Purpose

The purpose of the report is to recommend the
procurement of a preferred firewall solution.

The decision required is to procure the preferred option.

Decision

To renew the licenses on our existing next
generation firewall platform for a period of 3 years via Softcat as
the reseller.

The contract will be a direct award via Procurement Services
PCR2015 Framework Call-off.

Reasons for the decision

The Council has used its existing firewall
services for the past 8 years and it provides a high level of
assurance as part of our portfolio of security products which
provide protection against security threats against the
Council.

The current supplier has been recognised by Gartner as a leader in
the provision of firewall services.This is recognised in their
Magic Quadrants and further assurance was provided directly by
Gartner as part of the review of the renewal options.

This approach represents best value for the Authority as it meets
the current and likely future requirements of the Authority as well
as providing a platform for the standardisation of key applications
used by services across the new authority.

Alternative options considered

Moving to an alternative firewall vendor was
considered but was rejected because:

• The existing hardware platform is still current and has
another 3 years of life. Renewal has negated the need to spend
additional funds on replacing the hardware element.
• Migration to another vendor would have introduced risk to
the Council’s overall security posture.
• Migration to another vendor would have consumed considerable
additional Technology resource which would have impacted our
ability to deliver other projects.