Horizon Replacement Services

Description

Background to the Procurement POL in the Market POL has a network of 11,500 Post Offices across the UK and provides a wide range of services to its customers. The vast majority of post offices are franchises - small businesses in their own right - however there are also smaller numbers of strategic partners and branches managed directly by Post Office Limited. The directly-managed branches are in the process of moving towards being operated by franchisees. The services that POL offers include but are not limited to: • Mails and Parcels; • Cash and Banking; • Bill Payments; • Travel Money; • Government Services (such as identity and passport services); and • Stamps and other postal related products and services. Description of the Service The current service being provided to POL relies on a system known as "Horizon" to process all of its transactions with customers which includes numerous legacy systems and assets. POL wishes to appoint a supplier for Lot and a supplier for lot 2 to replace the existing Horizon system ("Horizon Services"). The contracts for the Horizon Services will be awarded by reference to two lots: • Lot 1 - Replacement Service Provider - Datacentres Operations and Levels 3 and 4 Application Support and Management including transformation and stabilisation. To include service and system integration. • Lot 2 COTS - EPOS - Transformation of POL's technology using COTS software and associated services. The successful bidders will be required to take on delivery of relevant parts of the Horizon Replacement Services within the respective Lot scope and provide, in each case where relevant, transition and transformation services to modernise and streamline the Horizon Services. Lot 1 Replacement Services Provider Lot 1 will require the successful supplier to: • take over the existing Horizon Services (as detailed above) on a WITO basis (excluding network interconnections between data centres); • provide system and service integration of both Lots 1 and 2; • be responsible for maintaining and supporting IT infrastructure within the data centre until it is decommissioned; • manage bespoke applications and integrations with the Lot 2 product and other POL third parties where necessary; • stabilise the current Horizon Services; • execute key transformation activity where required by POL (is also an option under Lot 2); and • deploy the Lot 2 solution into the branch estate. Lot 1 will have an initial term of 5 years plus two optional 1-year extensions (to be exercised at POL's discretion). POL will also have a right to extend the contract beyond this should more time be required to complete transformation activity. Lot 2 Commercial-off-the shelf (COTS) electronic point of sale (EPOS) Software Provider Wherever possible POL intends to purchase COTS products to meet all its requirements rather than build in-house. The Lot 2 COTS - EPOS Supplier must be capable of delivering a modern, scalable, and future-ready solution for a term of 12 years. Lot 2 COTS - EPOS will require the successful supplier to transform POL's retail technology platform to meet evolving business, operational, and customer requirements which shall: • be cloud hosted, and be a consumption and/or flexible based eCommerce service; • use event-driven microservice architecture using standards based integration (API) and industry recognised core service; • include a structured data layer or open standards integration to other COTS data platforms; and • be a modular service structure that includes but is not limited to: • journey engine; • point of sale (POS), EPOS & mobile POS services; • customer engagement & insights; • retail and/or retail POS integration; • counter solutions; and • options for pick up and drop off, and self-service kiosks. • other functionality required for an end-to-end retail platform as set out in the Lot 2 requirements. The Lot 2 COTS - EPOS successful supplier shall additionally be required to: • ensure compatibility with existing systems and hardware (where applicable) and enable future enhancements; • support implementation, including configuration, testing and rollout; • comply with the target operating model implemented to support ongoing operations; • execute key transformation activity where required by POL (is also an option under Lot 1); and • provide ongoing support, updates, and optimisation services. Lot 2 will have an initial term of 10 years plus two optional 1-year extensions (to be exercised at POL's discretion). POL will also have a right to extend the contract beyond this should more time be required to complete transformation activity. POL: intends to issue the Lot 2 PSQ and further procurement documentation during August 2025.