Unit4 ERP

Concepts

• gateshead
• software package
• erp solution
• unit4 erp
• an operational erp solution
• its erp solution
• erp
• unit4
• information systems
• statutory requirements

Location

North East England:

Description

This notice sets out Gateshead Borough Council's intention to award a contract to Unit 4 Business Software Limited for the provision of a cloud-based enterprise resource planning solution (ERP Solution). The Council needs to secure an operational ERP Solution to meet all required Purchase to Pay (P2P) functionality required for the Council, including the necessary workflows, approval pathways and fully auditable reports to enable the Council to comply statutory requirements. The system must remain functional, with a robust Service Level Agreement (SLA), to provide 24/7 365 day a year operation to meet the demands of the organisation, with suitable cyber security to ensure the safety of the Councils confidential data. The proposed contract is for a period of 5 years. The total value of the proposed contract is £2,003,939. The Council considers that the award of the contract is permitted under Regulation 32(2)(c) of the Public Contract Regulations 2015 (the PCR 2015). Regulation 32 of the PCR 2015 allows contracting authorities to award a public contract by a negotiated procedure without prior publication. Regulation 32(2)(c) permits the award of a public contract for reasons of extreme urgency brought about by events unforeseeable by the contracting authority where the time limits for the open or restricted procedures or competitive procedures with negotiation cannot be complied with. The Council considers that due to Unit4's unforeseeable decision on 20 October 2023 to remove support for the Council's on-premises solution from 31 December 2024, the Council does not have sufficient time to conduct market tests, complete a full procurement exercise and implement a new solution before 31 December 2024. The award of a contract pursuant to Regulation 32(2)(c) is therefore strictly necessary, for reasons of extreme urgency, to ensure business continuity and statutory compliance for the Council. Further details are set out in Section IV below.

Total Quantity or Scope

The Council's has awarded a contract to Unit 4 Business Software Limited for the provision of a cloud-based enterprise resource planning solution (ERP Solution). The system will be used to meet all required Purchase to Pay (P2P) functionality required for the Council, including the necessary workflows, approval pathways and fully auditable reports to enable the Council to comply with statutory requirements. The system must remain functional, with a robust Service Level Agreement (SLA), to provide 24/7 365 day a year operation to meet the demands of the organisation, with suitable cyber security to ensure the safety of the Councils confidential data … The total value of the proposed contract is £2,003,939. ]. The Council currently operates Unit 4 for its ERP solution on a perpetual licence but uses a cloud provided by a different company to store the data that relates to the solution. Unit 4 contacted the Council on the [insert date] to say that the system would not be supported after December 2024 unless the Council used the Unit 4 cloud to store their data. Connectivity between the system and the cloud mean it is not possible to simply transfer data from one cloud to another. To guarantee continuity of service the Council must reprocure the system and the cloud. … Regulation 32(2)(c) permits the award of a public contract for reasons of extreme urgency brought about by events unforeseeable by the contracting authority, the time limits for the open or restricted procedures or competitive procedures with negotiation cannot be complied with. The Council had received no prior notice or indication that Unit 4 were going to take the approach of withdrawing support for the Council's system before the letter dated 20 October 2023. As such the Council considers that due to Unit4's unforeseeable decision the Council does not have sufficient time to conduct market tests, complete a full procurement exercise and implement a new solution before 31 December 2024. The award of a contract pursuant to Regulation 32(2)(c) is therefore strictly necessary, for reasons of extreme urgency, to ensure business continuity for the Council.

