Document Management and Logistics solutions: assisting with your every need

The past 12 months have been extraordinary and, the Document Management and Logistics team here at CCS have been on hand to support you throughout the year.

In the early days of the pandemic, we helped facilitate moving laptops and office equipment to support working from home. We’ve also been by our customers’ side as they’ve procured print and post solutions to help communicate with their customers at this difficult time and even as they’ve taken steps to digitise their services.

Our Document Management and Logistics group covers: 

  • courier services (including specialist courier)
  • records and information management 
  • postal goods, services and solutions 
  • managed print and content services 
  • multi-functional devices 
  • logistics and warehousing 
  • print management and print marketplace

Here is an overview of our all commercial agreements in this group:

Courier services

Through our Courier Services agreement (RM3798) you can: 

  • move items which require enhanced insurance and liabilities such as laptops and mobile phones 
  • access core courier services such as same day, next day and inter-site collection and delivery services 

To complement our Courier Services agreement, we also have a specialist courier services agreement (RM3799) which will help with the movement of more specialist requirements; specimens, samples, disposal and destruction solutions – solutions which are subject to strict handling requirements.

Postal Goods, Services and Solutions

Our Postal Goods, Services and Solutions agreement (RM6017) is a one-stop shop solution for all your postal service needs: 

  • whether you are looking to lease or purchase a franking machine right through to hybrid mail solutions which can help you to communicate with your customers whilst you may be working from home, including reminders by text message or email 
  • digital mailroom solutions which can open, scan, screen and digitise inbound mail to reduce the amount of handling of items on site 

Multifunctional Devices, Managed Print Services and Records Management

This agreement provides following solutions:

  • the ability to lease or purchase your printers 
  • access to print management software to help you put in place a hybrid mailing or better manage your information workflow
  • solutions to not only physically store your records but also to digitise and scan all your records, so they are available regardless of where your staff may be working from

Print Management Services

Our Print Management Services agreement (RM6170) provides a fully managed, end-to-end  print service catering for all your print needs. 

We have it covered in this agreement:

  • operational print (day to day printing for businesses), 
  • transactional print (billing services, database management, direct mailing)
  • security print (such as any sensitive mailing, including cheques)

Print Marketplace

Our brand new Print Marketplace is now live.  

  • The new platform creates instant pricing for a range of simple printed items from suppliers’ estimating systems and allows a print job to be quoted, created and paid for within the supplier environment 
  • Over 90% of the supply base are SMEs  

This new innovative solution allows you ease of access and a point of sale transaction. See for yourself how easy it is to use by watching our video.

Logistics and Warehousing

Our new Logistics and Warehousing solution (RM6074) was launched in November 2020. 

  • It allows you to access a wide range of services including the collection, receipt, warehousing/storage, management, processing and onward distribution 
  • It is the first logistics and warehousing commercial agreement available in the marketplace, created specifically for central government, charities and wider public sector organisations.

Get started

Our agreements are here to help you save you time and money.  On average customers save between 9% – 30% by using our solutions.

Want to know more?

If you want to find out more information on the above please visit our Document Management and Logistics solutions web page.

Alternatively, if you would like to speak to a category expert at CCS, please complete our short contact form and we will be in touch.

Procurement card solution delivers greater efficiency for Walsall Council

A review of their existing purchasing card service led Walsall Council to transfer to Lloyds Bank, through our Payment Solutions commercial agreement, in a bid to secure cost-savings and enhanced efficiencies.

When Walsall Council put their purchasing card operation out for tender, they were looking to reduce costs and to make their operations run more efficiently.

Danielle Russell, Purchasing Cards Officer at Walsall Council, explains why it became clear very early on that Lloyds Bank could provide the solution they needed.

“The presentation from the Lloyds Bank team was very professional,” she says. “They took time
to understand what we needed from the system and the fact that the Commercial Card Data Management solution they offered was delivered by Fraedom, a supplier we were already familiar with, was a huge bonus for us.”

Effective supplier management

The nature of the services the Council delivers means that there are a variety of transactions passed through their purchasing cards system.

The provision of an automated payment system using virtual cards with existing suppliers, not only allowed the council to lock down approved spend and manage suppliers more effectively, but eliminated the manual processing and reconciliation that the Council previously undertook.

Louise Pearl, Client Development Manager, Commercial Cards, Lloyds Bank, has worked closely with the Council across the implementation.

