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Customer Area


We offer technology, services and expertise to NATO for over 60 years. From NATO Nations to Commands and political decision-makers, NCIA ensures the Alliance can work together to consolidate our buying power to procure low-cost, interoperable solutions.

NCIA offers standardized services and service rates. If your organization is interested in purchasing services from NCIA, please visit our Catalogues to evaluate your options and fill the form below to formally request services from NCIA.

What services/products does NCIA provide?

NCIA acts as NATO's principal Consultation, Command and Control (C3) capability deliverer and Communications and Information System (CIS) provider for the full range of NATO's entitled requirements holders and customers. NCIA's portfolio covers an extensive range of services, products, consulting services, and software solutions.

Services

The services offered by NCIA are located in the Customer Services Catalogue covering the following portfolio groupings: Workplace, Application, Subject Matter Expertise, Logistics, Infrastructure, Platform, NATO Digital Workplace, Security, and Training (See p. 52-53 in the Catalogue for more information).

Additionally, the service delivery lifecycle comprises the three stages of an IT service from a business point of view: Service Initiation, In-Service Support and Lifecycle Refresh. Each stage also has its corresponding separate Service Rate:

  1. The Service Initiation Rate – One-Time cost to set the service operational.
  2. The In-Service Support Rate – Operations and Maintenance to carry on providing the Service.
  3. The Service Lifecycle Refresh Rate – Replacement and Update of the existing Services. (See p. 54 of the Catalogue for more information).
Products and Software

Most frequently, products are delivered in the form of unmanaged devices (such as laptops, desktop computers, phones, mobile phones, etc.) or software applications (such as functional and specialized applications). These products will be sent by NCIA fully assembled and unsupported in terms of installation, configuration, usage, maintenance and operation.

A Value Added Service consists in the delivery of specific NCIA expert skills and knowledge. It enhances and complements specific products, and occasionally services as well. The following Value Added Service can be provided: Installation & Configuration, Release Management, In-Service Support, Mentoring, Training, Project Support and Auditing. (See p. 55 of the Catalogue for more information).

For any further questions or doubts regarding "Products and Services", please contact: [email protected]. A NCIA representative will answer as soon as possible.

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What is the eligibility criteria to request services/products?

NCIA is the principal provider of digital solutions for NATO's communications and information needs, helping NATO keep its technological edge. It is, to the maximum extent feasible, the supplier of IT-support to NATO business processes (to include provision of IT shared services) to NATO International Staff (IS) and International Military Staff (IMS), the NATO Command Structure (NCS), NATO Force Structure (NFS), NATO Nations, Partner Nations, Organizations and Agencies.

NCIA's primary focus relies on NATO Enterprise projects and areas that support operations and exercises. In some cases, if an approval is needed, it may involve the NCIA Supervisory Board (ASB), the North Atlantic Council (NAC), or the NATO Office of Security (NOS). When the Cooperation Framework is agreed and signed (or previously existing) an Account Manager will be available to address the main questions, requirements and issues that may arise throughout the process.

NCIA also delivers services and products to NATO Nations, or group of nations (to include NATO Partner Nations when approved by the NAC), a NATO Entity, or other international entities (when approved by the NAC) who is a budget holder, i.e. has authority to obligate and expends funds, and to sign an agreement with a provider for the delivery of a defined products or service, at an agreed costs, and within an agreed timeframe.

For any further questions or doubts regarding "Eligibility Criteria", please contact: [email protected]. A NCIA representative will answer as soon as possible.

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How to request NCIA services and products?

Requests for NCIA services, products and software (except for NCI Academy Education and Training Services) should be done via a Customer Request Form (CRF) through the following steps:

  1. Access the Customer Services Catalogue, available in the NCIA official website.
  2. Access the Catalogue Services section and click the Service Type symbol of interest in the upper section.
  3. Select the Specific Service for a Detailed Service Description. For further explanation of the Service, please access the Costed CSC, Definitions Section (p. 61).
  4. Check the Support Terms & Conditions, to determine your service support level and priority for each service.
  5. Correctly fill the Customer Request Form, completing all necessary information fields and specific Services required.
  6. Once submitted, a NCIA representative will review the submission for acceptance.

