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Network Rail Software Renewal for Email Archiving Solution

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Published March 9th, 2026

Detected March 10th, 2026

Summary

Network Rail Infrastructure Limited has awarded a direct contract to Zantaz Data Resources Ltd for the renewal of support and maintenance services for its Email Archiving Solution (EAS). The contract is valued at approximately £1.13 million including VAT and will run for an initial term of two years, with an option to extend.

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What changed

Network Rail is renewing its support and maintenance contract for the Email Archiving Solution (EAS) with Zantaz Data Resources Ltd. This legacy system is critical for accessing historic records for statutory, regulatory, audit, and litigation purposes, ensuring compliance with legal and information governance obligations. The direct award is necessary because Zantaz is the only supplier with the licensing and technical capability to support the system. The contract value is £1,125,811.04 including VAT, with an initial term of two years and a potential two-year extension.

This notice serves as a transparency measure under the Procurement Act 2023. While this is a direct award for a business-critical service, regulated entities should note the importance of maintaining systems that ensure compliance with legal and information governance obligations. The contract is set to begin on March 30, 2026, with an earliest signing date of March 25, 2026.

Source document (simplified)

Award

Email Achieving Solution (EAS) Software Renewal

NETWORK RAIL INFRASTRUCTURE LIMITED UK5: Transparency notice - Procurement Act 2023 - view information about notice types

Notice identifier: 2026/S 000-021106

Procurement identifier (OCID): ocds-h6vhtk-0665c6

Published 9 March 2026, 11:12pm

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Scope Contract 1 Participation Procedure Supplier Contracting authority

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Description

Network Rail is undertaking a direct award to renew support and maintenance services for the Email Archiving Solution (EAS), also known as the Capax Enterprise Archive Solution. The EAS is a legacy email and file archive platform used to access, search, retrieve and reconstruct historic records for statutory, regulatory, audit and litigation purposes. Continued support is essential to maintain evidential integrity and ensure compliance with legal and information governance obligations.

The service includes support and maintenance for approximately 52,050 EAS licences and associated components, including SOLR search, eDiscovery, archival and retrieval tools, and STORM functionality. The solution is hosted on‑premise within Network Rail infrastructure and supports a fixed historic dataset with no change to scope or functionality.

This procurement is being awarded directly to Zantaz Data Resources Ltd, the only supplier licensed and technically capable of supporting the EAS platform and its dependent components. No alternative suppliers exist with the necessary technical rights or capability to maintain this legacy system. The direct award ensures continuity of a business‑critical compliance service while maintaining cost stability and value for money.

Contract 1

Supplier

Zantaz Data Resources Ltd

Contract value

£938,175.87 excluding VAT
£1,125,811.04 including VAT Below the relevant threshold

Earliest date the contract will be signed

25 March 2026

Contract dates (estimated)

30 March 2026 to 30 March 2028
Possible extension to 3 April 2028
2 years, 5 days Description of possible extension:

The contract includes an optional extension of up to two (2) years, exercisable following the initial three‑year term, resulting in a maximum contract duration of five years.

The extension may be used to ensure continuity of support and maintenance for the Email Archiving Solution where Network Rail continues to require access to historic email and file records for statutory, regulatory, audit and litigation purposes. The extension will only be exercised at Network Rail’s discretion and subject to continued business need, satisfactory supplier performance, confirmation of value for money, and availability of funding. No change to scope or service levels is permitted during the extension period.

The extension is structured as follows:

Extension Year 1: 12 months

Extension Year 2: 12 months

The total extension value is £401,965.31 (excluding VAT).

Main procurement category

Services

CPV classifications

Maintenance of information technology software

Computer archiving services

Software maintenance and repair services

Contract locations

UK - United Kingdom

Participation

Particular suitability

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SME)

Procedure

Procedure type

Direct award

Special regime

Utilities

Direct award justification

Single supplier - intellectual property or exclusive rights

This contract is being awarded by direct award on the basis of exclusive intellectual property and technical rights.

The Email Archiving Solution (EAS), also known as the Capax Enterprise Archive Solution, is a proprietary legacy platform supported exclusively by Zantaz Data Resources Ltd, which holds the sole licence and intellectual property rights required to maintain, support and develop the solution and its dependent components. These include the core archive platform, SOLR search capability, eDiscovery functionality, and associated archival and retrieval tools.

No alternative suppliers have the legal authority, licensing rights, or technical capability to provide compliant support for this system. Network Rail does not own the underlying software intellectual property and cannot lawfully procure support services for the EAS platform from any other provider.

A competitive tendering procedure was therefore not undertaken, as it would not generate any technically or legally compliant bids. Previous market analysis and historic sourcing activity have confirmed that Zantaz Data Resources Ltd is the only supplier capable of delivering the required services, and that competition is absent due to exclusive rights rather than a lack of market engagement.

The direct award ensures continuity of a business‑critical compliance service required to support statutory, regulatory, audit and litigation obligations, while maintaining evidential integrity and avoiding the significant operational and legal risks that would arise from unsupported access to historic email and file records.