Award Detail

CPV Codes

• 48000000 - Software package and information systems

Legal Justification

Negotiated without a prior call for competition • Extreme urgency brought about by events unforeseeable for the contracting authority Explanation: The Council considers that the award of the contract is permitted under Regulation 32(2)(c) of the PCR 2015. Regulation 32 of the PCR 2015 allows contracting authorities to award a public contract by a negotiated procedure without prior publication. Regulation 32(2)(c) permits the award of a public contract for reasons of extreme urgency brought about by events unforeseeable by the contracting authority, the time limits for the open or restricted procedures or competitive procedures with negotiation cannot be complied with. The Council considers that its reliance on Regulation 32(2)(c) is justified for the following reasons: The Council has a perpetual licence for the Unit4 Agresso Enterprise Resource and Planning Solution and receives annual maintenance and support from Unit4 Business Software Limited (Unit4.) The data is stored on cloud storage supplied by another contractor. On 17 October 2023 Unit4 announced that it would no longer provide maintenance and support services for perpetual licences or any on premises solutions (this would include any non-Unit 4 cloud solutions) post 31 December 2024, meaning that the Council would have to migrate the existing solution to Unit4's own cloud services and adopt a subscription-based licence model. The ERP solution is an essential and integral part of the Purchase to Pay functionality. Unit4's announcement that it would cease to provide maintenance and support services or any on premises solutions post 31 December 2024 was not foreseeable by the Council and has given rise to a situation of extreme urgency in which the Council must ensure that its ERP systems do not become unsupported post 31 December 2024. It is the Council's position that the time period provided by Unit4 before the ERP system becomes unsupported is insufficient to permit the Council to undertake the intricate process of compiling detailed business requirements for a new solution, perform an exhaustive market analysis, execute a comprehensive open procurement exercise, and deploy a new ERP system prior to 31 December 2024. The decision to award a contract pursuant to Unit4 pursuant to Regulation 32(2)(c) is therefore considered to be strictly necessary in a situation of extreme urgency, to ensure business continuity for the Council. This approach will also provide the Council with the necessary time to evaluate all potential options and ensure that any future procurement decisions align with the Council's best interests and value for money obligations.

Other Information

** PREVIEW NOTICE, please check Find a Tender for full details. ** Negotiated without a prior call for competition • Extreme urgency brought about by events unforeseeable for the contracting authority Explanation: The Council considers that the award of the contract is permitted under Regulation 32(2)(c) of the PCR 2015. Regulation 32 of the PCR 2015 allows contracting authorities to award a public contract by a negotiated procedure without prior publication. Regulation 32(2)(c) permits the award of a public contract for reasons of extreme urgency brought about by events unforeseeable by the contracting authority, the time limits for the open or restricted procedures or competitive procedures with negotiation cannot be complied with. The Council considers that its reliance on Regulation 32(2)(c) is justified for the following reasons: The Council has a perpetual licence for the Unit4 Agresso Enterprise Resource and Planning Solution and receives annual maintenance and support from Unit4 Business Software Limited (Unit4.) The data is stored on cloud storage supplied by another contractor. On 17 October 2023 Unit4 announced that it would no longer provide maintenance and support services for perpetual licences or any on premises solutions (this would include any non-Unit 4 cloud solutions) post 31 December 2024, meaning that the Council would have to migrate the existing solution to Unit4's own cloud services and adopt a subscription-based licence model. The ERP solution is an essential and integral part of the Purchase to Pay functionality. Unit4's announcement that it would cease to provide maintenance and support services or any on premises solutions post 31 December 2024 was not foreseeable by the Council and has given rise to a situation of extreme urgency in which the Council must ensure that its ERP systems do not become unsupported post 31 December 2024. It is the Council's position that the time period provided by Unit4 before the ERP system becomes unsupported is insufficient to permit the Council to undertake the intricate process of compiling detailed business requirements for a new solution, perform an exhaustive market analysis, execute a comprehensive open procurement exercise, and deploy a new ERP system prior to 31 December 2024. The decision to award a contract pursuant to Unit4 pursuant to Regulation 32(2)(c) is therefore considered to be strictly necessary in a situation of extreme urgency, to ensure business continuity for the Council. This approach will also provide the Council with the necessary time to evaluate all potential options and ensure that any future procurement decisions align with the Council's best interests and value for money obligations.