Public procurement notice: Voluntary Ex Ante Transparency Notice
Published: 2019-06-03
Buyer: The University of Birmingham
Country: UK
Contract type: Services
Procedure: Negotiated without a prior call for competition
CPV classification: 72000000
Estimated value: 380000 GBP

Technical requirements: Υπηρεσίες τεχνολογίας των πληροφοριών: παροχή συμβουλών, ανάπτυξη λογισμικού, Διαδίκτυο και υποστήριξη
The University intends to upgrade its current content management system from an on-premise Contensis 8.3 to Software as a Service (SaaS) provided Contensis 11.3 and to extend the maintenance contract for 2 years, with the option to extend for a further 12 months, at which time a full procurement exercise will be undertaken.
The University intends to award a contract for 2 years (with option to extend for a further 12 months) for the upgrade and maintenance of its current Content Management System to Zengenti Ltd, a market-leading (HEI and Council) Content Management System. This system is owned, supplied and supported exclusively by Zengenti Ltd.
Since first procuring Contensis in 2010 on a rolling annual contract, the University has made a substantial investment in the Contensis system in terms of bespoke enhancements, working processes and staff training. The University has decided to upgrade from an on-premise Contensis 8.3 to Software as a Service (SaaS) provided Contensis 11.3 and to extend the maintenance contract for 2 years, with the option to extend for a further 12 months, at which time a full procurement exercise will be undertaken.
Upgrading to 11.3 will ensure we are within the parameters of our support contract (2 major releases) and no bug fixes will be ported back to 8.3.
SaaS is now the preferred model of distribution by the company and all product development by Zengenti is now being undertaken on this distribution. The SaaS distribution also ensures 4 upgrades per year — complexity of local system and internal resource pressures mean that on premise upgrades are difficult and complex, which is why our current environment is so out-of-date.
The University has additionally identified that the high costs associated with changing Content Management System supplier are incompatible with the budget and staff capacity available, and therefore when considering the relative benefit, the cost of changing supplier at this time would outweigh the advantage which might accrue. This is particularly applicable to the extensive local customisations and custom enhancements which drive much essential functionality of the University website.
The University has identified that for reasons of timescale and to achieve its aims within available staff capacity and alongside its core business activities, the Contensis product supplied by Zengenti Ltd is the only one capable of meeting the University’s requirements and this is the only viable option for the University at this time.
Where the works, supplies or services can be supplied only by a particular economic operator for the following reason: — (iii) the protection of exclusive rights, including intellectual property rights,
Contensis is a market-leading (HEI and Council) Content Management System. This system is owned, supplied and supported exclusively by Zengenti Ltd. Since first procuring Contensis in 2010 on a rolling annual contract, the University has made a substantial investment in the Contensis system in terms of bespoke enhancements, working processes and staff training. The University has decided to upgrade from an on-premise Contensis 8.3 to Software as a Service (SaaS) provided Contensis 11.3 and to extend the maintenance contract for 2 years, with the option to extend for a further 12 months, at which time a full procurement exercise will be undertaken.
Upgrading to 11.3 will ensure we are within the parameters of our support contract (2 major releases) and no bug fixes will be ported back to 8.3.
SaaS is now the preferred model of distribution by the company and all product development by Zengenti is now being undertaken on this distribution. The SaaS distribution also ensures 4 upgrades per year — complexity of local system and internal resource pressures mean that on premise upgrades are difficult and complex, which is why our current environment is so out-of-date.
The University has additionally identified that the high costs associated with changing Content Management System supplier are incompatible with the budget and staff capacity available, and therefore when considering the relative benefit, the cost of changing supplier at this time would outweigh the advantage which might accrue. This is particularly applicable to the extensive local customisations and custom enhancements which drive much essential functionality of the University website.
The University has identified that for reasons of timescale and to achieve its aims within available staff capacity and alongside its core business activities, the Contensis product supplied by Zengenti Ltd is the only one capable of meeting the University’s requirements and this is the only viable option for the University at this time.


Winner: Zengenti Ltd
Award value: 380000