“Lloyds Bank is a Commercial Card supplier to the UK public sector under Crown Commercial Service’s RM3828 Payment Solutions Agreement, giving us the experience to respond to the needs of Walsall Council. The greater automation of services has been a huge win-win for the Council, not just in terms of reducing admin, but also in terms of enhancing security.”

Smooth implementation

As with any transfer of services, one of the Council’s greatest concerns was around the implementation process. As Danielle points out, however, this was handled professionally.

“The turnaround time was really good,” she says. “It was a very smooth and professional transition. The team had really put our minds at rest in the early stages pre-implementation and the fact that the new system wasn’t too dissimilar to what we were used to made it much easier for users and administrators.”

Louise agrees: “The transfer was seamless and the intensity of the work we undertook, really paid off.”

Looking ahead, Danielle is keen to develop the relationship with Lloyds Bank even
further:

The automation of the payment system works so well that we’re looking to expand the programme. The improvement in relationships with suppliers and the ease of using the automated service is a clear factor in this drive to expand across our supply chain.

The power is in your hands

Anything can be bought on a card, meaning you have unlimited chances to benefit, while the benefits increase exponentially the more purchases you make.

Whether you’re already using procurement cards but want to further harness their power, or if you want to introduce them into your organisation, you can quickly and easily start seeing the benefits.

To learn more:

  • visit our web page, it’s packed with detail – including an interactive infographic – on how to get the most from procurement cards.
  • email our team of experts
  • calling 0345 410 2222

Payment Solutions framework helps increase efficiencies and rebates for 3 government departments

This case study explores the benefits the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office, FCDO Services and the Department for Work and Pensions saw when they consolidated their procurement card programmes.

Background

Through a joint contract, The Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) and FCDO Services (FCDOS) annually spend over £100m on procurement cards. The cards are primarily used to purchase low-value goods and services such as catering, training and stationery.

The FCDO began to develop a new category strategy for payment solutions in late 2018. It aimed to use their significant spend on procurement cards to leverage greater business and cost efficiencies.

It was the first full category strategy developed by the FCDO under Chief Commercial Officer, Tracey Williamson. The strategy included a phased approach to raising card limits because the FCDO wanted to enjoy their existing benefits – such as a rebate and a streamlined buying process – but on a greater scale. This could only be achieved through channeling greater spend through their card programme. 

 The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) annual spend around £3.7m per year through their card programme – predominantly purchases of low value goods and services and car hire. Until July 2020, it was a standalone programme for the DWP.  

The clustering agreement

Through better category-level dialogue between commercial departments, the FCDO, FCDOS and DWP identified an opportunity to utilise Lot 1 of the CCS Payment Solutions agreement to set up a ‘clustering’ agreement. A clustering agreement allows a buyer to allow other contracting authorities to contract together, under a single call off. 

In this case, clustering allowed the DWP to join the FCDO/FCDOS call-off contract with the current provider, Royal Bank of Scotland, and leverage FCDO/FCDOS’ considerable spend through the contract. 

As procurement card rebates are stepped – with rebate size in direct correlation to total spend – consolidating the card spend of the FCDO, FCDOS and DWP results in a higher combined card spend under one contract, meaning both departments would receive a higher rebate from the supplier than would be achieved if each department held an individual contract.

The DWP card programme moved on the combined FCO/FCOS contract with RBS – via the clustering mechanism – on 1 July 2020. A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was arranged between the departments, to ensure future responsibilities and accountabilities were clear.

Outcomes

In combining their spend through the clustering mechanism, the DWP were able to benefit from access to an established contract, saving valuable staff time on a new procurement.

The aggregation of spend also meant that DWP benefited from the highest rebates available from the bank, maximising the amount of money returned to the public purse via the rebate.

