Procurement agency previews major IT framework

The Crown Commercial Service has launched a £500m framework through which all UK public sector entities will be able to buy a range of IT services.

The procurement agency has published a prior information notice unveiling an outline for the Technology Services 3 deal. 

The framework, which comes with an estimated value of half a billion pounds, will include suppliers offering a comprehensive range of technical and professional services. 

The notice said: “The scope of the agreement will cover the following: technology strategy and service design; services transition and transformation; operational services, covering end-user support; operational management; technical management and application and data management; major service transformation programmes; [and] service integration and management.”

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The deal is intended to be an evolution of the incumbent Technology Services 2 framework, which has been in place since 2017 and is due to expire in September 2021. The £3bn buying vehicle features 147 suppliers across eight lots.

Last year CCS took the decision to extend Technology Services 2 for an extra two years beyond its initially scheduled end date. The procurement agency’s technology director Niall Quinn told PublicTechnology in April 2019 that he wanted to take the extra time to ensure the replacement deal was more user-friendly.

He said that, on the existing framework, the lack of adequate filtering mechanisms for the vast array made it difficult for buyers.

“[Technology Services 2] is the right construct of a framework – in terms of analysis and design, transition, operational, and big projects,” he said in April 2019. “But the filtering bit – either a particular location, or a certain type of company, or a certain field of expertise – that could narrow down those suppliers down to a much more appropriate 15, that are fit for [buyers’] purpose. And that will help the suppliers as well, because they are not bidding on stuff that is a bit vague.”

In the newly published contract notice, CCS indicated that the new framework will seek to maintain a range of providers that can offer core IT services, as well as including new offerings for which it believes there is demand.

“Technology Services 3 is the next iteration of the successful Technology Services 2 framework and will continue to cover tradition information and communication technology services, from strategy through to transition and operational deployment,” it said. “Technology Services 3 will also include new services which have been requested through supplier and customer engagement, where these are clear and separate from other CCS agreements.”

A number of engagement events and webinars have been hosted by CCS in recent weeks, and the findings of these will be published next month. 

The precise structure and of the framework will be finalised over the coming months, with a contract notice due to be published in June. Once the bidding and evaluation processes are complete, CCS expects to appoint suppliers in early 2021.