Scottish public sector hunts channel for £60m tablet ally

With deals with Misco and XMA up for renewal in May, government issues big-ticket tender for tablets and tablets

The Scottish government is seeking to forge a three-year partnership with one supplier of laptops and tablets in a deal worth a potential £60m-plus to the winning bidder.

According to a tender notice on publictenders.net, potential suppliers for the National Framework for Notebook & Tablet Computing have until 15 January to submit their proposals for the 39-month deal. The value of the framework, which is to be agreed with "a single operator", is pegged at £27m to £60m, excluding VAT.

Lot one of the framework, which covers the purchase, deployment and support of both tablets and notebooks, will be available for use by any Scottish education body. The value of the lot is estimated to be between £15m and £30m.

Lot two, which is worth a potential £12m to £30m, can be used by any and all public bodies, including local and central government, healthcare and emergency services. Registered charities and voluntary organisations are also covered. The lot applies solely to "a range of tablet devices".

In February this year the Scottish government announced that it had signed a clutch of big-ticket deals to cover its client computing needs. HP was awarded contracts worth more than £60m to supply desktops, workstations and thin clients, while XMA was given a netbook deal. Misco was selected as the sole supplier of notebooks, in a contract worth £15m.

The deals' initial 18-month period runs out in May 2013, although two optional 12-month extensions were included as part of the contract.