University of Leeds: Provision of a Research Management System

UK-Leeds: Industry specific software package.

Preliminary Questions
   This notice is published by:
   Directive 2014/24/EU

Section I: Contracting authority/entity

I.1) Name and addresses
       University of Leeds
       Purchasing Office, Woodhouse Lane, Leeds, LS2 9JT, United Kingdom
       Tel. +44 1133436987, Email: CentralPurchasing@adm.leeds.ac.uk
       Main Address: https://www.leeds.ac.uk/, Address of the buyer profile: http://purchasing.leeds.ac.uk/
       NUTS Code: UKE42

I.4) Type of the contracting authority (in the case of a notice published by a contracting authority)
      Other type:: University

I.5) Main Activity (in the case of a notice published by a contracting authority)
      Education


Section II: Object

II.1) Scope of the procurement
   
   II.1.1) Title: Provision of a Research Management System.
      Reference number: Not Provided
      
   II.1.2) Main CPV code:
      48100000 - Industry specific software package.
   
   II.1.3) Type of contract: SUPPLIES
   
   II.1.4) Short Description: The proposed contract is for the supply and implementation of a commercial off the shelf SaaS Research Management System. The University's externally funded research grant portfolio is currently managed using an in-house developed, highly bespoke SAP application called KRISTAL, which reports via a bespoke SQL database using QlikView. The proposed contract hopes to modernise and simplify the pre and post-award IT applications landscape with a move to a cloud based solution removing legacy complex bespoke systems.
   
   II.1.6) Information about lots
      This contract is divided into lots: No

   II.1.7) Total value of the procurement (excluding VAT)
      Value: 533,454      
      Currency: GBP


II.2) Description

   II.2.2) Additional CPV codes:
      Not provided

   II.2.3) Place of performance:
      UKE42 Leeds
   
   
   II.2.4) Description of the procurement:
    The University's externally funded research grant portfolio is currently managed using an in-house developed, highly bespoke SAP application called KRISTAL, which reports via a bespoke SQL database using QlikView. The proposed contract hopes to modernise and simplify the pre and post-award IT applications landscape with a move to a cloud based solution removing complex bespoke legacy systems. Through the proposed SaaS system the University's Research and Innovation will implement improvements to the research administration systems and processes currently in place at the University of Leeds. Improving efficiency and sustainability by being able to better track the entire research life cycle and ensure that as much of the cost of research is recovered as possible.    
   
   II.2.5) Award criteria
   (Directive 2014/24/EU / Directive 2014/25/EU)
               
    Not provided       
      
      
   II.2.11) Information about options:
      Options:    No       
   
   II.2.13) Information about European Union funds:
      The procurement is related to a project and/or programme financed by European Union funds:    No

   II.2.14) Additional information:
    The proposed contract is for the University to enter a contract with the selected Research Management System for 4 years.    
      
Section IV: Procedure

IV.1) Description
   
   IV.1.1) Type of procedure: Negotiated procedure without prior publication (in accordance with Article 32 of Directive 2014/24/EU)          
   
   IV.1.3) Information about framework agreement
         The procurement involves the establishment of a framework agreement: No    
   
   IV.1.8) Information about the Government Procurement Agreement (GPA)
         The procurement is covered by the Government Procurement Agreement:Yes
         
IV.2)Administrative Information

   IV.2.1) Previous publication concerning this procedure:
      Notice number in OJ S: Not provided       
   
Section V: Award Of Contract/Concession
      
Award of Contract/Concession No: 1
Contract No: Not Provided    Lot Number: Not Provided    Title: Provision of a Research Management System

V.2) Award of contract/concession
      
      V.2.1) Date of contract award decision: 15/03/2024.
      
      V.2.2) Information about tenders
      The contract has been awarded to a group of economic operators: No .

