Decision details

The General Ledger software provided by ‘Unit 4’, the main supplier of ‘Agresso’ system products, is being upgraded. A contract was procured through an OJEU tender in the summer of 2018. At the point of tender, replacement of the current Cash and Income Management Software ‘PARIS’, which was provided by the supplier ‘Northgate’, was not mandatory. Instead, the decision was taken to implement improvements in stages, with ‘PARIS’ as a business critical system being reviewed and potentially replaced by an alternative system at a later date to mitigate risk.

The situation changed after the tender for the General Ledger implementation had been completed. ‘Civica’ purchased the ‘PARIS’ system from ‘Northgate’ and notified system users that support would cease on 19 August 2019; but were not in a position to offer a like for like alternative. This makes the need to review the use of ‘PARIS’ significantly more urgent than had previously been the case.

Therefore, the intention is to identify and implement a suitable replacement. With time running out on the ‘PARIS’ support contract an extension is needed to allow its replacement to be chosen and implemented. This officer decision secures a 2 year extension to the existing support package and is only available via ‘Civica’.

To gain exemption from contract standing orders and enter into the necessary contract with Civica to extend the support for the Paris income system, for a further 2 years, beyond the current contract termination date of 18th August 2019 at a cost of £49,724.

Reason: The service cannot be procured from another supplier.

Alternative options considered and why rejected: No other options are available, the service cannot be procured from another supplier