Unit4 ERP

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. Lot 1: 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 proposed contract is for a period of 5 years. 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. 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, 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.