After 5 months on the programme:  

  • both departments are receiving a higher rebate from the supplier – meaning more money generated and returned to the public purse
  • DWP forecasts a rebate improvement of £48,000 per year (based on pre-COVID spend volumes)
  • the project delivered a quick Public Contract Regulation (PCR) compliant way for DWP to call off and enjoy the benefits of economies of scale while saving tendering and transition time
  • the changeover between old and new DWP contracts was seamless, with no disruption for DWP cardholders. There was no need to reissue cards, for example 

In reviewing the success of the programme, both departments noted that others looking to follow in their footsteps should:

  • all parties on the original contract – in this case, FCDO and FCDOS – must reach early agreement on the principle of clustering
  • regular dialogue and updates helped FCDO and DWP move the clustering proposal along towards a conclusion
  • ensure all parties are clear on their future responsibilities, including management of their individual programmes and consulting on plans with other clustering parties – the MoU proved an important document in this
  • commercial departments and CCS should ensure ongoing strategic engagement to help develop similar synergies and opportunities in future

What they said

Rakhee Dave-Shah, Head of Corporate Category, FCDO Commercial, said: 

The development of a new Payment Solutions category strategy was an excellent way to deliver clear business improvements. Using Crown Commercial Service’s clustering provisions under their Payment Solutions framework means we are now taking a wider, strategic approach and are more joined-up with our partners. The new clustering agreement will deliver added value for all involved.

Kirsty Turner, DWP Commercial, said: 

As with all government departments, DWP is keen to achieve best value for money in all areas of spend. While planning for the future of the service after July 2020, we engaged with stakeholders beyond our immediate team and in doing so identified an opportunity to utilise the clustering provision. 

The FCDO and FCDOS commercial team were supportive throughout and although DWP’s spend does not materially increase rebate advantage for them, aggregation in this way has enabled DWP to benefit from an increase. 

Our agreement has provided structure and a joint understanding of the roles and responsibilities of all parties during the term of the contract and on a day-to-day basis, DWP will manage their service provision independently, removing any burden on FCDO/FCDOS in allowing DWP to utilise the contract. 

Our joint engagement, and using the CCS framework, has facilitated further conversations and sharing of best practices adding more value to the agreement. This has been a really positive example of how departments can work collectively to achieve best outcomes across government.

Start benefiting today 

Whether you’re already using procurement cards and want to further harness their power, or if you want to introduce them into your organisation, you can quickly and easily start enjoying the benefits. 

Already using procurement cards?

If, like most, your organisation already uses procurement cards, we recommend that you conduct a thorough review of all current and future purchases to see where there’s an opportunity to spend more on cards. 

New to procurement cards?

If your organisation is not currently using procurement cards, or are interested in switching providers, contact our team today. 

You can also find out more about the agreement on our Payment Solutions web page.

Workplace collaboration solutions to help you transform the way you work

We’ve been busy developing a new dynamic purchasing system (DPS) for audio visual (AV) technical design and consultancy services, and it is now live giving you access to the expert support you need with this sophisticated technology.

Designed for customers with complex needs – in either design or scale, it is a direct and easy way to get help with everything from conference room design to collaboration zones and meeting spaces that will help you transform your workplace.

Workplace collaboration

There is a growing demand for workplace collaboration solutions as they have been shown to lead to improved productivity. Solutions can range from the technologically simple, such as a screen and soundbar, to ones needing complex design and technology. 

This is where our DPS comes in. It will help you find software agnostic solutions that will improve interoperability and collaboration, whatever your current IT application suite  – ensuring a hassle free experience for all your users. 

Whether you need a complete solution that includes scoping your requirements, design, implementation and support or you just need a specific service, the DPS will help you find the right supplier. Pick any combination of design consultancy, integration, installation and warranty, and solution support.

Innovation and social value

We chose to use a DPS for this agreement as suppliers can join at any time. This means that the latest innovations are always available to you, and it’s easier for SMEs to join.

The agreement is also one of the first to operate under the new social value guidance. Suppliers will be expected to provide additional levels of social value to central government customers – and wider public sector customers can choose to request additional social value contributions too. 

Empowering you to make better technology buying decisions

To find out more about the DPS please visit the web page. You’ll find a customer guidance document there that includes a step by step guide to using this agreement.

If you have got any further questions please get in touch:

North Devon District Council – minimising costs and reducing waste

Over 25% savings were made

Established in 1974, North Devon District Council is a local authority responsible for delivering a wide variety of services including Council Tax collections, housing and planning applications. 

The Council is focused on meeting the needs of both local businesses and citizens, with a duty to ensure all money is well spent and offers great value for the taxpayer, despite financial restrictions. 

North Devonshire has a population of 94,600 and the Council has just over 400 employees, spread over a number of different sites.

The requirement

The Council has a duty to ensure sustainable and environmentally friendly operations.One of the areas with the highest maintenance costs and a significant environmental footprint was its printer network.

The Council reviewed its print offer and identified a need to rationalise the entire estate, as it owned numerous desktop printers that required frequent toner replacements. 

