disclosure of information on computer-related security measures as it would provide the public with assurance that the ECFRS’ IT systems are protected appropriately.
In favour of non-disclosure:
• Whilst the public has a right to know that IT systems are secure from any external threats, by supplying the name, description of services and brand/s of any system in place would give individuals key components needed to potentially weaken those security measures.
• Disclosing such details, may undermine our ability to secure our information and systems and this may harm our ability to secure the safety and security of the citizens and visitors of Essex.
• It would not be in the public interest to disclose information that may undermine public safety or undermine law enforcement colleagues thereby assisting those who are intent on endangering national security or threatening the safety and security of the citizens and visitors to Essex.
I therefore conclude that the public interest in maintaining this exemption and not disclosing information regarding our virtual servers outweighs the public interest in favour of disclosure.
I believe that, should ECFRS disclose the information you have requested, it would, or would be likely to, prejudice any ongoing work that may be taking place to enhance our systems and defend them from attack.
This is our refusal notice in respect of your request.
Question 13 - Brief Contract Description: I require a brief description of the service provided under this contract. Please do not just put maintenance. I need at least a sentence.
ECFRS00398 Purchase of support and maintenance for hardware of servers including onsite support for replacement parts. // FIRE0599
This contract was sourced via the CCS Aggregation team. // FIRE0540 To support the Network Transformation Programme covering SD-WAN (including firewall) and a Co-managed Service utilising ITIL Service Management principles.
Question 14 - Contract Owner: (The person from within the organisation that is responsible for reviewing and renewing this particular contract. Please include their full name, job title, direct contact number and direct email address.)
Please contact contracts@essex-fire.gov.uk if you have any further queries.
We hope you find this information useful.