Firewall Support and Maintenance

The University of Chichester is seeking suppliers who have the capability to provide the next iteration of the University's Firewall. The current provision is based on Palo Alto, and although this is not a given, we anticipate that new services must be able to integrate seamlessly with our estate and various interconnected services.

Our services are protected by (and need to be compliant with) common security technologies and methods, including delineated VLANs, Role Based Access, Insider Protection / Firewalling, Multi Factor Authentication, Mobile Device Management and a Virtual Private Network for off-site access.

Our infrastructure uses a private dark fibre to connect our two data centres, (one on each of the Chichester and Bognor Regis Campuses) each with a JISC internet connection. The University currently employs two Palo Alto PA-3250 firewalls, with one located on each of its campuses. They leverage Application Filtering, Threat Protection, Cloud based malware protection, SSL decryption and inspection, anti-virus protection, client VPN and user identification to maintain a strong network perimeter for the University's sensitive data.

The University is amongst the first of HEIs to achieve institution wide ISO27001, and also has Cyber Essentials and Cyber Essentials Plus Accreditation, where this is required (with additional security protocols) for Defence Contactor work. We would expect our Firewall partners to embrace these standards, to recognise their role in our Information Security Management System (ISMS) and to work collaboratively with our excellent and highly committed team to maintain, enhance and constantly improve our Security Operations Centre.

The University cannot contemplate business interruption - all systems operate 24/7/365. Any new or altered system(s) must be familiar and proven in the HEI sector and must be capable of seamless implementation. The University has limited opportunity to disrupt its workflows, as recruitment, retention, and the cycle of the academic year leaves no part of the year when a system can be taken off-line to be replaced, in part or in full.

Full details of our requirements are available in the tender documents.

All tender documents, Questions and Answers are open to all bidders. Please send your completed submission to the University by the closing date of 12th December 2024 at 17:00, (5pm) to [email protected].

Please note, we do not accept submissions via file transfer sites. [email protected] accepts emails and attachments of up to 35MB and it is acceptable to submit in more than one email.