This was expensive and time-consuming. Each device needed regular maintenance and repairs to diagnose faults and remove paper jams, which not only added extra IT support costs to the Council’s overall expenditure but wasted a significant amount of paper, ink and energy, negatively impacting the Council’s environmental credentials. 

The solution 

After the initial evaluation, all printers and associated devices were decommissioned, and the Council invested in a new fleet of Kyocera Multi-Functional Devices (MFDs), saving a significant amount of money while simultaneously allowing visibility on printer usage. Over the course of the initial contract, the Council decommissioned various sites and consolidated its staff into fewer buildings, which enabled it to reduce the number of MFDs required. 

When that contract was due for renewal, the Council carried out due diligence by talking to other suppliers and comparing different products and services to determine other available solutions. Using Crown Commercial Service’s RM3781 framework for the tender process, the Council carried out a thorough evaluation of a number of potential suppliers on cost and quality. After comparing a range of different companies, the Council selected Kyocera, the Managed Services Provider, as the winning supplier and the contract was signed in October 2017.

Having run a full assessment of the existing printer setup to identify inefficiencies, Kyocera developed a required solution. It upgraded the existing Kyocera MFDs to faster machines, with proximity card readers for additional security, monitoring and data analysis, as well as ‘follow me’ print software. This enabled the Council to monitor all printing activity, deleting unclaimed prints to ensure minimal wastage, as well as ensuring that staff only print the documents they need. 

The entire solution is backed up by Kyocera’s industry-leading service level agreement (SLA), which offers a four-hour response time, guaranteeing exceptional customer support with minimal device downtime if there was an issue. 

Nina Lake, Business Information Systems Manager for North Devon said: “We were delighted with the level of service that Kyocera provided throughout the process. The team managed the decommissioning of our existing fleet of MFDs and rollout of the new devices seamlessly. The implementation was superb, the lead engineer was present at all sites during the roll out, even rolling up his sleeves to help out with the installation on a couple of occasions. We could not have been more pleased with how smooth the whole process was, and were delighted with the level of stakeholder management that Kyocera provided.” 

The solution was implemented quickly to ensure the council maintained continuity of service and the entire system was delivered exactly as specified in the Project Initiation Document and Plan. This ensured all machines were delivered, installed, configured and ready for use with virtually no disruption to the service.

The results 

The project has seen Kyocera consolidate all existing MFDs by introducing centrally managed printers running on powerful print management software, which reduces the print load, minimises costs and ensures wastage is kept to a minimum. 

Kyocera’s solution has also enabled North Devon Council to achieve a significant reduction in its rental budget, as this contract saved the local authority over 25% on the previous contract.

Nina Lake explained: “When the system first went live, there were a couple of early teething problems as you would expect, but these were dealt with very quickly and efficiently by the Kyocera support team. Now all the machines, devices and services are running effectively, and I very much look forward to working closely with our Account Manager to see if any further efficiencies and savings can be identified. I am sure there will be future opportunities to expand this relationship, as Kyocera continue to develop their range of products and services.”

For further information

View our webpage for guidance and more information on RM3781

Get in contact info@crowncommercial.gov.uk

Helpdesk: 0345 410 2222

The Construction Playbook: what is it and what does it mean for you?

In this blog, John Welch, Deputy Director Construction explains what The Construction Playbook is, what this means for wider public sector organisations and how it can transform and drive success in your buildings projects.

What is The Construction Playbook?

The Construction Playbook

The Construction Playbook has been co-developed and endorsed by the Construction Leadership Council and wider industry. It aims to encourage collaboration and better strategic relationships between the public and private sectors and to drive improvement and innovation within the construction industry. 

The Playbook captures commercial best practices and specific sector reforms outlining the government’s expectations of how contracting authorities and suppliers, including the supply chain, should engage with each other. And how to get the right from the start.

These are set out in 14 key policies for how the government should assess, procure and deliver public works projects and programmes that all central government departments and their arms length bodies are expected to follow on a ‘comply or explain’ basis recognising that there isn’t a one-size-fits-all approach.

The Playbook sets out what is expected from industry, including continuous improvement in building and workplace safety, cost, speed and quality of delivery, greater sharing of better data, investment in training the future workforce through upskilling and apprenticeships, and adoption of the UK BIM Framework. Providing greater certainty to construction through long term plans for key programmes.

