Provision of a Research Management System

Concepts

• software package
• leeds
• complex bespoke legacy systems
• legacy complex bespoke systems
• research management system
• saas research management system
• research
• the research administration systems
• the selected research management system
• the entire research life cycle

Location

Leeds

Description

The proposed contract is for the supply and implementation of a commercial off the shelf SaaS Research Management System. The University's externally funded research grant portfolio is currently managed using an in-house developed, highly bespoke SAP application called KRISTAL, which reports via a bespoke SQL database using QlikView. The proposed contract hopes to modernise and simplify the pre and post-award IT applications landscape with a move to a cloud based solution removing legacy complex bespoke systems.

Total Quantity or Scope

The proposed contract hopes to modernise and simplify the pre and post-award IT applications landscape with a move to a cloud based solution removing complex bespoke legacy systems. Through the proposed SaaS system the University's Research and Innovation will implement improvements to the research administration systems and processes currently in place at the University of Leeds. Improving efficiency and sustainability by being able to better track the entire research life cycle and ensure that as much of the cost of research is recovered as possible.

Award Detail

CPV Codes

• 48100000 - Industry specific software package

Indicators

Legal Justification

Under Clause 32(b) (ii) of Public Contract Regulations 2015: Award of a contract without prior publication of a call for competition: (2) The negotiated procedure without prior publication may be used for works contract, public supply contracts and public service contracts in any of the following cases: - (b) where the works, suppliers or services can be supplied only by a particular economic operator for any of the following reasons: - (ii) competition is absent for technical reasons Justification: A substantial options appraisal exercise has been carried out. This included investigation and soft market testing of thirteen potential solutions available in the market. Following the options appraisal, a number of reference site demos and knowledge sharing events were organised to learn from peer-group approach; this included Universities of Cambridge, Exeter, York, Edinburgh and UCL. Through this approach there is an evolving consensus that a Software as a Service (SaaS) solution will offer the best fit for the University of Leeds. The result of the market research and reference site demonstrations concluded Worktribe As the only option to emerge from the appraisal that can meet the University’s requirements on a single SaaS solution, Worktribe’s Research Management System is a fully integrated, end-to-end research management solution, currently used by 50 UK universities (including Russell Group Universities). We have identified the Pre-Award and Post-Award products of the research lifecycle to meet our needs. These will increase organisational efficiency and compliance through providing aligned and auditable workflows, which in turn provides a single source of truth for research grant data, which can be used across the organisation. Worktribe can securely share its information with other interdependent systems. The workflow and data management system will enable easy collaboration both between academic and professional service colleagues and within the academic and professional service areas.

Other Information

The proposed contract is for the University to enter a contract with the selected Research Management System for 4 years. To view this notice, please click here: <a href="https://neupc.delta-esourcing.com/delta/viewNotice.html?noticeId=843680835" target="_blank">https://neupc.delta-esourcing.com/delta/viewNotice.html?noticeId=843680835 GO Reference: GO-2024318-PRO-25525551