Official UK procurement notice
TfGM AS400 Hosting and Support Services
Authority: Transport for Greater Manchester (Public body)
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionFollowing a procurement exercise in July 2021, Frontline Consultancy and Business Services Limited (Frontline) were awarded a 3-year contract to provide TfGM with hosting and support services for the AS400 system that it currently employs. Information on this contract can be found on Contracts Finder: www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Notice/c01ca9b7-a336… ↗
TfGM are now seeking an additional 12-month provision of this hosting and support service under a new contract, and this notice provides transparency around the reasons for this single source requirement, and of TfGM's intention to tender for a new hosting and support system in early 2025.
The decision to contract with Frontline is based on the need to maintain TfGM's AS400 until a full review can be undertaken from January 2025, following the launch of the final tranche of Bus Franchising by TfGM across Greater Manchester. A longer-term procurement is likely to be advertised in early 2025, once the full scope of the services required to provide support has been considered and then determined.
Though the additional services were not included in the original procurement, a change in contractor at this stage would cause significant disruption and cannot be made for economic and technical reasons, as there is a significant risk of disruption to the operation of bus services in Greater Manchester, including payments to and from bus operators for using bus stations, timetabling, and route planning services.
A review of the long-term requirement for the AS400 product will be undertaken in January 2025, once all buses in Greater Manchester fall under franchised services. There would be significant duplication of costs associated with a change of service in June 2024, and then again following the review in January 2025. The proposed contract allows for maintenance of service provision in the short term, and time to implement any changes following the review in 2025.
The additional requirements at a value of £63,899.99 procured under this new contract do not exceed 50% of the value of the original contract.
CPV: Software package and information systems
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · no lot value publishedLot #1The services provided under the proposed contract include:
The services provided under the proposed contract include:
24x7 AS400 Hosting on Frontlines infrastructure;
Support of the AS400 Service, including understanding of TfGM's coding and functionality;
Software Licensing of various products supporting TfGM developed applications;
Support of TfGM in house developed applications including breakfix and code changes;
As above, a short term provision of services is required until January 2025, following which a full review and tender will be undertaken.
Procedure terms & legal framework
From the official record- Procedure method
- Award procedure without prior publication of a call for competition
- Legal basis
- CELEX · 32014L0024 Public Contracts Regulations 2015 (Directive 2014/24/EU)
- Procurement category
- Goods
- Notice status
- Awarded without competition
- Procurement threshold
- Unspecified in notice
- Regulatory regime
- Standard
- Commercial structure
- Stand-alone contract (no framework)
- Competition type
- Direct award (no call for competition)
- GPA / WTO covered
- Yes (GPA)
- Recurring procurement
- Unspecified in notice
- First published
- 19 Jun 2024, 13:49 BST
- Last source update
- 19 Jun 2024, 13:49 BST
- FTS notice number
2024/S 000-018905- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-047120Find a Tender
- Why no open competition
- The procurement falls outside the scope of application of the directive
- Published justification
The value of this contract is lower than the WTO threshold, however TfGM is providing this VEAT Notice given the aggregate value with the previous contract, as per the contract notice above.
Though the additional services were not included in the original procurement, a change in contractor at this stage would cause significant disruption and cannot be made for economic and technical reasons, as there is a significant risk of disruption to the operation of bus services in Greater Manchester, including payments to and from bus operators for using bus stations, timetabling, and route planning services.
The proposed contract allows for maintenance of service provision in the short term, and time to implement any changes following the planned review in 2025. TfGM is taking this approach to avoid unnecessary duplication of costs that could otherwise be associated with a further change of service provision in June 2024, as well as any other additional costs that could result following a more comprehensive review in January 2025. A review of the long-term requirement for the AS400 product will be undertaken in January 2025, once all buses in Greater Manchester fall under franchised services.
The additional requirements at a value of £63,899.99 procured under this new contract do not exceed 50% of the value of the original contract.
TfGM has a review of the AS400 planned in January 2025 and will issue a tender shortly after this should long term support be required following this contract.
Commercial outcome & contract awards
Published awards, contracts and bid statistics, not a forecast| Awarded to | Value | Date | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| FRONTLINE CONSULTANCY AND BUSINESS SERVICES LIMITED | £63,900 † | — | Awarded |
Contracts
TfGM AS400 Hosting and Support Services · FRONTLINE CONSULTANCY AND BUSINESS SERVICES LIMITED
- Signed
- 17 Jun 2024
- Value
- £63,900
- Status
- active
Contracting authority & participating public bodies
Dispute resolution & review bodies
- High court of England and WalesReview body
Bidders & participating suppliers
1 commercial party on the notice- Frontline Consultancy and Business Services LimitedAwarded supplier
Official documents & specifications
Official links; attachments are not copiedNo document links were published on the notice.