The first page of the Customer Request Form requires the requestor/organization information and invoicing address. Precise data must be filled for the organization of the requestor and especially, the point of contact. For products and services, the ANNEX I (p. 2 & 3) must be entirely filled. For NATO software tools, the ANNEX II (p. 4 & 5) must be filled.

NCI Academy Education and Training Services

In order to request NCI Academy Education and Training Services listed in the NCI Academy Cyberspace Learning Catalogue, note that CRF submission is not required.

To request services listed in the NCI Academy Catalogue:

  1. Submit the request via Training Management System (TMS).
  2. For any inquiries regarding the process, please access the NCIA Academy Landing Page.

To request NCI Academy Education and Training Services, which are not listed in the NCI Academy Catalogue, a CRF submission is required.

For assistance regarding the CRF Submission, please contact: [email protected].

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What is the cost of NCIA services?

Customer Rates

NCIA charges its customers for the direct costs of the services provided based on the approved customer rates (ratified by the ASB, approved by the NATO Budget Committee). The primary purpose of the customer rates is to set the average per-direct capita prices in order to recover direct, shared direct and indirect costs to break-even over the period.


Service Rates

NCIA distinguishes between unitized and non-unitized service rates. The first, answers to the average cost per unit for the provisioning of a product/service (maintenance and support). Meaning that the total cost for a unitized service equal to the quantity purchased x service rate. The latter, represents the total cost for the provisioning (maintenance and support) of the entire product/service. In this case, the total cost for a non-unitized service equals the total cost of the service.

Service costs are available in the Costed Customer Services Catalogue, in the "Service Rate v9.0 In-Service – Support" column. Note that all costs are in EUR.

NATO Entities and NATO Nations are entitled to use NATO-owned software at no cost. To receive NATO software, NATO Nations and Entities shall ensure the software is properly licensed. Non-NATO Nations and Non-NATO Entities requesting NATO software will have to pay a fee to cover the costs that will be incurred in dealing with the distribution. For further information on NATO software, please contact: [email protected].

For any further questions or doubts regarding "Customer/Service Rates", please contact: [email protected]. A NCIA representative will answer as soon as possible.

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Who can I contact for more information about my request?

Once the Customer Request Form has been submitted, an email communication will be sent informing the customer of the assigned point of contact – Account Manager. Note that the Account Manager will notify regarding acceptance or refusal, revisions, and updates on the procedure. The Account Manager will be the privileged contact from the Customer Request Form registration until the delivery of the service, product or software tool.

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How can I find out about the progress of my request?

Throughout the process, the customer will receive four Customer Journey Emails from the Account Manager:

  1. Stage 1: Customer Request Received – Upon receiving the CRF, the requestor and all other contact details entered in the CRF will be verified against the Customer Contact database. If the request is valid, the Request ID# and the assigned Account Manager will be provided to the customer.
  2. Stage 2: Proposal Development – The request will be evaluated by NCIA and a certain priority will be assigned. At this stage an email communication will be sent informing the customer if their request is accepted or rejected.
  3. Stage 3: Proposal Delivery – Following the NCIA's technical assessments and considering NCIA has available resources to handle the request, a Lead Business Area is designated to review the request in fine details and prepared to work on the preparation of the price proposal.
  4. Stage 4: Proposal Acceptance/Rejection – When the customer acceptance is received and endorsed by NCIA, the project execution starts under the responsibility of the assigned Project Manager.

We advise our customers to coordinate and contact their Account Manager for programmatic matters in the initial stages of the procedure. For technical matters once the project is active, please liaise directly with the assigned Project Manager.

The customer will always have the option to opt out of receiving these email communications by informing the Account Manager.

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How many requests can I submit yearly?

The number of Customer Request Form submissions is unlimited. Nevertheless, to prevent CRF duplications or incorrect requests, NCIA advises its customers to work with their organization, agency, and country's internal structure to consolidate their request. By accurately estimating and grouping requests and submitting them as early as possible, the chances of receiving a prompt, positive response, and an on-time delivery are maximized. Additionally, there is an administration fee for each submission, so the fewer CRFs, the less costly the overall process will be.

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If information is missing, do I have to submit another request?

Once the CRF is submitted, the customer will receive a confirmation email with the designated account manager (Stage 1 – Customer Request Received) during the process. At that point, if any information is incorrect or missing, we recommend that you contact your assigned account manager who will advise you on how to proceed. The contact information will be available in the email communication previously received in the Stage 1.

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