Procurement Advice - Framework Agreements

[Bobby_Moore]

Dear all,

 

My bursar is wanting me to investigate Procurement frameworks and I was wondering if someone who help explain them to me. For many years, like most of you, I have just spec'd up hardware and projects and approached suppliers myself. Various Framework I have seen include; ESPO, YPO and the UK Government's offering; Crown Commercial Service (CCS)

 

What I think the Framework are?

These organisations have created various LOTS, a matrix of terms and conditions for various provisions and have engaged with suppliers who they deem to be able to service the requirements for those lots best, in terms of service and price. LOTS can almost everything including consultancy, hardware and even office supplies.

I don’t think they can save money for small hardware projects (<£50k) and acts more of an accreditation for suppliers. They have to go through the same process of obtaining quotes and I seem to get the same price either way. One of the one benefits I can see are the terms and conditions surrounded by the purchase, better protecting the client compared to the standard T&Cs suppliers offer.

We are currently purchasing some software on a 3 year deal worth ~£20k through a re-seller. After some investigation, the T&Cs waver them from all UK common law, consumer goods act and sales of goods act and you buy it “as is”. The results in us not being protected if the software vendor decided to pull out of the UK market, going bust or generally providing a bad service. The software vendor services around 4 million users and the supplier is listed in the top 30 of suppliers in the UK, not small companies that are too willing to change their process (I assume). Is this an educated risk that some of you take? Have any of you looked at the T&Cs your suppliers offer?

When should you use a framework?

How big should a project be (in terms of capital expenditure) when it becomes beneficial to use the frameworks?

We are progressing on a VDI project this year, something I have already scoped off the back of some technical assessments I had done. The agreements seem to be a bit ‘one size fits all’ so are they better for hardware than for services?

How quick and easy is it to use a framework?

My bursar wants me to use the framework to procure 7 iPads, something I feel is quite excessive however, having not using them before, I don’t have much to argue not to. Is this something she should be investigating RE: legal? I think there might be a quick quote option on CCS..?

 

Thanks in advance for any comments,

Bobby Moore

[localzuk]

Frameworks can be used for anything - it depends on the framework! In the past, we bought IT equipment under the old "Catalyst" framework - there wasn't a specific minimum spend or something like that.

 

We have our current MFD lease via a Crescent Consortium framework - the pricing was outstanding, compared to non-framework pricing.

 

The thing with frameworks is that they exist to make large purchases easier, as the organisation with the framework has already done the legal leg work.