Section one: Contracting authority
one.1) Name and addresses
Cabinet Office (Government Digital Service)
The White Chapel Building
London
E1 8QS
Contact
Commercial Team
gds-digital-buyer@digital.cabinet-office.gov.uk
Country
United Kingdom
Region code
UKI42 - Tower Hamlets
Justification for not providing organisation identifier
Not on any register
Internet address(es)
Main address
https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/government-digital-service
one.3) Communication
The procurement documents are available for unrestricted and full direct access, free of charge, at
https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Notice/c9afefb6-26b6-4102-b081-e226304b837f
Additional information can be obtained from the above-mentioned address
Tenders or requests to participate must be submitted electronically via
https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Notice/c9afefb6-26b6-4102-b081-e226304b837f
Tenders or requests to participate must be submitted to the above-mentioned address
one.4) Type of the contracting authority
Ministry or any other national or federal authority
one.5) Main activity
General public services
Section two: Object
two.1) Scope of the procurement
two.1.1) Title
WP2248.1 & WP2248.2: SMS Provider(s) for GOV.UK Notify
two.1.2) Main CPV code
- 72000000 - IT services: consulting, software development, Internet and support
two.1.3) Type of contract
Services
two.1.4) Short description
GOV.UK Notify is a digital communications platform, developed and run by the Government Digital Service (GDS). Notify allows public sector service teams to send notifications (text message, email and post) to their users.
The notifications are typically status updates, requests for action, MFA codes, receipts of applications or supporting information, and reminders. The messages are sent via an API or manually through a web interface.
Currently there are over 8,700 service teams using GOV.UK Notify, from over 1,500 public sector organisations across central and local government and the NHS.
Notify sends an average of 3 million SMS fragments a day, regularly achieving peaks of 7 million.
Many Notify services send messages that are longer than one fragment and the average message sent via Notify is 2 fragments long. Notify SMS messages have a high average delivery rate of 95.7%.
Notify uses two concurrently integrated SMS suppliers to ensure a resilient service. Typically, traffic is shared between the two based on supplier performance (speed of processing) and load. Ultimately GDS reserves the right to allocate work between suppliers at its absolute discretion and there is no guarantee of volume as it's influenced by both government policy and how the services choose to use Notify.
two.1.6) Information about lots
This contract is divided into lots: No
two.2) Description
two.2.2) Additional CPV code(s)
- 64212100 - Short Message Service (SMS) services
two.2.3) Place of performance
NUTS codes
- UK - United Kingdom
two.2.4) Description of the procurement
As per attached docs; https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Notice/c9afefb6-26b6-4102-b081-e226304b837f
two.2.5) Award criteria
Price is not the only award criterion and all criteria are stated only in the procurement documents
two.2.7) Duration of the contract, framework agreement or dynamic purchasing system
Duration in months
24
This contract is subject to renewal
Yes
Description of renewals
Current contracts expire 31 March 2025.
A new supplier would potentially require up-to 3 months to onboard.
two.2.9) Information about the limits on the number of candidates to be invited
Envisaged minimum number: 3
Maximum number: 30
Objective criteria for choosing the limited number of candidates:
This is a single stage SQ/ITT. All compliant bids that pass the pass/fail criteria will be considered.
two.2.10) Information about variants
Variants will be accepted: Yes
two.2.11) Information about options
Options: Yes
Description of options
24 + 12 + 12 months
Section three. Legal, economic, financial and technical information
three.1) Conditions for participation
three.1.2) Economic and financial standing
Selection criteria as stated in the procurement documents
three.1.3) Technical and professional ability
Selection criteria as stated in the procurement documents
Section four. Procedure
four.1) Description
four.1.1) Type of procedure
Competitive procedure with negotiation
four.1.5) Information about negotiation
The contracting authority reserves the right to award the contract on the basis of the initial tenders without conducting negotiations
four.1.8) Information about the Government Procurement Agreement (GPA)
The procurement is covered by the Government Procurement Agreement: No
four.2) Administrative information
four.2.2) Time limit for receipt of tenders or requests to participate
Date
25 September 2024
Local time
5:00pm
four.2.4) Languages in which tenders or requests to participate may be submitted
English
Section six. Complementary information
six.1) Information about recurrence
This is a recurrent procurement: No
six.2) Information about electronic workflows
Electronic invoicing will be accepted
Electronic payment will be used
six.4) Procedures for review
six.4.1) Review body
High Court of Justice Strand
London
WC2A 2LL
Country
United Kingdom