Scope
Description
This Tender Notice outlines the Authority's intent to competitively assess, select and award a contract to deliver the Integrated Management System (IMS). IMS consists of Assurance Management System (AMS) and Business Process Improvement System (BPIS).
The IMS will house the Authority's Business Process Management System architecture which should be accessible by users comprising Civil Servants and Industry partners of initially up to circa 15000 users. The tool should have the ability to scale users.
The IMS is a tool that the Authority will use to access all published policy, process, procedure and control information when they need it.
The AMS will provide customisable workflow capability which will enable users to follow processes and capture information to assure that processes have been followed and control points have been satisfied.
Using attributes related to the IMS and process performance data, the BPIS will allow the Authority to model changes to its business processes and evaluate the impact.
Further information on Key User Requirements for each element of the IMS can be found in the IMS Procurement Specific Questionnaire (PSQ) Briefing pack.
The Authority is looking to procure Commercially available Off-the-Shelf software.
The Authority is willing to consider licensing, support and hosting models for the COTS software which both meet its stated requirements and offer value for money. This may include a perpetual licensing model or another delivery model such as SaaS (Software as a Service).
The solution can be hosted using MOD Cloud hosting or utilising an alternative hosting arrangement compliant with JSP 453 (Digital Policies and Standards for Defence) and National Cyber-Security Centre (NCSC) policies.
The solution must comply with both solution security and cyber protection requirements. IMS will adhere to Secure by Design (https://www.security.gov.uk/policy-and-guidance/secure-by-design/). The IMS solution, and provider, has a mandatory requirement to facilitate, manage and support data up to Official Sensitive.
A formal Service Management support wrap will be provided by the tenderer including Service Level Agreements from when IMS becomes operational.
The tenderer will be responsible for determining the best COTS fit and software delivery model to meet the IMS requirement. The tender evaluation process will be centred on an evidenced based process and be agnostic of how the tenderer opt to meet the COTS approach.
The evaluation of pricing by the Authority will take into account relevant tenderer, internal and/or third party costs to the Authority arising from the software licensing, support and hosting models adopted by the tenderer.
The IMS contract will mandate the use of a COTS product(s) described as follows:
"An item that can be bought on the open market. Commercial-off-the-shelf or commercially available off-the-shelf (COTS) products are packaged (ready-made) hardware or software, which are adapted aftermarket to the needs of the purchasing organisation, rather than the commissioning of custom-made, or bespoke, solutions".
The duration of the contract will be up to five years from the date of contract, with an option for up to a further three years of ongoing software licence, maintenance provision and support wrap (and hosting provision where this is provided by the tenderer).
The Cyber Risk Profile for this requirement identified by the Cyber Risk Assessment is Moderate (Reference - 273623791). Please see DEFSTAN 05/138 for further information on Cyber Security and the Risk Profiles. You must complete your Supplier Assurance Questionnaire using the following link and include it with your Tender response: https://forms.office.com/pages/responsepage.aspx?id=7WB3vlNZS0iuldChbfoJ5Tia6pS3VU5EuhfRvV-BqYtURTFYMUpPOElZTjNUNDhaVjFLVklJMVpPUi4u&route=shorturl
The competitive procurement will be managed in accordance with the Procurement Regulations 2024.
You may express your interest in this requirement by completing the PSQ found at the IMS Project Opportunities Notice no later than 14/05/2025. A link to this is provided elsewhere in the Tender Notice.
Total value (estimated)
- £9,300,500 excluding VAT
- £11,160,600 including VAT
Above the relevant threshold
Contract dates (estimated)
- 10 November 2025 to 10 November 2030
- Possible extension to 10 November 2033
- 8 years, 1 day
Description of possible extension:
Option 1: 5 Year Duration
Option 2: 5 Years (+2) Duration
Option 3: 5 Years (+2(+1)) Duration
Main procurement category
Services
CPV classifications
- 72320000 - Database services
- 72222000 - Information systems or technology strategic review and planning services
Submission
Enquiry deadline
5 May 2025, 11:59pm
Submission type
Requests to participate
Deadline for requests to participate
14 May 2025, 11:59pm
Submission address and any special instructions
Tenders may be submitted electronically
Yes
Languages that may be used for submission
English
Suppliers to be invited to tender
Maximum 6 suppliers
Selection criteria:
Yes
Award decision date (estimated)
17 October 2025
Award criteria
| Name | Description | Type |
|---|---|---|
| PSQ | PSQ to be assessed against the following criteria and weightings within the Technical Envelope: Technical - 40% Delivery - 30% Operational - 15% Corporate - 15% |
Quality |
Weighting description
PSQ to be assessed against the following criteria and weightings within the Technical Envelope:
Technical - 40%
Delivery - 30%
Operational - 15%
Corporate - 15%
Other information
Conflicts assessment prepared/revised
Yes
Procedure
Procedure type
Competitive flexible procedure
Competitive flexible procedure description
This procurement will be conducted using the Competitive Flexible Procedure in accordance with Procurement Regulations 2024.
The six highest scoring fully compliant tenderers at the Procurement Specific Questionnaire (PSQ) stage will be taken through to the ITT of the Competitive Flexible Procedure. The full requirement will be issued at the ITT stage and tenderers will be given appropriate time to respond with their initial tenders.
The Authority will complete a tender evaluation against the evaluation strategy which will be detailed at the ITT Stage. Following the evaluation of initial tenders, each tender will be ranked in accordance with the evaluation methodology with the three highest scoring tenderers going through to a demonstration phase. The Authority will provide use cases with detailed scenarios and application characteristics to be demonstrated. In the demonstration phase, demonstrations of potential providers software will provide the Authority with an overview of their applications and will be used to validate the scores given for the initials Tenders, and those scores may be adjusted to take into account the demonstration. Tenderers who have been unable to show during the demonstration phase that they meet the Authority's mandatory requirements for the solution will be rejected.
The Authority expects to progress to the Negotiation Stage of the competitive flexible procedure with the three highest scoring tenderers following the demonstration phase. Upon completion of the negotiations, tenderers will be invited to submit final tenders; these final tenders should take into consideration the issues discussed at the negotiation.
A final evaluation will be undertaken by the Authority and the contract awarded against the evaluation methodology. The Authority intends to utilise a Most Advantageous Tender (MET) methodology to award the contract.
The Authority reserves the right not to proceed with the negotiation phase of the tendering process and proceed directly to contract award with the tenderer who submits the best compliant tender in accordance with the published award criteria. The Authority reserves the right to cancel the competition at any stage with no liability for tenderer costs and expenses.
Justification for not publishing a preliminary market engagement notice
A Request for Information (RFI) was issued to Industry in 2023 to gather information on the existing capabilities available in the market. The RFI responses received enabled the Authority to develop a procurement strategy taking into account existing products and future capabilities, this information was considered by the Authority when developing it's requirement under the three work-streams as detailed in the Tender Notice. Sufficient information was received from this RFI and therefore further preliminary market engagement is not required.
Contracting authority
Defence Equipment and Support
- Public Procurement Organisation Number: PVRL-5831-GLMM
MOD Abbey Wood
Bristol
BS34 8JH
United Kingdom
Email: Toby.Little102@mod.gov.uk
Website: https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/defence-equipment-and-support
Region: UKK12 - Bath and North East Somerset, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire
Organisation type: Public authority - central government