Description of how these justifications apply
A change of supplier at this stage would result in unnecessary technical complexity, duplication of work, and additional costs, making a direct award to the incumbent supplier justified under Section 41 of the Procurement Act 2023.
Section 41(a)
The existing platform has been developed using Microsoft Fabric and bespoke architecture, data models and integrations implemented by the incumbent supplier.
A change of supplier would require significant elements of the solution to be reassessed, interpreted and potentially redeveloped, creating a risk of incompatibility with the existing design and operating model.
This could result in a solution that differs from the current implementation, reducing interoperability and increasing complexity.
Section 41(b)
A replacement supplier would need to undertake extensive discovery, knowledge transfer and technical assessment before continuing delivery.
This would duplicate work already completed by the incumbent, leading to additional costs and delays.
Reinterpreting or redeveloping existing components would introduce disproportionate technical difficulties in maintaining and enhancing the platform, while creating unnecessary operational and financial inefficiencies.
Furthermore, the incumbent supplier can continue delivery immediately, avoiding transition costs, preserving continuity, and ensuring value is maintained from the investment already made.
Taken together, these factors demonstrate that changing supplier would create technical incompatibilities, duplicate existing work, and result in unnecessary additional costs, satisfying the conditions of Sections 41(a) and 41(b) of the Procurement Act 2023.