SOMERSET COUNTY COUNCIL KEY DECISION TAKEN BY THE COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS SERVICES DIRECTOR

Transcription

1 SOMERSET COUNTY COUNCIL KEY DECISION TAKEN BY THE COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS SERVICES DIRECTOR Report title: Procurement of a preferred Software Licence Reseller and support services Officer(s): Richard Williams, Commercial and Business Services Director Author Contact Details: Darren Cole, Strategic Manager for ICT, Date of Key Decision: 19 January 2016 Date of publication of Key Decision to be made: 19 January 2016 Date Decision comes into force: 27 January Officer Decision That the Commercial and Business Services Director 1. Agrees the case for exempt information for Appendix A to be treated in confidence, as the case for the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing that information. 2. Subject to the approval of recommendation 1. Above, approves the signing of the Software Reseller agreement under RM1054 (Lot 2) Technology products framework, as detailed in Appendix A 2. Reason for Decision(s) As set out in the attached report. 3. Reason(s) for Urgency (where applicable) Not applicable. 4. Details of any alternative options considered and rejected As set out in the report. 5. Any relevant Personal Interest that the decision maker may have under the Gifts, Hospitality and Interests Protocols for Officers None declared. 6. Details of any conflict(s) of interest declared by a Cabinet Member consulted about the proposals and any dispensation from Chief Executive Not applicable.

2 7. Other background information considered by the decision maker before making this decision As set out in the report and appendix.

3 Decision Report Key decision Proposed decision date 18 th January 2016 (Officer Key Decision 19 January 2016) Procurement of a preferred Software Licence Reseller and support services Cabinet Member(s): Cllr A Groskop Division and Local Member(s): All Lead Officer: Richard Williams, Commercial and Business Director Author: Darren Cole, Strategic Manager for ICT Contact Details: Seen by: Name Date County Solicitor Honor Clarke 4 January 2016 Monitoring Officer Julian Gale Corporate Finance Kevin Nacey Human Resources Chris Squire Property / Richard Williams Procurement / ICT Senior Manager Richard Williams Local Member(s) N/A Cabinet Member Cllr A Groskop Opposition Cllr R Henley Spokesperson Relevant Scrutiny Chairman Cllr Tony Lock for Scrutiny Place Forward Plan Reference: FP/15/12/07 The recommendation is to award a contract for a Software Reseller and support services in order to provide SCC with Microsoft, Adobe and other licences. The reseller will also provide advice and guidance as to how to obtain the best available prices for the licences. Summary: The immediate requirement for SCC is to purchase and upgrade to the Microsoft Licence to enable the ICT transition from South West One to commence. A tendering process was carried out under Crown Commercial Services Framework RM suppliers were approached and we received 4 proposals A technical and commercial evaluation took place and a preferred supplier selected.

4 That the Commercial and Business Services Director Recommendations: 1. Agrees the case for exempt information for Appendix A to be treated in confidence, as the case for the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing that information. 2. Subject to the approval of recommendation 1. Above, approves the signing of the Software Reseller agreement under RM1054 (Lot 2) Technology products framework, as detailed in Appendix A Reasons for Recommendations: The current outsourced ICT provider (SWo) have previously procured licences on behalf of the JVCo partners. As part of our end of contract planning, it is necessary to procure a preferred supplier for our future needs. Though some of the suppliers that we deal with will supply licences direct, many of the larger companies such as Microsoft and Cisco do not and a reseller is required. Resellers are essentially intermediaries who purchase the right to re-sell software to their clients. They are also involved in the delivery of solutions, service and support to end user customers. Reseller support is also required to ensure obtaining the best pricing approach and support services to install the software. The developing ICT Strategy for SCC is to move software applications from the existing on premise approach, where the applications are installed and managed on servers in the server room at County Hall, to hosted solutions where applications are held in data centres and accessed over the internet. This approach will require a change to the licences we hold and in order to commence the move to the cloud, procurement needs to start prior to the end of contract. Following a procurement process a preferred supplier has been selected. Links to Priorities and Impact on Service Plans: The move to appoint a software license reseller enables Somerset County Council to take control of it s own procurement and future requirements rather than relying upon the existing IT service provider. Therefore there is a direct link to the MTFP whereby best value and transparency of costs and charges are directly in the control of the Authority. There is a direct link to aims and objectives identified through the County Plan and the ability for SCC to work in a modern and efficient way. Technology enabled transformation underpins the priorities of the Core Council Programme and the procurement of software licences only takes place to align the needs of the SCC to end deliverables of the agreed priorities.

