Unit4 Enterprise Resource Planning

The University has awarded a direct award contract to Unit4 Business Software Limited for ongoing use of Unit4 Enterprise Resource Planning Solution including the support and maintenance of this existing ERP System.

The award of the contract is permitted in accordance with Section 41 and Paragraph 7 of Schedule 5 to the Procurement Act 2023 on the basis that:

(a) Additional or repeat services;

The public contract concerns the supply of services by the existing supplier which are intended as an extension to, or partial replacement of, existing services in circumstances where-

(a) a change in supplier would result in the contracting authority receiving services that are different from, or incompatible with, the existing services, and

(b) the difference or incompatibility would result in disproportionate technical difficulties in operation or maintenance.

Of particular note:

The University has used the Unit4 ERP since 2017. The continuity of this ERP is business-critical to the University and the renewal of the Unit4 ERP is essential for operations.

The University does not currently have the resources to undertake the implementation of a new ERP system due to several existing, business critical IT projects. Unit4 ERP is considered to be a stable platform and therefore is a low priority for limited IT resource at this time. The cost of change would be very high given the impact on the members of staff. In addition, a 12 month+ implementation period with considerable consultancy cost and retraining is not economically viable at this moment in time. For these reasons the University has decided to re-contract with Unit4 for a further five years for the ERP system.