Cabinet Office claims ITHS framework 'gathering pace'
Further savings for taxpayers will come through reverse eAuctions based on committed customer volumes
The Cabinet Office has moved to assuage supplier concerns that the £4bn IT Hardware and Solutions (ITHS) framework is failing to gain traction among public sector buyers.
The 12-Lot framework, which Government Procurement Services (GPS) developed in partnership with buying consortium Pro5, went live last July and will run for up to four years, covering a range of products including desktops, laptops, tablets, printers and peripherals.
Suppliers this week complained that business to date has been slow to non-existent, with one claiming invitation to quotes (ITQs) for the new framework are being been outnumbered by more than 20 to one by those for the incumbent CITHS framework, which ends in August.
GPS and Pro5 are not doing enough to promote ITHS among public sector bodies, some argued.
But in a written response to CRN, a Cabinet Office representative said it is "working closely with customers and suppliers to transition spend across to the new framework to promote the contract to the public sector".
"It takes time for customers to migrate from existing contracts, but this is now gathering pace," they added.
At the time of its launch, the Cabinet Office said ITHS would save the taxpayer £6.5m before 31 March 2013 alone.
In response to our question as to whether or not this saving is still viable given the lack of sales to date, the Cabinet Office representative said there are plans to extend the eAuction element of ITHS.
Suppliers won their place on Lots one to 10 of ITHS based partly on the result of eAuctions to maximise price competitiveness of suppliers.
"There are plans to run reverse eAuctions combining committed customer volumes to deliver further savings against already competitive framework prices," said the representative.
"We expect this framework to become the procurement route of choice for hardware and solutions as the transition progresses."