5 A Non Key Decision to commence the procurement of a software reseller was approved in October. Consultations undertaken: The future approach to ICT around the ending of the SWO contract has been decided by Cabinet on 9 th December and the appropriate consultation around this decision was undertaken. Specific consultations on the requirements of upgrading the Microsoft licence have been undertaken with the Chief Executive, Finance Director and will be undertaken with relevant Cabinet members on 4 th January 2016 Financial Implications: It is anticipated that over the next 2 years, licences to the value of 1-2m will be required as part of the developing ICT Strategy and end of contract planning and implementation. Further details are contained in Appendix A. Legal Implications: The County Council Legal Team has reviewed the framework used to select the preferred supplier. The process followed, as outlined in Appendix A, is sound and compliant with both the framework and public procurement legislation. In any move to cloud hosting, it will be essential that appropriate contractual safeguards are in place addressing data protection issues. Contract conditions and monitoring, as suggested by the Information Commissioner s Office in its Guidance on the use of cloud computing, are strongly advised. HR Implications: None. Risk Implications: The main risk implication relating to this decision relates to business continuity and disaster recovery. The cloud based approach being enabled by the procurement of the upgraded Microsoft license, provides for a vastly more resilient solution compared to the existing set up. Currently SCC are heavily reliant upon the server room at County Hall with minimal disaster recovery provision. The future approach via cloud hosting moves the risk to the hosting provider, which is their core business. The corporate risk register shows risk BD0007 Failure to plan for service disruption currently shows a risk score of 9, following the move to a cloud based approach for our core systems this would reduce to 4. Other Implications (including due regard Due regard has been given to implications for access, equality and diversity, human rights, health and safety, community

6 implications): safety, sustainability, freedom of information and data protection and no issues relating to the award of the contract have been identified. Therefore based on advice from Legal no equality impact assessment is required at this point. Prior to the point that individual software licences will be procured, equality impact assessments will be produced as part of the planning towards those purchases. Performance in service delivery will be compromised if this decision is not taken. Scrutiny comments / recommendation (if any): Not applicable. 1. Background 1.1. The current outsourced ICT provider (SWo) has previously procured licences on behalf of the JVCo partners. As part of our end of contract planning, it is necessary to procure a preferred supplier for our future needs. Though some of the suppliers that we deal with will supply licences direct, many of the larger companies such as Microsoft and Cisco do not and a reseller is required. Reseller support is also required to ensure obtaining the best pricing approach and support services to install the software. The developing ICT Strategy for SCC is to move software applications from the existing on premise approach, where the applications are installed and managed on servers in the server room at County Hall, to hosted solutions where applications are held in data centres and accessed over the internet. This approach will require a change to the licences we hold and in order to commence the move to the cloud, procurement needs to start prior to the end of contract. There is no easy rule for how many resellers will best meet our organisation's needs. There is often a simplistic expectation that consolidating all spending with a single reseller will result in more leverage, lower costs and better service. However, insisting on a single reseller can increase costs, impair services and lose leverage. Therefore rather than proceed down a fixed reseller route, the proposal is to procure a preferred reseller who would meet a majority of the authority s needs. Should there be the need to utilise the services of another reseller for a specific purpose, this will be done on a case by case basis. It is important to procure a reseller that can add value to our business by providing the best technical advice and greatest opportunity to save money through best value sourcing. To ensure that we are assisted in this procurement, Gartner Group UK ltd will be utilised to ensure that the specification for each required element is accurate and reflects the current market trends. 2. Options considered and reasons for rejecting them 2.1. Following the initiation of the project, various procurement options were considered, including full OJEU process due to the overall value of the contract. It was decided to progress a further competition under the Crown Commercial

7 Service Framework RM1054 Lot 2 Technology Products as this would afford the Council access to a broad ranging supplier base, and speed of delivery as the framework would not require a pre-qualifying element to the tender process. Direct award under this framework was rejected as it was not possible to determine the optimum service offering and pricing without carrying further evaluation. 3. Background Papers 3.1. A Non Key Decision was taken in October to proceed with the procurement. There are no other background papers other that the confidential report, Appendix A.