Software Contracts and Tenders

Software procurement covers licences and subscriptions for packaged products, cloud software bought as a service, and renewals and support for systems already in use. Typical buys include case management, housing management, learning management, finance and HR systems, data and analytics platforms, and cyber security tools.

Stotles brings together software tenders and contracts from 100+ portals into one search, so you do not have to check each portal separately, and you can set alerts for new opportunities across the UK and Ireland.

If you want to search the government portals directly, Find a Tender carries higher-value contracts across the UK and Contracts Finder carries lower-value contracts in England. Public Contracts Scotland, Sell2Wales and eTendersNI cover Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, Ireland's eTenders covers Irish public bodies, and many councils, NHS bodies and housing associations publish on their own e-tendering portals such as ProContract. The Digital Marketplace lists G-Cloud software and cloud services, and many renewals and direct awards are published only as contract details notices once the deal is done.

Much public sector software is bought through frameworks, above all G-Cloud, so winning starts with a service listing that buyers can find and compare. Buyers then run direct awards or further competitions on price, functionality, security and the supplier's support arrangements. Renewals often go to the incumbent without a fresh competition, so selling to the buyer before the licence comes due matters.

Software tenders set minimum insurance cover, check financial standing and ask for evidence of similar contracts, and buyers handling personal data check data protection and information security arrangements at selection stage. Many buys also need a place on a framework such as G-Cloud before you can be considered. Under the Procurement Act 2023, suppliers can be excluded for certain criminal convictions, insolvency or failure to pay tax.

G-Cloud, the Crown Commercial Service framework for cloud services, is a common route. Its Cloud Software lot covers software as a service and licensed packages, and buyers use it for case management, payroll and HR, finance, document and compliance, project management and e-sourcing systems.

Councils, NHS trusts, colleges, fire and rescue authorities and central government bodies such as the Ministry of Defence and the National Audit Office call off from it, either by direct award or through a further competition between the listed suppliers.

Central government bodies, research councils, regulators, councils, NHS bodies, universities, housing associations and police forces all buy software. UK Research and Innovation and the Care Quality Commission appear repeatedly, buying subscriptions, licences and case management systems.

Subscriptions and licences are most often bought for a year at a time and renewed, and three years is the next most common term. Larger platforms tend to run for the longer period, so renewal dates show when a contract is likely to come back to the market.

Watch licence and subscription renewal dates, expiring contracts and preliminary market engagement notices, which show software buys coming due ahead of a tender. On Stotles you can track those signals and the buyers behind them, then follow a notice from pre-tender through to award.

The core codes are 48000000 (Software package and information systems), 72268000 (Software supply services) and 72260000 (Software-related services). IT services contracts carry 72000000 (IT services: consulting, software development, Internet and support), and networking software carries 48200000 (Networking, Internet and intranet software package).