CITHS successor? Government unveils £6bn megadeal
First of three Prior Information Notices thought to detail CITHS framework replacement published today
The government has issued one of three tenders for an IT framework worth upwards of £6bn, which is widely expected to be the effective successor to the Commoditised IT Hardware and Software (CITHS) framework.
Today the Cabinet Office, which is contracting the deal on behalf of itself, the Ministry of Defence and government buying group Pro5, issued its IT Products, Associated Services and Solutions (IT PASS) prior information notice (PIN). Two other PINs – one relating to Transactional IT Procurement Solutions and another to Software Solutions – will be issued at a later date.
The trio of PINs are thought to form a framework to replace CITHS next year. The incumbent framework, which was first tendered for in 2009, is due to expire in February after having been extended to its maximum four-year period, but with its potential successor unveiled only today, it is unclear as to whether a replacement will be up and running before time runs out.
The IT PASS tender alone is expected to be worth between £4bn and £6bn and is split into lots. The first lot focuses on IT hardware and value-added services and will see suppliers provide it with desktops, laptops and tablets as well as software, network products and associated services.
The second lot tenders for a range of software licences and associated advisory services as well as development and support services and data migration tech, while the final lot focuses on end-user computing devices, servers and thin clients.
The procured tech is intended to be accessed by all UK public sector bodies, including central government bodies, the NHS, local authorities and educational institutes as well as charitable organisations.
Interested suppliers will be invited to a number of supplier workshops in the new year, according to today's tender document.
As far back as September, suppliers reported a nascent but growing unease at the delay in launching a bidding process scheduled to have begun over the summer. The tendering process for CITHS took 224 days, but just 86 days remain until that deal expires.
Concern among suppliers and procurement chiefs will doubtless be added to by the fact that CITHS runs out just as the government enters the last month of its fiscal year – traditionally the busiest spending period as public bodies flush out remaining budget. EU regulations stipulate that frameworks can last no longer than four years, but few will be surprised if an exceptional extension is negotiated to cover the period until the new framework launches.