£24,999 · UK public procurement notice

CPV: IT services: consulting, software development, Internet and support · IT software package · Portable computers

Procedure method

Negotiated without publication of a contract notice

Legal basis

CELEX · 32009L0081 Defence and Security Public Contracts Regulations 2011 (Directive 2009/81/EC)

Procurement category

Services

Notice status

Awarded

Procurement threshold

Unspecified in notice

Regulatory regime

Standard

Commercial structure

Stand-alone contract (no framework)

Competition type

Competitive procedure

GPA / WTO covered

Unspecified in notice

Recurring procurement

Unspecified in notice

First published

16 Feb 2022, 22:45 GMT

Last source update

16 Feb 2022, 22:45 GMT

FTS notice number

2022/S 000-004476

Classification (CPV)

IT services: consulting, software development, Internet and supportIT software packagePortable computers

Delivery area

UK

Official registry OCID

ocds-h6vhtk-031818 Find a Tender

Why no open competition

No tenders or no suitable tenders/requests to participate in response to negotiated procedure with prior publication of a contract notice; The products involved are manufactured purely for the purpose of research, experiment, study or development under the conditions stated in the directive; The works, supplies or services can be provided only by a particular economic operator due to absence of competition for technical reasons; New works/services, constituting a repetition of existing works/services and ordered in accordance with the strict conditions stated in the directive

Published justification

PCR Regulation 32 defines the circumstances for sole source procurement – including the absence of competition for technical reasons, when no reasonable alternative or substitute exists, and the absence of competition is not the result of an artificial narrowing down of the parameters of the procurement.

As such Regulation 32(2)(B), technical justification has been selected. The rationale for applying 32(2)(B) is as follows:

1. Near impossibility for another supplier to achieve the required technical performance or the necessity to use specific know-how, tools or means which only one supplier has at its disposal.
2. Specific interoperability requirements which must be fulfilled in order to ensure the functioning of the supplies, works or services that you are procuring.

Context is included below:

• The PPU system, procured competitively from INSHORE SYSTEMS LTD in 2013, was considered to have a service life of 5 years. It is now recommended that it could remain operational a further 4 years.
• The project team, has completed internal market analysis to investigate if single source procurement is fully justified, including on legal grounds (technical reasons). The findings are that there are specific interoperability requirements to enable the PPU system to function:

(a) The PPU units are only one element of the system. The maintenance requirement also covers the RTK base station, the hardware support for the Toughbook laptops and tablet and the software support for the QASTOR system.

(b) The QASTOR software licences for the tablets and laptops are solely licenced by Inshore Systems. The software licences are the most expensive component of the PPU system, and an additional cost would be incurred to procure new licences with an alternative provider.

(c) Although the initial purchase of the PPU was off the shelf, the PPU system has a number of bespoke and proprietary elements. For example, Inshore Systems have created bespoke vessel outlines (QE Class and T45) for QHM which are essential to the effective operation of the system. Additional costs would be incurred to reproduce this capability if system support was awarded to supplier.

• It is worth note that a replacement PPU is not required, simply maintenance, support and licences for the bespoke system procured in 2013 from INSHORE SYSTEMS LTD.
• The PPU system is bespoke and includes proprietary elements, tailored to QHM requirements with the system configured to meet QHM specific requirements. An alternative service supplier would need to be trained by Inshore Systems to understand the bespoke elements, including system configuration and design.
• This would have associated cost and assumes the co-operation of Inshore Systems. The Requirement Owner believes it would be very challenging for a new supplier to take over support of the system without vital training.

• IN-SHORE SYSTEMSAwarded supplier Bristol, UK

No document links were published on the notice.