Host of resellers land spots on £130m higher education framework

Three-year framework will provide software from Adobe, VMware, Microsoft and others for universities across the UK

A host of resellers have won spots on a higher education framework worth £130m to provide software for universities across the UK.

The Software Licence Resellers Agreement (SLRA), set up by the Southern Universities Purchasing Consortium (SUPC), will run from 22 February 2021 until 22 February 2024.

The framework is open to purchasing consortiums across the country including APUC, HEPCW, NEUPC, NWUPC, LUPC and CPC.

It will provide a route to market for universities to buy software and related services from vendors including Microsoft, Adobe, VMware through a range of approved suppliers.

The SUPC expects more than £130m in university and public sector spending to be funnelled through the framework during its three-year lifespan.

The SLRA framework expired at the end of January 2021 but has now been re-tendered for at least another three years, with the option to further extend the framework by an additional year.

The framework is awarded under five Lots including a new Lot (Lot 5) which includes a broader range of services such as cloud optimisation and cloud readiness, claims the SUPC.

Lot 1 is for Microsoft and associated services; Lot 2A is for Adobe Enterprise Term Licence Agreement (ETLA); Lot 2B is for Adobe Cumulative Licencing Program (CLP) Agreements; Lot 3 for VMware; Lot 4 is under "Other"; and Lot 5 is for Software Services.

Academia, Bytes, CDW, Civica, Insight, Pugh, Softcat, SoftwareOne, Trustmarque, Phoenix and XMA all won spots on the framework.

Find a full breakdown of the awarded suppliers at the bottom of this article.

SUPC category manager Mark Lewis said: "Covid-19 has seen a significant jump in spend in areas such as software and related services. This agreement will ensure members have a compliant and cost-effective method to meet their needs, but it's also flexible enough to respond to evolving demands over the coming years."

Academia was awarded Rank #1 across four lots on the SLRA framework and is approved to offer all software and services on the agreement excluding Microsoft.

The education specialist was also on the previous iteration of the SLRA framework and worked with purchasing consortiums for the last four years.

"Our place on various frameworks is essential in order to be a go-to supplier for our customers, so to be awarded rank #1 on the SLRA Framework is a significant string to our bow. We believe we have one of the strongest software teams in the industry, and this award reflects this view," said Academia MD Mike Bacon.

"This award evidences the superb effort put in by the collective team here and is the result of a sustained effort into our software portfolio and service catalogue to ensure we can be competitive on every front. Our number 1 ranking demonstrates this excellence and is one of our team's proudest achievements," added Sajim Uddin, bids and tenders manager at Academia.

Lot 1 - Microsoft and Associated Services

Softcat, Phoenix, Civica, Insight, XMA, CDW, SoftwareOne, Bytes, Trustmarque and Pugh

Lot 2A - Adobe Enterprise Term Licence Agreement (ETLA)

Academia, CDW, Softcat, SoftwareOne, Phoenix, Bytes

Lot 2B - Adobe Cumulative Licencing Program (CLP) Agreements

Academia, Softcat, CDW, Phoenix, Insight, Bytes

Lot 3 - VMware

Academia, SoftwareOne, XMA, CDW, Phoenix, Softcat

Lot 4 - Other

Academia, Softcat, Phoenix, XMA, CDW, SoftwareOne, Civica, Pugh

Lot 5 - Software Services

Academia, CDW, Civica, XMA, Insight, Phoenix