Find a TenderAwarded
Published 23 May 2024, 12:21 BST

Official UK procurement notice

Contract for the provision of WORKTRIBE Research Contract to the University of Birmingham

Official notice

Authority: THE UNIVERSITY OF BIRMINGHAM (Education)

GoodsNegotiated without publication of a contract notice
Awarded value£722,860published contract · exc. VAT
Awarded 20 May 2024
Awarded to Worktribe

What is being bought

Published requirement description

Worktribe is a market-leading research management system. Through examination of the market and discussions with staff at other institutions, there appear to be few main options currently available for consideration.

Since first procuring Worktribe, the University has made a substantial investment in terms of integrations into the rest of the technical estate, working processes and staff training, as such the impact of moving to a new system would be significant, such as:

  • System Integration Data: Migrating data to a new system entails significant financial and non-financial costs, including data extraction, transformation, and loading (ETL) processes, data cleansing, validation, and ensuring data integrity during the migration process which would entail significant internal UoB resources to support.
  • Staff Training: Transitioning to a new system would require comprehensive training for staff members to ensure they are proficient in its use. Extending the contract with WorkTribe allows us to leverage existing staff expertise and minimise the need for extensive retraining, thereby reducing overall training costs.
  • Project Managing Implementation: Implementing a new system necessitates effective project management to ensure a smooth transition and minimise disruptions to ongoing operations. Project management costs include personnel expenses, software licenses for project management tools, and other resources required to oversee the implementation process. By extending the contract with WorkTribe, we can mitigate the need for additional project management costs, as the UoB team is already familiar with our systems and processes.

CPV: Miscellaneous software package and computer systems

The lotProcurement structure

single lot · no lot value published
Lot #1Unique Market Technology: Worktribe is a market-leading research management system

Unique Market Technology: Worktribe is a market-leading research management system. Through examination of the market and discussions with staff at other institutions, there appear to be few main options currently available for consideration.

Return on the University's Investment: Since first procuring Worktribe, the University has made a substantial investment in terms of integrations into the rest of the technical estate, working processes and staff training, as such the impact of moving to a new system would be significant, such as:

  • System Integration Data: Migrating data to a new system entails significant financial and non-financial costs, including data extraction, transformation, and loading (ETL) processes, data cleansing, validation, and ensuring data integrity during the migration process which would entail significant internal UoB resources to support.
  • Staff Training: Transitioning to a new system would require comprehensive training for staff members to ensure they are proficient in its use. Extending the contract with WorkTribe allows us to leverage existing staff expertise and minimise the need for extensive retraining, thereby reducing overall training costs.
  • Project Managing Implementation: Implementing a new system necessitates effective project management to ensure a smooth transition and minimise disruptions to ongoing operations. Project management costs include personnel expenses, software licenses for project management tools, and other resources required to oversee the implementation process. By extending the contract with WorkTribe, we can mitigate the need for additional project management costs, as The University team is already familiar with our systems and processes.

Customisation and Integration: WorkTribe's systems are customised to The University's specific requirements and seamlessly integrated with our existing infrastructure. Migrating to a new system would require reconfiguring workflows, customisations, and integrations, leading to additional costs and potential compatibility issues.

Conclusion: In conclusion, extending the contract with WorkTribe is the most cost-effective and practical solution to meet our system needs. The substantial costs associated with migrating data, training staff, and project managing implementation make transitioning to a new system financially prohibitive at this time. Furthermore, maintaining our relationship with WorkTribe ensures system stability, reliability, and ongoing support tailored to our business requirements. Therefore, it is recommend to extend the contract with WorkTribe to sustain the University's operational efficiency and effectiveness in the long term.

Delivery: West Midlands

Procedure terms & legal framework

From the official record · publisher note attached
Procedure method
Negotiated without publication of a contract notice
Legal basis
CELEX · 32014L0024 Public Contracts Regulations 2015 (Directive 2014/24/EU)
Procurement category
Goods
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
23 May 2024, 12:21 BST
Last source update
23 May 2024, 12:21 BST
Authority reference
SC12641/24
FTS notice number
2024/S 000-016318
Classification (CPV)
Miscellaneous software package and computer systems
Delivery area
West Midlands (UKG)
Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-0469ff Find a Tender
Why no open competition

The works, supplies or services can be provided only by a particular economic operator due to absence of competition for technical reasons

Published justification

Unique Market Technology: Worktribe is a market-leading research management system. Through examination of the market and discussions with staff at other institutions, there appear to be few main options currently available for consideration.

Return on the University's Investment: Since first procuring Worktribe, the University has made a substantial investment in terms of integrations into the rest of the technical estate, working processes and staff training, as such the impact of moving to a new system would be significant, such as:

  • System Integration Data: Migrating data to a new system entails significant financial and non-financial costs, including data extraction, transformation, and loading (ETL) processes, data cleansing, validation, and ensuring data integrity during the migration process which would entail significant internal UoB resources to support.
  • Staff Training: Transitioning to a new system would require comprehensive training for staff members to ensure they are proficient in its use. Extending the contract with WorkTribe allows us to leverage existing staff expertise and minimise the need for extensive retraining, thereby reducing overall training costs.
  • Project Managing Implementation: Implementing a new system necessitates effective project management to ensure a smooth transition and minimise disruptions to ongoing operations. Project management costs include personnel expenses, software licenses for project management tools, and other resources required to oversee the implementation process. By extending the contract with WorkTribe, we can mitigate the need for additional project management costs, as the UoB team is already familiar with our systems and processes.

Customisation and Integration: WorkTribe's systems are customised to our specific requirements and seamlessly integrated with our existing infrastructure. Migrating to a new system would require reconfiguring workflows, customisations, and integrations, leading to additional costs and potential compatibility issues.

Conclusion: In conclusion, extending the contract with WorkTribe is the most cost-effective and practical solution to meet our system needs. The substantial costs associated with migrating data, training staff, and project managing implementation make transitioning to a new system financially prohibitive at this time. Furthermore, maintaining our relationship with WorkTribe ensures system stability, reliability, and ongoing support tailored to our business requirements. Extending the contract with WorkTribe will sustain our operational efficiency and effectiveness in the long term.

Publisher note: 01 August 2024 to 31 July 2025: £160,418.00 01 August 2025 to 31 July 2026: £173,251.00 01 August 2026 to 31 July 2027: £187,111.00 01 August 2027 to 31 July 2028: £202,080.00

Commercial outcome & contract awards

Published awards, contracts and bid statistics, not a forecast
Awards 1
Awarded value £722,8601 contract exc. VAT
Contracts signed 1latest 20 May 2024
Awarded toValueDateStatus
Worktribe£722,860 †—Awarded

Contracts

  • Contract 016318-2024-SC12641/24-1 · Worktribe

    Signed
    20 May 2024
    Value
    £722,860
    Status
    active

Contracting authority & participating public bodies

THE UNIVERSITY OF BIRMINGHAM

Contracting authorityEducationBody governed by public lawEducation GB-UKPRN: 10006840 Edgbaston, BIRMINGHAM, West Midlands, B152TTContact name, email

Bidders & participating suppliers

1 commercial party on the notice
  • Worktribe LtdAwarded supplierGB-COH: 04576074 Bristol, South West, BS8 3NB

Official documents & specifications

Official links; attachments are not copied

No document links were published on the notice.