Procuring efficient new ICT systems
The issue
Efficient ICT systems support high performing institutions which are well-placed to compete nationally and internationally.
Universities and colleges need to procure ICT systems to run every aspect of their business. Rapidly changing demands require systems to be flexible and adaptable, and today’s severe budget constraints demand they are the very best value for money.
Background
Procureweb will guide you through the evolving, and often confusing, legal, financial, cultural and technical issues involved in all stages of the procurement process.
The Higher Education Library - Procurement and Further Education Library - Procurement provide information on procurement strategy, best procurement practice, tendering and legal issues.
What you can do
Deciding what to buy
When you’re in the market to buy, the range of possibilities can be overwhelming. Our selecting technologies guide helps you define your requirements and evaluate different options.
It’s often difficult, if not impossible, to predict which technologies will stand the test of time. Our technology trends guide provides some pointers to help you plot your future technology portfolio.
Agreeing a contract
Our infoKit, working with commercial suppliers, outlines the experiences of several institutions when working with major vendors.
Major suppliers sometimes offer products that do not interact with existing institutional systems. Consequently, institutions can find themselves ‘locked in’ to a particular supplier. Our work with institutions and suppliers has concluded that there are no technical reasons why large administrative systems could not be broken into smaller components and offered as services via the cloud.
Services to help you buy efficiently
The Research and Administration System (RMAS) service offers a national procurement framework for institutions that need to purchase some or all of the modules needed for a research information management system.
The GEM marketplace is the online store for HE and FE, and there’s a special version for workbased learning providers. You can use it to find frameworks and agreements, identify approved suppliers, and comply with EU competition law throughout the process.
Procuring specific software
Our advisory service OSSWatch provides advice and guidance on the procurement of open source software.
The Research and Administration System (RMAS) service now offers a national procurement framework for institutions that need to purchase some or all of the modules needed for a research information management system.
Open standards to support interactive systems
We promote the development and use of open standards so that different systems can operate together. See our briefing paper on how to make the business case for open standards.