 

How does it impact me and why does it matter?

COVID19 has emphasised the importance of thinking about programmes and projects in new ways and the necessity of creating a more robust and sustainable industry that can build back better. That’s why all of the wider public sector can benefit from this drive for industry reform in our buying actions. 

Up to £37 billion of contracts across economic and social infrastructure will be brought to market over the next year from Government departments, wider public sector and other public bodies: from building schools, hospitals and prisons, to major infrastructure and the wide range of construction, engineering and other works programmes.

These are programmes that are aimed at improving our cities and towns, supporting the delivery of new homes, enabling more productive education environments and boosting our healthcare provision. 

Andy Mitchell, Co-Chair, Construction Leadership Council, says

“It will aim to deliver a better and fairer industry, with stronger and more open relationships between the industry and its clients, fewer disputes, and more equitable contractual terms, that ensure prompt and fair payment and a balanced allocation of risk, where these are managed by the organisation best placed to do so. 

And it will help ensure that investment in construction projects creates the greatest economic, social and environmental value possible, and contributes to the delivery of strategic policy objectives such as our legal obligation to achieve net zero carbon by 2050 and levelling up across the UK.”

How can CCS help? 

CCS were an integral part of the task force in the development of the Playbook and part of the 1,000+ hours spent on its development.

Having both led, and providing expertise, on early supplier engagement, outcome based specifications, effective contracting including standardisation of terms of conditions as well being embedded in drafting teams on areas like risk management, long term planning and of course the overall procurement process. CCS continues to be part of the steering group supporting and overseeing the Construction Playbook’s implementation.

We have been able to put a lot of the policy areas into practice during our response to COVID19 supporting central government and wider public sector customers. 

We are driving early supplier involvement through our innovative procurement options available and facilitate the idea and design of modern methods of construction into practical application, whilst constantly seeking innovation and best practice from our supply chains.

Our current construction category agreements include all of the policy areas set out in the Construction Playbook putting us in a great position to support you at any stage of your project or programme, and giving you the assurance that you are contributing to a more robust and sustainable industry which can build back better. 

Next steps

For more advice and guidance on getting the best out of your construction projects please fill in our short online form and one of our commercial experts will be in touch. 

You can also explore our full range of construction frameworks on our agreements page.

Our latest Print Management Framework is now live

It is ideal for organisations with complex print requirements and who therefore require the support and expertise of a print management partner. 

Services such as bulk printing and secure print and distribution are available, in addition to more specialist solutions such as printing in alternative formats. The framework also provides access to associated services such as scanning and shredding.

The framework has 2 lots: 

  • Lot 1 is a single supplier agreement suitable for strategic and transformational requirements. HH Global is the supplier. 
  • Lot 2 caters to organisations that wish to engage in further market competition. It consists of 6 suppliers: 
    • Allied Publicity Services (Manchester) Limited
    • Corporate Document Services Ltd
    • Cubiquity Ltd
    • Harlow Printing Limited
    • PSL Print Management Ltd
    • Williams Lea Ltd

Suppliers have been chosen for their value and flexibility. This means you can be sure the suppliers on this framework can service a wide range of print requirements in a cost-effective way, demonstrating value for the public sector. 

The framework agreement runs for 4 years. 

Let us bring power to your printing needs

For further information about how to engage either lot, or advice on which lot may be the most appropriate for your requirements, please contact our team of experts. 

Any buyers with call-off contacts on the framework’s previous iteration, RM3785, are advised to contact us as soon as possible so that the most appropriate route to market is engaged well before contract expiration.

For more information on the new framework – visit the framework page.

 

Help shape our new Estate Management Services agreement

At CCS, we’re committed to developing agreements that add power to your procurement. Whether that’s simplifying the process to give you more time to focus on your priorities, maximising your contract to buy more consciously or helping you achieve better value. 

As such, we are looking for volunteers to support the evaluation of the new Estate Management Services agreement. This will replace the current Estate Professional Services agreement that expires later this year.

The agreement includes 7 lots and we have a total of 8 questions to evaluate. We are looking for 3 evaluators for each lot

  1. Total Estate Management
  2. Estate (Property) Management
  3. Agency & Lease Management
  4. Surveying and Strategic Advice
  5. Valuation and Compulsory Purchase Orders
  6. Business Rating Services
  7. Integrated Workplace Management

If you have commercial experience, and/or knowledge of this category, please let us know if you are interested in getting involved.

