Contract award notice
Results of the procurement procedure
Section I: Contracting
entity
I.1) Name and addresses
Cardiff University
Procurement Services, McKenzie House, 30-36 Newport Road
Cardiff
CF24 0DE
UK
Telephone: +44 2920879648
E-mail: daviesg74@cardiff.ac.uk
NUTS: UKL
Internet address(es)
Main address: http://www.cardiff.ac.uk/business/why-work-with-us/for-suppliers
Address of the buyer profile: https://www.sell2wales.gov.wales/search/Search_AuthProfile.aspx?ID=AA0258
I.2) Joint procurement
The contract is awarded by a central purchasing body
I.4) Type of the contracting authority
Body governed by public law
I.5) Main activity
Education
Section II: Object
II.1) Scope of the procurement
II.1.1) Title
Research Management System
Reference number: CU.1131.GD
II.1.2) Main CPV code
48100000
II.1.3) Type of contract
Supplies
II.1.4) Short description
Cardiff University seeks a central IT system to support the development and management of research grant applications within an end-to-end process. The system will be required to deliver pre-awards, contracts, ethics, post awards management and enable integration of data for regular reporting.
II.1.6) Information about lots
This contract is divided into lots:
No
II.1.7) Total value of the procurement
Value excluding VAT:
2 916 809.32
GBP
II.2) Description
II.2.3) Place of performance
NUTS code:
UKL22
II.2.4) Description of the procurement
Cardiff University seeks a central IT system to support the development and management of research grant applications within an end-to-end process. The system will be required to deliver pre-awards, contracts, ethics, post awards management and enable integration of data for regular reporting.
II.2.5) Award criteria
Price
II.2.11) Information about options
Options:
Yes
Description of options:
Potential other module options included within the contract including:
- Opportunities
- Outputs
- Profiles
- Impact
- REF
II.2.13) Information about European Union funds
The procurement is related to a project and/or programme financed by European Union funds:
No
Section IV: Procedure
IV.1) Description
IV.1.1) Type of procedure
Award of a contract without prior publication of a call for competition
Justification for selected award procedure:
The works, supplies or services can be provided only by a particular economic operator for the following reason: absence of competition for technical reasons
Explanation
Through a pre-market engagement of vendors and comparator universities, Cardiff University have identified Worktribe as the only eligible provider of the system functionalities required. A key benefit of Worktribe is a modular system: as Cardiff University can purchase and implement individual modules to provide the functionalities required whilst providing fully integrated workflows and capability.
There were two stages of pre-market engagement. Initial Pre-market engagement identified various system vendors through UCISA reports and internet searches, and a selection of vendors were invited to deliver a pre-market demonstration of their systems for pre-awards and research contracts. Attendees from across Cardiff were invited to provide area expertise.
Secondly, Cardiff University approached staff in universities using some of the systems invited for pre-market demonstrations to understand the end user’s view of these products.
Initial pre-market engagement indicated systems vary: some systems focus on one area of activity and some systems offer a variety of activities within their systems. Pre-market engagement was critical to explore the system architecture available. Notably some universities employ separate systems and manually integrate them into a workflow: the advantage is the choice of “best of breed” systems but this required additional planning and resource to implement and maintain. The alternative is the use of integrated systems that provide multiple functionalities within one platform and fewer resources to manage. Through feedback from attendees of pre-market engagement, and modelling cost scenarios between integrated and separate systems, we determined an integrated system would be advantageous for simplicity, cost, and functionality.
After identifying an integrated solution is preferable, pre-market analysis indicated:
- Worktribe has a considerable market share (56% of Russell Group and 25% of the sector),
- Positive reviews from Cardiff University stakeholders viewing their pre-market demonstrations
- Positive feedback and views from other institutions using Worktribe.
Issues with alternative systems included:
- Lack of customer base
- Feedback from Cardiff University stakeholders on pre-market demonstrations noted difficulties with systems
- Need for additional development to integrate with Cardiff University’s existing systems for finance and HR
- Lack of integrated solution
IV.1.8) Information about Government Procurement Agreement (GPA)
The procurement is covered by the Government Procurement Agreement:
Yes
Section V: Award of contract
Contract No: CU.1131.GD
A contract/lot is awarded:
Yes
V.2 Award of contract
V.2.1) Date of conclusion of the contract
13/03/2024
V.2.2) Information about tenders
Number of tenders received: 1
Number of tenders received from SMEs: 1
Number of tenders received from tenderers from EU Member States: 0
Number of tenders received from tenderers from non-EU Member States: 1
Number of tenders received by electronic means: 1
The contract has been awarded to a group of economic operators:
No
V.2.3) Name and address of the contractor
Worktribe
Engineers House, The Promenade, Clifton Down
Bristol
BS8 3NB
UK
NUTS: UKK11
The contractor is an SME:
Yes
V.2.4) Information on value of the contract/lot (excluding VAT)
Total value of the contract/lot:
: 2 916 809.32
GBP
V.2.5) Information about subcontracting
Section VI: Complementary information
VI.3) Additional information
(WA Ref:140789)
VI.4) Procedures for review
VI.4.1) Review body
High Court
Royal Courts of Justice, The Strand
London
WC2A 2LL
UK
Telephone: +44 2079477501
VI.5) Date of dispatch of this notice
18/04/2024