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Published 10 Sept 2026, 12:20 BST

Official UK procurement notice

Pre-Market Engagement Questionnaire: Microsoft Enterprise Licensing, CSP Services and Expertise

Authority: Mid Ulster District Council (Local council)

ServicesAbove thresholdSME suitable
Sectors: IT Services & Software (72) Delivery: Northern Ireland (UKN)
Published estimate £600,000≈ £200k / year · £720,000 inc. VAT
Tender notice expected 31 Oct 2026from the planned procurement notice
Contract term 3 yrsstarts 31 Jan 2027

What is being bought

Published requirement description

INTRODUCTION

Mid Ulster District Council is preparing a procurement for the renewal, supply, management and optimisation of its Microsoft enterprise licensing, associated CSP services and specialist Microsoft expertise. This pre-market engagement exercise will help the Council understand available market models, risks, pricing approaches, support arrangements and proportionate requirements before any formal procurement is issued.

PURPOSE AND OBJECTIVES OF THIS PRE-MARKET ENGAGEMENT EXERCISE

The objectives are to confirm market interest, test the most suitable agreement route and service model, identify risks or dependencies, understand pricing and governance options, and inform the Council's procurement strategy. This is not a procurement process and responses will not be evaluated as part of any future tender.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

The Council's Microsoft estate includes Microsoft 365, Dynamics 365, Teams, Power Platform, Azure, server licensing and associated Software Assurance requirements. Market input is sought on CSP, Enterprise Agreement or other Microsoft agreement routes, billing options, licence optimisation, tenant support, adoption, security and compliance support, escalation and access to qualified Microsoft expertise.

Read the full description (1,391 more characters)

STATEMENT OF REQUIREMENTS

MUDC wishes to establish a contract with a suitably experienced Microsoft CSP partner to provide:

• licensing renewal, supply and management through CSP, Enterprise Agreement or another suitable route;

• licence optimisation, proof of licence, inventory records, renewal tracking and compliance reporting;

• Microsoft 365, Azure, Dynamics 365, Teams, Power Platform, security, compliance, identity, endpoint and server licensing expertise;

• support for billing, subscription changes, incidents, Microsoft escalation, account governance and roadmap advice;

The Council also wishes to understand transparent pricing structures, including margins, discounts, billing models, separate professional services rates and how best to separate user subscriptions, device subscriptions, Azure consumption, server licensing, trial/free SKUs and advisory services.

Responses should assist the Council in considering proportionate partner status, accreditations, insurance, service capability, support model and future evaluation balance between price, quality and added value.

5.0 PRE-MARKET ENGAGEMENT APPROACH

INDICATIVE PROCUREMENT TIMEFRAME

7.0 Indicative milestones: PME published 10th September 2026 ; responses due via eTendersNI by 3.00 pm on 24th September 2026; procurement launch October , contract award December ; licensing renewal / contract commencement 31st January 2027.

CPV: IT services: consulting, software development, Internet and support

The lotProcurement structure

single lot · no lot value published
Lot #1Lot 1Planned 3 yrsSME
Contract period: 31 Jan 2027 — 31 Jan 2030 (3 yrs)Eligibility: SME eligibleDelivery: Northern Ireland
72000000 IT services: consulting, software development, Internet and support

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
Above threshold (FTS publication)
Regulatory regime
Standard
Commercial structure
Stand-alone contract (no framework)
Competition type
Competitive procedure
GPA / WTO covered
Unspecified in notice
Recurring procurement
No (one-off requirement)
First published
10 Sept 2026, 12:20 BST
Last source update
10 Sept 2026, 12:20 BST
Authority reference
ETenders Ni Reference 6726530
Latest notice
Preliminary market engagement notice (UK2)
Classification (CPV)
IT services: consulting, software development, Internet and support
Delivery area
Northern Ireland (UKN)
Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-06f6bd

How it was run

Submission deadline
—

Timeline

4 published dates · Europe/London
  1. Planning notice published10 days ago
    10 Sept 2026, 12:20 BST
  2. Market engagementin 5 days
    24 Sept 2026, 23:59 BST
    All PME questionnaire responses should be returned to Mid Ulster District Council via eTendersNI portal no later than 3:00 pm on 24th September 2026. Whilst Mid Ulster District Council is unable to guarantee it will incorporate all feedback into the subsequent procurement exercise, there is more…greater potential for your suggestions to be considered in more depth, if you are able to submit your response in accordance with the deadline above.
  3. Tender notice expectedin 42 days
    31 Oct 2026, 23:59 GMT
  4. Contract startsin 133 days
    31 Jan 2027, 00:00 GMT

Commercial outcome & contract awards

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

Notice history

1 event · 1 release on Find a Tender
  1. Preliminary market engagement notice published
    10 Sept 2026, 12:20 BSTUK2

Contracting authority & participating public bodies

Mid Ulster District Council

Contracting authorityPublic authority - sub-central governmentNorthern Irish devolved regulations apply GB-PPON: PJGV-7671-JYXH Burn Road, Cookstown, Northern Ireland, BT80 8DT [email protected] +4403000132132
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Official documents & specifications (1)

Official links; attachments are not copied

Notices published for this procedure