The Financial Conduct Authority is preparing to launch a four-year IT and services framework to support a planned move to the cloud.

The FCA has published an early-engagement notice outlining its intent to issue a tender for a framework covering the design, construction, deployment, and support of technology and services. The ultimate aim of the procurement vehicle will be to support the regulator as it undertakes a number of tech transformation initiatives – including a move to the cloud.

The notice said: “The FCA has identified an ongoing need for cloud and other technology and project delivery resources, to support a number of its technology programmes and projects, as well as its transition to the cloud in the coming years, on both a resource and outcome basis.”

The FCA intends to establish a four-year framework comprised of three lots.

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The first of these will contain suppliers who can “design, build and/or run” new infrastructure and applications. This lot will also cover the formulation and delivery of migration projects, and the ongoing support of programs and data once it has been moved to the cloud.

The second lot will be dedicated to “project management and resourcing”. This section will cover the decommissioning of existing datacentre facilities, as well as the management and assurance of transition projects.

The third lot of the planned framework will feature a range of consultancies with expertise in cloud and various specialist technologies. Services delivered by suppliers in this segment will include “target operating model and roadmap work, discovery work, planning, leading and/or supporting proof-of-concept work, strategy development, [and] solution architecture”, the FCA said.

A contract notice for the framework will be issued in due course, ahead of which the FCA is to hold an event in London on 16 November where it will engage with potential suppliers.

The FCA is an independent public body responsible for regulating the UK’s financial services industry, which it claims covers 58,000 businesses and contributes £65.6bn to the Exchequer each year. The watchdog is accountable to the Treasury and to parliament – although it is funded by fees levied on businesses, rather than by public money.