Find a TenderPlanned procurementPreliminary market engagement notice
Published 4 Jun 2026, 15:11 BST

Official UK procurement notice

CWC26045MW - Microsoft 365 Backup

Authority: Wolverhampton City Council (Local council)

ServicesSME suitableVCSE suitable
Planned pipeline valueValue not publishedpipeline notice, not a live tender
Tender notice expected Date not publishedfrom the planned procurement notice
Contract term 3 yrsends 30 Sept 2029 · up to 30 Sept 2030 with extensions · starts 1 Oct 2026

What is being bought

Published requirement description

The purpose of this Preliminary Market Engagement (PME) is to seek input from potential suppliers within the market, to establish the type of solution and functionality that is available for a Microsoft 365 online services backup solution.

The PME will provide an opportunity for Wolverhampton City Council (WCC) to obtain an insight into how potential suppliers might approach the delivery of this service and gain an understanding into the likely level of interest from the market.

Wolverhampton City Council are looking for a Microsoft 365 online services backup solution. The product is intended to backup and provide restore capabilities for the below M365 products and services.

Exchange online

Teams

Share Point

One Drive

Power Platforms

Entra ID

The product must have capabilities for immediate restoration of data. Our current email retention policy is 2 years and all emails must be held for this period of time within the solution.

We need to be able to specify different retention periods based on either the M365 technology used or the user account.

All storage of data must be carried out in accordance with current GDPR and Data Protection 2018 rules.

If you would like to participate, please complete the Preliminary Market Engagement Questionnaire which is available using the following link www.wolverhamptontenders.com ↗

The closing date for submission is 12 Noon 25th June 2026.

CPV: Information technology services · Software package and information systems · Software-related services

The lotProcurement structure

single lot · no lot value published
Lot #1PlannedRenewal 3 yrsSMEVCSE
Contract period: 1 Oct 2026 – 30 Sept 2029 (3 yrs) · up to 30 Sept 2030 with extensions
Delivery: West MidlandsEligibility: SME eligibleVCSE eligible
Extensions: Extension options published

Who is likely to bid for this lot ↓

Pipeline intelligence · planning stage: how this market runs before the tender is published

How Wolverhampton City Council buys Software-related services (CPV 7226), and who usually turns up

Wolverhampton City Council’s published record next to the market for the same work. Frameworks and DPS are left out: they draw different bid counts. Whole-market view: Software-related services (CPV 7226) →

1

How the contest usually goes

Winner shares use published awards; bid and price charts use contested lots.

Question for the bid
This buyerWolverhampton City Council · division 72
What to do with it
How often do SMEs win?
i

How often small and medium firms win.

Share of awards where the winner’s size is known.

The counts under this question show how many awards have a known supplier size.

Last 36 months.

Buyer: 0 of 2 known-size awards · market: CPV 7226 · West Midlands, n=64
0 of 238%

No small-firm winners recorded among this authority’s published awards in this sample.

How often do local suppliers win?
i

How often local firms win similar work.

Winners with a registered address in the delivery region, out of awards with a known address.

Local means the winner is registered in the region where that award was delivered. The market figure counts awards delivered in West Midlands.

A local branch does not count if the registered address is elsewhere.

Last 36 months.

Buyer: 3 of 7 known-location awards · market: CPV 7226 · West Midlands, n=73
43%8%

Most of this buyer’s recorded winners were registered outside the region where that award was delivered.

How long to a decision?
i

How long buyers here take to decide after bids close.

Middle value in days from the bid deadline to the award date, on competitions that published both.

Only decided tenders count, so slow ones still waiting are not in.

Last 36 months.

Buyer: no decision dates published · market: CPV 7226 · UK-wide, n=43
—54 days

Half of these awards have an award date within 54 days of the bid deadline.

How often single-bid or direct?
i

How often work is awarded with no recorded rival.

Direct awards and tenders where every published lot count shows one bid.

Both shares are minimums: some awards have no bid count.

Thin markets produce this too; it is not proof of a tailored specification.

Last 36 months.

Buyer: at least 3 of 8 procurements with awards had no recorded rival · market: CPV 7226 · West Midlands, n=100
38%73%

Direct awards or one recorded bid are common here. Check the route before spending time on a bid.

How many bids did past lots attract?

i

How many bids past lots received.

Each colour is a bid-count range. Only competed lots with a published count are included.

Past bids do not predict this tender.

Last 36 months.

This buyer46 lots with bid counts · all categories
13% had one bid
The market6 lots with bid counts · CPV 7226 · West Midlands
17% had one bid
Buyer / market · select a colour for counts
1 bid13% / 17%
Buyer: 6 of 46 lots with published bid counts. Market: 1 of 6 lots with published bid counts.
2–335% / 17%
Buyer: 16 of 46 lots with published bid counts. Market: 1 of 6 lots with published bid counts.
4–622% / 50%
Buyer: 10 of 46 lots with published bid counts. Market: 3 of 6 lots with published bid counts.
7+30% / 17%
Buyer: 14 of 46 lots with published bid counts. Market: 1 of 6 lots with published bid counts.

How did awards compare with estimates?

i

Where winning prices landed against estimates.

Each colour shows awards below, close to or above the published estimate, one lot at a time.

Past prices are a guide, not a bid price.

Last 36 months.

This buyer41 lots with estimate and award · all categories
22% below estimate
The market45 lots with estimate and award · CPV 7226 · UK-wide
58% below estimate
Buyer / market · select a colour for counts
Below estimate22% / 58%
Buyer: 9 of 41 lots with an estimate and award. Market: 26 of 45 lots with an estimate and award.
Within ±2%68% / 24%
Buyer: 28 of 41 lots with an estimate and award. Market: 11 of 45 lots with an estimate and award.
Above estimate10% / 18%
Buyer: 4 of 41 lots with an estimate and award. Market: 8 of 45 lots with an estimate and award.
2

Assess each lot
i

What past awards tell you about each lot.

