MD2079 City Hall Network Upgrade

The data network at City Hall was implemented in 2002 when the building became the home of the Mayor, Assembly and the GLA, and is now in need of being upgraded in order to support the objectives of the organisation and the new ways of working within City Hall made possible through advances in technology and changes in working practices.

The GLA’s “IT Strategy 2016” commits to providing a secure IT infrastructure and to support new ways of working by moving all IT services into the “Cloud”, which means moved out to the internet. Within City Hall there is a requirement to implement an upgraded network solution that will meet the capacity, resiliency and security needs of the organisation.

Much of the network infrastructure at City Hall is reaching the end of its life and needs to be upgraded. The move to more cloud based computing allows changes in the network architecture which can improve resilience and speed. One of these changes will be moving important network components away from the lower ground floor (where they are potentially at risk from flooding) to other more secure locations within City Hall. This work aligns with work completed under approvals secured under cover of MD1350 and DD1375, which allowed for key computing and data storage equipment to be moved offsite away from this same lower ground floor room.

Along with the upgrade of the components of the wired network this project will also upgrade the wireless network so that the speed and performance for users matches that of working on a GLA desktop computer. A new secure wireless network for staff will be created, enabling staff direct access to the City Hall data network from laptops without the need to go through the secure remote access system. This will make it easier to work flexibly in City Hall using laptops or other mobile devices.

This project supports many other IT projects and enables other IT infrastructure components to function properly however upgrading the network infrastructure within City Hall is an independent project with clearly defined outcomes as outlined below.

The services are being procured by TfL procurement using the Crown Commercial Services framework RM3733.

Within scope of this project is the design, implementation and support of the wired and wireless network at the GLA and satellite offices. The required outcomes from this project are:

A network infrastructure that will allow for future increases in both wired and wireless network traffic. In particular to allow for future changes in network usage, particularly with regard to moving away from wired PCs to wireless devices such as MacBooks, laptops, iPads smart phones etc. This will include the ability to cope with large numbers of Apple devices connecting simultaneously using Apple’s wireless protocol. The network design will be able to cope with at least 1000 simultaneous wireless device connections.

The solution will include a new inter floor fibre cabling to increase capacity from 1Gbit to at least 10Gbit.

A network infrastructure that will improve the resiliency of our network, particularly with regard to access from end user devices to the internet and cloud based services, but also improving network resiliency for services hosted on the GLA’s private cloud (which consists of services running at City Hall and at a datacentre connected to City Hall via a MAN (Metropolitan Area Network) link).

A solution that will provide a network infrastructure that supports our strategic IT service delivery model of moving all services into the cloud, particularly with regard to network resiliency and traffic prioritisation. With regard to resiliency the solution will be able to take advantage of the GLA’s two separate connections out to the internet, one which goes via the TfL MAN and the other provided by a leased line with up to 24Gbit internet connection speed.

A solution that will provide a network infrastructure that will enable and take advantage of intelligent network functionality such as device tracking and security threat management, for example being able to track and prevent suspicious network behaviour, block particular devices or device types or patterns of behaviour or being able to track particular devices on our network.

A solution that will provide a network infrastructure that supports current and expected future security standards for wired and wireless network infrastructure.

A solution that will provide a network design which allows for the provision of a securely separated internal wifi network and a guest wifi network.

A solution that will provide value for money and maximal security by reusing the GLA’s existing infrastructure where appropriate.

A solution that will provide equipment and a network design which allows for GLA staff and/or the supporting company the flexibility to reconfigure network services to allow for unpredictable future requirements, for example by being able to prioritise certain network traffic or network traffic from devices or segments, or particular network protocols etc.

A solution that will provide equipment and a network design which allows for GLA staff and/or the supporting company to monitor and control network usage, such as being able to track how the network is being used by people and devices.

The public sector equality duty requires the identification and evaluation of the likely potential impacts, both positive and negative, of the decision on those with protected characteristics (age, disability, gender reassignment, pregnancy and maternity, race, gender, religion or belief, sexual orientation).

The Authority’s equality duty has been taken into account when planning this project.

The upgraded network will allow for improved network access throughout the building including improved wireless access to support new ways of working which themselves support the GLA’s accessibility objectives and responsibilities.

Key risks and issues

The Technology Group have been monitoring risks and issues and the below risks have been identified.

Approval is being sought for expenditure of up to £800,000 (including £200,000 from the GLA's contingency budget) across two financial years (breakdown shown below). This will be funded from the TG Budget in each respective financial year.

6.1 The foregoing sections of this report indicate that:

6.1.1 the decisions requested of the Mayor concern the exercise of the GLA’s general powers to do such things as may be considered to be facilitative of or conducive or incidental to the discharge of its principal purposes; and

6.1.2 in formulating the proposals in respect of which a decision is sought officers have complied with the GLA’s related statutory duties to:

(a) pay due regard to the principle that there should be equality of opportunity for all people;

(b) consider how the proposals will promote the improvement of health of persons, health inequalities between persons and to contribute towards the achievement of sustainable development in the United Kingdom; and

(c) consult with appropriate bodies.

6.2 In taking the decisions requested, the Mayor must have due regard to the Public Sector Equality Duty; namely the need to eliminate discrimination, harassment, victimisation and any other conduct prohibited by the Equality Act 2010, and to advance equality of opportunity between persons who share a relevant protected characteristic (race, disability, gender, age, sexual orientation, religion or belief, pregnancy and maternity and gender reassignment) and persons who do not share it and foster good relations between persons who share a relevant protected characteristic and persons who do not share it (section 149 of the Equality Act 2010). To this end, the Mayor should have particular regard to section 3 (above) of this report.

Officers must ensure that the procurement activity is conducted in accordance with the procedures and processes of the Crown Commercial Services framework proposed for use and the applicable “call-off” contract documentation is put in place and executed by the successful bidder(s) and the GLA before the commencement of the services, supplies and/or works.