Official UK procurement notice
SSRO IT Managed Service (ITMS) and DefCARS contract
Authority: Single Source Regulations Office (Central government)
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionThis Invitation to Tender (ITT) is issued by the Single Source Regulations Office (SSRO). The SSRO is conducting this procurement exercise to appoint a suitably qualified and experienced supplier to be its delivery partner to provide its IT Managed Services (ITMS), its Defence Contract Analysis and Reporting System (DefCARS) support and potential future development.
The SSRO’s current DefCARS and ITMS contracts are both expiring on 24 March 2026, which provides an opportunity to seek an integrated solution delivered under one contract. We anticipate this will offer value for money based on the potential service benefits and cost savings. The SSRO is intending to seek extensions where necessary to these two contracts to allow for a transition period up to end of August 2026.
ITMS
The SSRO's ITMS is cloud based and uses the Microsoft stack. Third parties are used for management, support, and development of the IT environment. The SSRO technology and systems estate includes the SSRO Microsoft environment which is based in UK data centres. Connectivity within our office is via Wi-Fi only, provided by the Government Property Agency through the GovWifi service. The GPA also provide a network printing service, GovPrint, connecting to a Xerox printer over GovWifi.
DefCARS
The SSRO has a contract for the provision of its DefCARS, which is a secure, online system for the capture, storage and analysis of all electronic data reported by defence contractors under the Defence Reform Act 2014. DefCARS is accessed by industry, the MOD and the SSRO.
The SSRO intends to hold a virtual Bidders' briefing session on 14 January 2026 via MS Teams at 10am to 11am. Potential Suppliers interested in attending the briefing session must register in advance by contacting the SSRO via the message centre on the Delta eSourcing platform by no later than 12 noon on Monday 12 January 2026.
Potential Suppliers should note that this opportunity was previously published on 18 July 2025 (Notice identifier: 2025/S 000-041194). That procurement activity was terminated. The opportunity is being re-published under this tender notice.
CPV: IT services: consulting, software development, Internet and support
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · value publishedLot #1AwardedRenewalPublished value£5,166,666
What it takes to wini
How this buyer will score bids.
The evaluation criteria and weights exactly as published on the notice, grouped by family (price, quality, social value and so on).
Evaluation split and conditions of participation as published; the tender pack may add morei
How this buyer will score bids.
The evaluation criteria and weights exactly as published on the notice, grouped by family (price, quality, social value and so on).
Published sub-criteria (2)
- Criterion 1: 70%
- Criterion 2: 30%
Published award criteria (2)
- Criterion 1: Quality
- Criterion 2: Price
- Price carries 30 of 100 points: a 10% discount moves about 3 points. The method statement decides this lot, not the discount.
Price arithmetic assumes straight proportional scoring; the tender pack may use another formula.
Procedure terms & legal framework
From the official record- Procedure method
- Open procedure
- Legal basis
- UKPGA · 2023/54 Procurement Act 2023
- Procurement category
- Services
- Notice status
- Awarded
- Procurement threshold
- Above threshold (FTS publication)
- Regulatory regime
- Standard
- Commercial structure
- Stand-alone contract (no framework)
- Competition type
- Competitive procedure
- GPA / WTO covered
- Yes (GPA)
- Recurring procurement
- Unspecified in notice
- First published
- 22 Dec 2025, 21:05 GMT
- Last source update
- 28 Apr 2026, 11:40 BST
- Award evaluation window
- Submission end – 7 May 2026
- Authority reference
SSRO-C-155- FTS notice number
2025/S 000-085612- Latest notice
- Contract award notice (UK6)
- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-05fc0cFind a Tender
How it was run
Official notice- Submission deadline
- 20 Feb 2026, 17:00 GMT
- Clarification deadline
- 21 Jan 2026, 17:00 GMT
- Submission channel
- Official e-sourcing portal
- Electronic submission
- Allowed
- Accepted languages
- en
Timeline
22 Dec 2025 → 1 Jun 2026 · 8 dates- Tender notice published308 days ago22 Dec 2025, 21:05 GMT
- Clarification questions by278 days ago21 Jan 2026, 17:00 GMT
- Submission deadline248 days ago20 Feb 2026, 17:00 GMT
- Assessment summaries sent190 days ago20 Apr 2026, 00:00 BST
- Latest notice published181 days ago28 Apr 2026, 11:40 BST
- Award decision expected by172 days ago7 May 2026, 23:59 BST
- Standstill ends171 days ago8 May 2026, 23:59 BST
- Contract starts148 days ago1 Jun 2026, 00:00 BST
Notice history
4 events · 2 releases on Find a Tender · since 22 Dec 2025- Tender notice published22 Dec 2025, 21:05 GMTUK4
- Contract award notice published28 Apr 2026, 11:40 BSTUK6
- Status changed to complete28 Apr 2026, 11:40 BST
- Contract signature expected8 May 2026, 23:59 BSTscheduled
Commercial outcome & contract awards
Published awards, contracts and bid statistics, not a forecast| Awarded to | Value | Date | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Version 1 Solutions Limited1 Jun 2026 – 31 May 2029 · up to 31 May 2031Extensions: Two optional extensions of 12 months each | £3,963,653 | 27 Mar 2026standstill to 8 May 2026 | Standstill |
Bid statistics published by the authority
| Bids | SME | VCSE | Valid bid range |
|---|---|---|---|
| 6final-stage tenders · 7 at stage one | 4 | 0 | — |
Contracting authority & participating public bodies
Bidders & participating suppliers
1 commercial party on the notice- Version 1 Solutions LimitedAwarded supplier
Official documents & specifications (2)
Official links; attachments are not copiedNotices published for this procedure
- Contract award notice Contract award notice on Find a Tender
- Tender notice Tender notice on Find a Tender