See the forecast, this buyer’s earlier suppliers and firms with relevant wins.

No supplier is confirmed as a bidder.

Open a lot for its forecast, this buyer’s previous supplier and possible competitors, from published award history, not a bid list

Lot #1CPV 7236 monthsSME suitableEstimate not published

This lot lists more than one class in CPV 72. The comparison uses that group.

Expected competition
i

How many bids this lot may attract.

The forecast uses similar past competitions. The bar shows either that forecast or past bid counts; the line below says which.

Each lot shows its own forecast based on its own category; forecasts for different lots of the same notice are not comparative. The bar shows 79 past lots.

A forecast, not a list of bidders.

—No model forecast yet8% chance of a single bid
Past bids on 79 similar lots
1 bid8%
6 of 79 similar past lots received 1 bid (8%).
2–325%
20 of 79 similar past lots received 2–3 (25%).
4–630%
24 of 79 similar past lots received 4–6 (30%).
7+37%
29 of 79 similar past lots received 7+ (37%).
Comparable past lots usually drew 5 bids.
Commercial price forecast
i

Where the award price may land.

The forecast uses similar awards and the buyer’s estimate. The band covers the middle half of likely prices.

No comparable awards for this lot yet.

A statistical guide from past awards, not a price to bid.

—Estimate not published
The buyer published no estimate for this lot, so there is nothing to forecast against. A price prediction here would be a number about a number we do not have.

Who has supplied this buyer on similar work?
i

Who has done similar work for this buyer.

Past contracts are matched by buyer, title and type of work.

A past supplier may not bid again.

No earlier contract of this buyer matches this lot on the published record.

Who could compete for this lot?
i

Who could compete for this lot?

Firms with relevant past wins. On a framework, we show firms on that agreement.

None is confirmed as a bidder.

Candidate suppliers for this notice have not been worked out yet, so this is not a verdict that nobody fits.

About this data
  • Source. Official UK public procurement notices (Find a Tender), reused under the Open Government Licence v3.0. New notices arrive through the day; the figures are rebuilt nightly.
  • Two views, kept apart. The authority’s own track record and the wider market for the same kind of work sit side by side and are never mixed. Where the local picture is too thin, a figure widens to a broader market and says which one it used.
  • Forecasts are labelled. The price forecast and its range, possible competitors and the earlier-work matches are our estimates from past awards: not published facts, not win chances and not price advice. Official notices do not say who is bidding.
  • Every figure shows what it rests on. Not every notice publishes a bid count, a value or a delivery region, so each figure carries the number of records behind it, and one built on few records is marked as such. The on a figure explains it; the counting rules are in the methodology. Spotted something wrong? Tell us.

Procedure terms & legal framework

From the official record
Legal basis
UKPGA · 2023/54 Procurement Act 2023
Procurement category
Services
Notice status
Planned procurement
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
4 Jun 2026, 15:11 BST
Last source update
4 Jun 2026, 15:11 BST
Authority reference
CWC26045MW
FTS notice number
2026/S 000-052906
Latest notice
Preliminary market engagement notice (UK2)
Classification (CPV)
Information technology servicesSoftware package and information systemsSoftware-related services
Delivery area
West Midlands (UKG)
Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-06adbb Find a Tender

How it was run

Official notice
Submission deadline
—

Timeline

4 Jun 2026 → 1 Oct 2026 · 3 dates
  1. Planning notice published142 days ago
    4 Jun 2026, 15:11 BST
  2. Market engagement121 days ago
    25 Jun 2026, 23:59 BST

    The purpose of this Preliminary Market Engagement (PME) is to seek input from potential suppliers within the market, to establish the type of solution and functionality that is available for a Microsoft 365 online services backup solution.

    The PME will provide an opportunity for Wolverhampton City Council (WCC) to obtain an insight into how potential suppliers might approach the delivery of this service and gain an understanding into the likely level of interest from the market.

    Wolverhampton City Council are looking for a Microsoft 365 online services backup solution. The product is intended to backup and provide restore capabilities for the below M365 products and services.

    Exchange online

    Teams

    Share Point

    One Drive

    Power Platforms

    Entra ID

    The product must have capabilities for immediate restoration of data. Our current email retention policy is 2 years and all emails must be held for this period of time within the solution.

    We need to be able to specify different retention periods based on either the M365 technology used or the user account.

    All storage of data must be carried out in accordance with current GDPR and Data Protection 2018 rules.

    If you would like to participate, please complete the Preliminary Market Engagement Questionnaire which is available using the following link www.wolverhamptontenders.com ↗

    The closing date for submission is 12 Noon 25th June 2026.

  3. Contract starts24 days ago
    1 Oct 2026, 00:00 BST

Notice history

1 event · 1 release on Find a Tender
  1. Preliminary market engagement notice published
    4 Jun 2026, 15:11 BST
    UK2

Commercial outcome & contract awards

Pipeline notice
Awards (0)
No award published
Contracts (0)
No contract published
Bid statistics
No aggregate bid statistics published

Contracting authority & participating public bodies

Wolverhampton City Council

Contracting authorityPublic authority - sub-central government GB-PPON: PVBV-7568-LBLL Civic Centre, St Peter's Square, Wolverhampton, West Midlands, WV1 1SHContact email

Official documents & specifications (1)

Official links; attachments are not copied

Notices published for this procedure