      V.2.3) Name and address of the contractor/concessionaire, No. 1:
          WorkTribe Ltd, 04576074
       Engineers House, The Promenade, Clifton Down, Bristol, BS8 3NB, United Kingdom
       Email: CentralPurchasing@adm.leeds.ac.uk
       Internet address: www.Leeds.ac.uk
       NUTS Code: UKE42
   The contractor/concessionaire will be an SME: No    
   
         
      V.2.4) Information on value of the contract/lot/concession:
         Initial estimated total value of the contract: 533,454          
         Total value of the contract/lot/concession 533,454         
         Currency: GBP

      V.2.5) Information about subcontracting:
         The contract is likely to be subcontracted: No          


Section VI: Complementary Information

   VI.3) Additional Information:
      To view this notice, please click here:
https://neupc.delta-esourcing.com/delta/viewNotice.html?noticeId=843680835
GO-2024318-PRO-25525551 TKR-2024318-PRO-25525550   
   VI.4) Procedures for review
   
      VI.4.1) Review Body
          University of Leeds
       Woodhouse, Leeds, LS2 9JT, United Kingdom
       Tel. +44 1132431751, Email: CentralPurchasing@adm.leeds.ac.uk
   
      V1.4.2) Body responsible for mediation procedures:
                University of Leeds
       Woodhouse, Leeds, LS2 9JT, United Kingdom
       Email: CentralPurchasing@adm.leeds.ac.uk
       Internet address: http://www.leeds.ac.uk.

      VI.4.3) Review procedure
      Not Provided    
      
      VI.4.4) Service from which information about the review procedure may be obtained
          University of Leeds
       Woodhouse, Leeds, LS2 9JT, United Kingdom
       Email: CentralPurchasing@adm.leeds.ac.uk
       Internet address: http://www.leeds.ac.uk
   
   VI.5) Date of dispatch of this notice: 18/03/2024


Annex D1 - General Procurement
Justification for the award of the contract without prior publication of a call for competition in the Official Journal of the European Union
Directive 2014/24/EU

1. Justification for the choice of the negotiated procedure without prior publication of a call for competition in accordance with Article 32 of Directive 2014/24/EU

   No tenders or no suitable tenders/requests to participate in response to: Not provided

   The products involved are manufactured purely for the purpose of research, experiment, study or development under the conditions stated in the directive: No
   
   The works, supplies or services can be provided only by a particular economic operator for the following reason: absence of competition for technical reasons
   
   Extreme urgency brought about by events unforeseeable for the contracting authority and in accordance with the strict conditions stated in the directive: No
   
   Additional deliveries by the original supplier ordered under the strict conditions stated in the directive: No

   

   

   Procurement of supplies quoted and purchased on a commodity market: No

   Purchase of supplies or services on particularly advantageous terms: Not Provided



3. Explanation

   Please explain in a clear and comprehensive manner why the award of the contract without prior publication in the Official Journal of the European Union is
   lawful, by stating the relevant facts and, as appropriate, the conclusions of law in accordance with the directive: (500 words maximum)
   Under Clause 32(b) (ii) of Public Contract Regulations 2015: Award of a contract without prior publication of a call for competition: (2) The negotiated procedure without prior publication may be used for works contract, public supply contracts and public service contracts in any of the following cases: - (b) where the works, suppliers or services can be supplied only by a particular economic operator for any of the following reasons: - (ii) competition is absent for technical reasons Justification: A substantial options appraisal exercise has been carried out. This included investigation and soft market testing of thirteen potential solutions available in the market. Following the options appraisal, a number of reference site demos and knowledge sharing events were organised to learn from peer-group approach; this included Universities of Cambridge, Exeter, York, Edinburgh and UCL. Through this approach there is an evolving consensus that a Software as a Service (SaaS) solution will offer the best fit for the University of Leeds. The result of the market research and reference site demonstrations concluded Worktribe As the only option to emerge from the appraisal that can meet the University’s requirements on a single SaaS solution, Worktribe’s Research Management System is a fully integrated, end-to-end research management solution, currently used by 50 UK universities (including Russell Group Universities). We have identified the Pre-Award and Post-Award products of the research lifecycle to meet our needs. These will increase organisational efficiency and compliance through providing aligned and auditable workflows, which in turn provides a single source of truth for research grant data, which can be used across the organisation. Worktribe can securely share its information with other interdependent systems. The workflow and data management system will enable easy collaboration both between academic and professional service colleagues and within the academic and professional service areas.