What is involved?

Evaluation will run from March 2021 through to mid-April, but you will not be required for the whole of this period. Training will be provided (session lasting 2 hours max), along with all the tools and information required to take part. 

  • You will need to evaluate at least 1 question within a lot. 
  • We are expecting 20-45 bidders per lot, so the evaluation may take around 1-2 weeks to complete (depending on which lot and question(s) you’re supporting). 
  • We anticipate that you will need up to 30 minutes to evaluate each bidder response, depending upon the requirement for each question.
  • You will need to attend a consensus meeting with the other evaluators scoring the same question or lot to agree scores at the end of the evaluation stage.

If you are interested in getting involved or have any questions please email ems-cps@crowncommercial.gov.uk

Digital Outcomes and Specialists 5 agreement opens for business

3,340 suppliers have been awarded places on the latest iteration of Crown Commercial Service’s (CCS) agreement for digital specialists, it has been announced.

CCS has launched the Digital Outcomes and Specialists 5 (DOS 5) framework today, as it revealed that a third of spend through previous iterations of the agreement went directly to small and medium-sized businesses. 

The DOS 5 framework is designed to help the public sector buy, design, build and deliver bespoke digital solutions and services. 94% of the 3,340 suppliers on the new agreement are SMEs.

The public sector has spent more than £2.5bn through Crown Commercial Service’s DOS agreements since 2016, with 34% of that spend – more than £800m – going directly to SMEs. 

Patrick Nolan, Technology Director at Crown Commercial Service said:

‘Our Digital Outcomes and Specialists agreement continues to facilitate our customers’ digital transformation while also creating opportunities for suppliers of all sizes. By simplifying the application process as much as possible we are reducing the barriers that SMEs can face when seeking to supply to the public sector.’

Paper, a Sheffield-based SME, are working with the Department for Education to design a service, provide programme strategy, and conduct user research to support schools buying goods and services like computer equipment and energy more efficiently and at best value.

Paper’s studios

Mark Goddard, Company Director and Service Designer at Paper said:

‘The framework is accessible for us in many ways. It reduces the time taken to work through requirements by making the structure of opportunities consistent, and its focus on users and the problem at hand suits the way we approach projects and qualify work. 

‘Organisations such as the DfE get to see us on a level playing field. Without the Digital Marketplace, being seen by the DfE or competing with larger competitors would be a lot harder.’

DOS 5 is accessed through the Digital Marketplace, created in 2014 by CCS and Government Digital Service (GDS) to make government procurement easier and more transparent.

There are four solutions available to customers: digital outcomes, digital specialists, user research studios and user research participants.

The Government is working to build back fairer by levelling the playing field for suppliers of all sizes. This supports the Government’s aspiration that 33% of central government spending will go to SMEs by 2022.

National Institute for Health and Care Excellence save over £250,000 on laptops and docking stations

The requirement

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) wanted to buy a large volume of laptops and docking stations for their staff. The equipment was needed to facilitate a move to smarter working and relocation to an office in London, which was being shared with 4 other arm’s length bodies of the Department for Health and Social Care.

NICE needed to move from their existing zero clients (a server-based computing model in which the end user’s computing device has no local storage) to laptops. This would mean desks in the office could be shared between all 5 organisations, each with a separate network to accommodate their different needs. Having laptops with the camera, microphone and speakers needed for virtual meetings would also mean staff could work from home during the COVID-19 lockdowns. NICE had selected the equipment models they wanted and was looking to buy them at the best available price.

The solution

NICE identified lot 2, Hardware and Associated Services, on the TePAS framework as the best route to market to achieve this. TePAS offers competitive prices on products and services from a wide range of specialist suppliers.

Using the framework they ran a simplified further competition, evaluated on price only, inviting all of the suppliers on lot 2 of the framework to bid.

The results

After evaluating a number of bids, Specialist Computer Centres (SCC) provided the best quote. Even though COVID-19 drastically delayed the delivery, SCC kept NICE updated with the order’s progress through one of the most challenging times ever experienced for technology supply.

NICE achieved a saving of just over £250,000 against list price by using the TePAS framework, and SCC ensured timely delivery of the equipment.

For further information

Our TePAS framework offers you a flexible way to buy IT hardware, off-the-shelf software and associated services to suit your organisation’s technology needs.

To find out how we can help you: