Procurement body seeks two suppliers for three-year deal

The Crown Commercial Service is launching an £8m framework for “technology expense management” (TEM) in a bid to save the entire public sector money on its IT and telecoms expenditure.

CCS has issued a contract notice looking for two suppliers to each provide a service that includes “database, load of TEM data, reporting, inventory, tariff optimisation [and] benchmarking”. Suppliers must also be able to provide two additional services – “contract services [and] personal-use management” – which will be made available to customers availing themselves of the core TEM service.

The TEM service will take the form of a web portal that uses various applications to access and analyse organisations’ data pertaining to their technology usage and spending.

The framework – which will be worth an estimated £8m over a three-year timeframe – will be formed of two lots: the first focused on central government; and the second geared to the wider public sector.

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The deal is intended to supersede and build on CCS’s existing telecoms expense management contract with cost-management firm PCMG, a deal worth up to £5m that went live in 2015 and expires in March.

For the new contract, two suppliers are being sought – with each dedicated to solely to one lot. Although CCS said that, if demand in one lot is very high, some work may be switched to the provider chosen for the other lot.

“[We] believe that it is possible to reduce public sector spend through the application of technology expense management methodologies, both within the telecoms sector and across other technology spend,” CCS said.

The government procurement agency added that the existing PCMG engagement has demonstrated the positive impact TEM can have for public sector organisations.

“[CCS] currently operates a contract for TEM services, which has shown the potential to make savings and efficiencies for the public-sector estate,” CCS said. “[This framework] will build on the lessons the [CCS] has learnt from our current contract and will scale up TEM activity to cover the full range of our customers.”

Interested suppliers have until 23 January to submit their bids, with a contract scheduled to go live 3 July 2018. CCS is expecting about eight firms to tender.