Unit 4 SAAS ERP - West of England

Concepts

• plymouth
• software package
• england combined authority
• england
• england combined authority’s
• erp
• saas
• information systems
• it services
• north somerset council

Location

Plymouth

Description

Delt Shared Services Ltd, are procuring this service for North Somerset Council, who are providing IT services for the West of England Combined Authority. Delt intend to award a contract for the provision of a cloud-based Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) solution for the stated parties. This procurement is necessitated by the withdrawal of support for the West of England Combined Authority’s current on-premises ERP system. The new solution will encompass core functionalities including Human Resources, Payroll, Procure to Pay, Income Management, and the General Ledger, primarily for use by the West of England Combined Authority. The proposed contract is for a period of 3 years with an option to extend annually for up to two years (1+1). The total value of the proposed contract is £351,246.28

Total Quantity or Scope

Delt Shared Services Ltd, are procuring this service for North Somerset Council, who are providing IT services for the West of England Combined Authority. Delt intends to award a contract for the provision of a cloud-based Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) solution for the stated parties. This procurement is necessitated by the withdrawal of support for the West of England Combined Authority’s current on-premises ERP system. The new solution will encompass core functionalities including Human Resources, Payroll, Procure to Pay, Income Management, and the General Ledger, primarily for use by the West of England Combined Authority. The proposed contract is for a period of 3 years with an option to extend annually for up to two years (1+1). The total value of the proposed contract is £351,246.28 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, the time limits for the open or restricted procedures or competitive procedures with negotiation cannot be complied with. It is considered that due to Unit4’s unforeseeable decision on 17 October 2023 to remove support for the West of England Combined Authority’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 for the Council. Further details are set out in Section IV below.

Award Detail

CPV Codes

• 48000000 - Software package and information systems

Indicators

Legal Justification

It is considered 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. Considering that its reliance on Regulation 32(2)(c) is justified for the following reasons: The West of England Combined Authority 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 the Council's Azure infrastructure, which is an on-premises model. On 17 October 2023 Unit4 announced that it would no longer provide maintenance and support services for perpetual licences or any on premises solutions post 31 December 2024, meaning that the West of England Combined Authority 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 West of England Combined Authority’s financial systems. 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 West of England Combined Authority and has given rise to a situation of extreme urgency they must ensure that its ERP systems do not become unsupported post 31 December 2024. It is the position that the time period provided by Unit4 before the ERP system becomes unsupported is insufficient to permit the West of England Combined Authority 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 necessary time to evaluate all potential options and ensure that any future procurement decisions align with the West of England Combined Authority’s best interests and value for money obligations.