All organisations in the public and private sector now rely on their IT solutions. The drive for in-house data centres has now been replaced by cloud computing. This makes IT Tenders some of the most prolific options for SMEs as there is often a high demand for IT services.

Whatever solution clients have, at some point it will need replacing and may go to the market to seek competitive solutions. Not all IT systems are confusingly complex, but security must be the main driver of any IT solution proposal whether it is a medium enterprise or large public body. IT proposals should therefore reassure the evaluators that not only are the requirements met but that security threats are ameliorated.

A good potential opportunity for SMEs is getting on to a Government IT framework. The Government advertises its frameworks through Crown Commercial Services. As such a key service, there are many opportunities for SMEs to gain places on government frameworks. The government has committed 33% of central government procurement spend to go to SMEs by 2022. This means that there will be more opportunities than ever before for SMEs to compete for IT tenders. The current frameworks available are listed below:

Crown Hosting

This is a joint venture between the government and Ark Data Centres and is available to the wider public sector. It enables customers to migrate applications and data to Crown Hosting Data Centres, delivering large cost savings and the opportunity to disaggregate services in line with the Cloud First Government Digital Service (GDS) policy.

Cyber Security Services 2

This is a framework for the supply of cyber security services that are available for central government as well as the wider public sector. It covers services such as risk assessment and audit, as well as testing, managing cyber security incidents, and tailored assurance for systems, products and services.

Data and Application Solutions

The Data and Application Solutions framework exists to provide a range of software-led office systems that cover services for the public sector including software licenses, associated hardware, app-related consultancy services, software support and maintenance.

Digital Outcomes & Specialists 3

This is a framework for the digital transformation of public sector services; teams and individuals to build and support digital services; user research studios and participants.

Digital Outcomes & Specialists 4

This agreement helps the public sector buy, design, build and deliver digital outcomes by finding the appropriate specialists that can deliver agile software development.

Digital Training and Support

This agreement was created by the Government Digital Service with the aim of allowing public sector organisations to buy Assisted Digital support.

Education Technology

The Education Technology framework is a framework that allows educational establishments can buy ICT goods and technology services

G-Cloud 11

The G-Cloud 11 framework is set up to allow UK public sector bodies to select and purchase cloud-based computing services.

Gigabit Capable Connectivity DPS

This is a Dynamic Purchasing System uses a filter to help find relevant suppliers.

HSCN Access Services DPS

This agreement provides access to the HSCN for health, social care and related organisations. This framework enables information to be shared, reliably, flexibly and efficiently between health and social services. The framework uses a Dynamic Purchasing System which helps customers find relevant suppliers through a filtering system.

Network Services 2

This agreement offers customers a range of primary and ancillary services including:

• voice and data provision
• internet access
• WiFi
• radio
• security and surveillance
• audio and video conferencing
• equipment
• maintenance and support services
• Quality Assurance and Testing for IT Systems

Quality Assurance and Testing for IT Systems 2

The framework will use a Dynamic Purchasing System (DPS) to offer independent quality assurance testing (QAT) services for use by the whole of the public sector and their associated bodies and agencies. QAT is needed for new digital systems and services to make sure they are suitable for public launch. The agreement offers the following services:

• testing environments
• specialists
• automation
• services (such as consultancy)

Technology Expense Management

Technology expense management (TEM) helps to manage telecom and technology estates. It gives insight on asset status, costs, location and ownership; an ability to track all asset types; management of the full asset lifecycle from procurement through to decommission.

The Process

Bids into the IT industry are a common place as, due to the outsourcing of IT services. All organisations in the public and private sector now rely on their IT solutions. Whatever solution they may have, it will eventually need replacing and often clients will go to the market to seek competitive solutions. The Bid Team is aware of the importance of turning complexities into clear and unambiguous bid copy and work with clients to identify key themes and unique selling points that can be used to stand out from the competition – which is often high when bidding for into IT sectors.

The Bid Team

If you are looking to submit an IT tender into this sector, then The Bid Team can help. We worked closely with CACI on various bids and have a developed a close working relationship based on effective cooperation and successful bid submissions. CACI worked with The Bid Team to provide a successful bid submission for a position on the BBC’s Content Management System Modernisation Programme framework. The total value of the framework is £31million. Our bid process is defined and well suited for IT tenders and overview of our process can be found here. In addition we have produced a series of “How to” guides to further assist our clients win work through construction tenders for example “How to position a bid“, “How to qualify a bid” and “How to write a bid answer“. These guides incorporate our approach with easy to use forms and templates. We also provide news on IT tenders on our news page.

If you are looking to bid to this sector, then The Bid Team can help provide bid management, bid writing, bid reviews as well as other services to help your organisation win construction tenders. Please use the form below to contact us for a discussion on your bid.