Award

Provision of a Research Information Management System

  • University of Leicester

F15: Voluntary ex ante transparency notice

Notice identifier: 2021/S 000-014863

Procurement identifier (OCID): ocds-h6vhtk-02c182

Published 29 June 2021, 4:15pm



Section one: Contracting authority/entity

one.1) Name and addresses

University of Leicester

University of Leicester, University Road

Leicester

LE1 7RH

Contact

Naomi Nortey

Email

naomi.nortey@le.ac.uk

Telephone

+44 1162522452

Country

United Kingdom

NUTS code

UKF - East Midlands (England)

Internet address(es)

Main address

http://www2.le.ac.uk/offices/purchasing

Buyer's address

www.le.ac.uk

one.4) Type of the contracting authority

Body governed by public law

one.5) Main activity

Education


Section two: Object

two.1) Scope of the procurement

two.1.1) Title

Provision of a Research Information Management System

Reference number

LUV00994

two.1.2) Main CPV code

  • 48100000 - Industry specific software package

two.1.3) Type of contract

Supplies

two.1.4) Short description

The proposed contract is for the supply and implementation of an end-to-end commercial off the shelf Research Information Management System (RIMS) for the University. The system will provide University Researchers, Professional Services staff, College staff and University Senior Management, with a suite of easily accessible tools within one platform to manage, track progress, monitor and report University pipelines, portfolios and history of research and enterprise activities.

two.1.6) Information about lots

This contract is divided into lots: No

two.1.7) Total value of the procurement (excluding VAT)

Value excluding VAT: £1,608,871

two.2) Description

two.2.3) Place of performance

NUTS codes
  • UKF - East Midlands (England)
Main site or place of performance

EAST MIDLANDS (ENGLAND)

two.2.4) Description of the procurement

Research and Enterprise at the University is currently managed via a complex set of disparate, legacy systems, resulting in inconsistencies in processes and systems used to manage research and related information and data at the University. This results in resource data quality issues with no golden source of information. There is a need to consolidate this information, providing the University with the tools to compete for external funding, manage awards and give effective oversight of performance and risks associated with research and enterprise activities across the Research lifecycle. Procuring an end-to-end readily available system, will transform the University’s business model and enhance output at all levels of the institution providing transparency and visibility of research information and data, enabling accurate, timely decision making.

two.2.11) Information about options

Options: No

two.2.13) Information about European Union Funds

The procurement is related to a project and/or programme financed by European Union funds: No

two.2.14) Additional information

Contract Period: The University proposes to enter into a contract for 10 Years

Initial contract period of 5 years with an option to extend up to a further 5 years.

If you have any queries regarding this notice please contact naomi.nortey@leicester.ac.uk and copy in procurement@leicester.ac.uk


Section four. Procedure

four.1) Description

four.1.1) Type of procedure

Award of a contract without prior publication of a call for competition in the cases listed below

  • The procurement falls outside the scope of application of the regulations

Explanation:

Negotiated procedure without prior publication

The works, supplies of services can be provided only by a particular economic operator for the following reason: absence of competition for technical reasons.

Explanation: The University of Leicester has completed research of the market, engaging with staff and other institutions with a similar requirement for an off the shelf, ready to use, end to end functionality for the volumes and complexity of research undertaken by the University. This market research concluded that there is just one vendor whose product has proven functionality, tested within the HE Sector, required by the University to support standardisation of processes. Products from other vendors were reviewed during soft market testing, but only Worktribe provided all relevant functionality on a single platform through a user centric interface. The University requires the complete research lifecycle to be integrated in a single platform, from Pre-Award to Post-Award, to Contract Management. Only the Worktribe platform provides fully integrated workflows and capability. Below are a list of concerns with other systems raised through the soft market testing:

-Poor user experience, with the need for data to be re-keyed or uploaded across multiple systems.

-Not able to manage the complexity, size and scale of the University’s Research portfolio.

- Only manage one aspect of the scope of the requirement, which would result in multiple purchases and integrations.

-Complex, unproven integrations would be required.

-Development of a suitable product would be required to fulfil the full scope of the University’s requirement, incl. testing and user acceptance time and effort. The time required for this development would go beyond what should be reasonably expected for such a procurement/ implementation.

Technical: The University’s key technical requirements are:

a. Architectural fit within the University’s current and strategic digital landscape

b .Feasibility and ease of migration from an in-house bespoke system for pre-award costing hosted on the University legacy ERP platform,

c. Maintaining seamless access to historic data,

d. Establishing manageable and future proofed integrations with the University’s core ERP;

e. Straight forward ongoing data extraction for Management Information and BI to the University’s Microsoft based Data warehouse/Analytics platform.

Worktribe is the only end to end solution with the architectural alignment and simple implementation path (supported by the legacy ERP vendor/partners) to achieve these technical requirements.

The result of the market research undertaken by the University has concluded that the Worktribe pre-award, post-award and contract management single platform is the only practical solution, readily available to meet the functional and technical needs, timescale and complexity of the University requirements.

four.1.8) Information about the Government Procurement Agreement (GPA)

The procurement is covered by the Government Procurement Agreement: Yes


Section five. Award of contract/concession

Contract No

LUV00994

A contract/lot is awarded: Yes

five.2) Award of contract/concession

five.2.1) Date of conclusion of the contract

28 June 2021

five.2.2) Information about tenders

The contract has been awarded to a group of economic operators: No

five.2.3) Name and address of the contractor/concessionaire

WorkTribe Ltd

4 Castle Boulevard

Nottingham

NG7 1FB

Telephone

+44 8700201760

Country

United Kingdom

NUTS code
  • UKF1 - Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire
National registration number

04576074

Internet address

https://www.worktribe.com/

The contractor/concessionaire is an SME

Yes

five.2.4) Information on value of contract/lot/concession (excluding VAT)

Initial estimated total value of the contract/lot/concession: £1,608,871

Total value of the contract/lot/concession: £1,608,871


Section six. Complementary information

six.3) Additional information

To view this notice, please click here:

https://www.delta-esourcing.com/delta/viewNotice.html?noticeId=606178575

GO Reference: GO-2021629-PRO-18479375

six.4) Procedures for review

six.4.1) Review body

University of Leicester

University Road

Leicester

LE1 7RH

Telephone

+44 1162522452

Country

United Kingdom

six.4.2) Body responsible for mediation procedures

University of Leicester

University of Leicester, University Road

Leicester

LE1 7RH

Country

United Kingdom

six.4.4) Service from which information about the review procedure may be obtained

University of Leicester

Leicester

Country

United Kingdom