Annual Support and Transaction Rates

VIVID intends to make a direct award in accordance with section 41(1)(b) of the Procurement Act 2023, on the grounds that competition is absent for technical reasons and only one supplier is capable of delivering the required services at this time.

The services currently provided by Access comprise a bespoke and highly integrated solution that underpins critical business and technical operations. The solution has been configured and embedded over time in a manner that is unique to the incumbent supplier, such that substitution or replication by an alternative supplier would require disproportionate technical change, re‑engineering, and system disruption.

VIVID is currently in the final stages of a major organisational and technology transformation programme, including migration to a new platform, expected to continue until early 2027. During this period, VIVID does not have the technical or operational capacity to support migration to an alternative supplier or the implementation of a new solution without creating significant and unacceptable operational, delivery, and service continuity risks.

Both business and IT teams are fully committed to the delivery of this transformation programme. Transitioning to a different supplier during this period would threaten the stability of core services and undermine the successful completion of the programme. As such, a competitive procurement exercise is not practicable at this time, as no alternative supplier could meet the authority's requirements without causing material risk to essential operations.

The proposed contract represents a continuation of the existing service arrangement and is required to maintain continuity and stability throughout the transformation period. The scope remains materially unchanged, with adjustments limited to revised charging resulting from increased IT service management costs.

VIVID considers that the restriction of competition is strictly limited to the period necessary to complete the transformation programme, after which the authority intends to consider future competitive procurement options once technical constraints and capacity limitations no longer apply.