Geographic Information Systems (GIS)

Concepts

• truro
• geographic information system
• geographic information systems
• gis
• system
• geographic
• strategic it objectives
• optional extension periods
• operational workflows
• statutory services

Location

Description

The Authority intends to direct award a contract for the continued provision and enhancement of its Geographic Information System (GIS) platform. This contract is critical to supporting statutory services, operational workflows, and strategic IT objectives. The estimated value of the contract is £1.5m over a 10-year contract, consisting of a 5-year core term and 5 years of optional extension periods. The incumbent supplier has been identified as the only viable provider capable of meeting all mandatory requirements under a single contract.

Award Detail

CPV Codes

• None found

Legal Justification

This direct award is made under Schedule 5 of the Procurement Act 2023, relying on the following clauses: • Clause 6: Due to an absence of competition for technical reasons, only a particular supplier can supply the required services, and there are no reasonable alternatives. • Clause 7: The contract concerns the supply of services by the existing supplier intended as an extension to existing services, where a change in supplier would result in incompatibility and disproportionate technical difficulties. Market Engagement Findings The Authority conducted a structured market engagement exercise to assess the availability of alternative suppliers capable of meeting its contract’s GIS requirements. The incumbent’s response demonstrated their ability to continue fulfilling all of the contract’s mandatory and optional requirements. Responses from all the alternative suppliers revealed significant gaps in functionality, integration, and support capabilities. Key findings include: • No alternative supplier could meet all mandatory requirements under a single contract. • Several suppliers lacked integrated mobile working solutions, support for high-accuracy field data collection, and compatibility with existing workflows. • Many solutions lacked compatibility with key enterprise requirements, such as Microsoft Entra Single Sign-On (SSO), multi-factor authentication (MFA), or support for TypeScript software development kits (SDKs). • Several suppliers proposed only partial offerings, such as advisory or consultation services, without delivering a deployable platform or the essential products and features required within the solution. • Implementation, migration and licencing costs were either significantly higher than the incumbent supplier’s figures or they were based on an ambiguous scope of what was to be delivered. • The proposed solutions that relied on third-party open-source software lacked sufficient assurance that the supplier could meet all mandatory contractual requirements. Additionally, they introduced ambiguity regarding contractual accountability and commercial liability for ongoing software security, support, and maintenance. • Implementation and migration risks were elevated due to lack of familiarity, unclear licensing scopes, and absence of proven deployment experience. Strategic and Commercial Rationale The incumbent supplier is the market leader in GIS platforms with proven experience of deploying and supporting complex GIS systems across the UK public sector and in particular within larger/unitary local authorities. Their platform is already embedded within the Authority’s operations and supports critical services such as: • Mapping and spatial intelligence for public and partner organisations, • Planning, building control, and land charges, • Waste contract management and • Customer services The Authority is also utilizing the incumbent’s mobile working solutions to deliver services such as highway surveys and tree management. Mandatory contract requirements are either essential for continuity of statutory services, operational workflows or aligned with the Council’s IT policies, including security and development standards. Alternative suppliers do not offer a fully integrated GIS platform with professional-grade capabilities or comprehensive technical support. The incumbent supplier remains the only provider capable of delivering a seamless, secure, and cost-effective solution without incurring disproportionate risk or resource expenditure. Additional Financial and Strategic Considerations The Council, like most UK public organisations, is subject to challenging budget constraints and must adopt a risk-averse approach to procurement decisions. This financial context significantly limits the feasibility of pursuing alternative supplier proposals, particularly where no commercial or technical gains have been demonstrated. The market engagement exercise revealed that alternative solutions would require substantial investment in development, implementation, migration, and retraining. These costs are not only prohibitive but also carry a high degree of uncertainty, with a risk that actual costs may exceed initial estimates. This poses a serious financial risk to the Authority, which may not have sufficient budgetary flexibility to accommodate such overruns or change control requirements. In contrast, the incumbent supplier offers a quantifiable and affordable solution that ensures continuity of statutory and critical services. The Authority is confident that best value for money can be achieved through direct negotiation with the incumbent, leveraging existing commercial arrangements and operational familiarity. Furthermore, the Authority’s internal teams possess the necessary knowledge, experience, and skills to support and in some cases manage the transition from on-premise to cloud-hosted GIS services. This aligns with the Council’s strategic objective to close its datacentres and fully adopt cloud infrastructure by 2030, ensuring long-term sustainability and compliance with IT policy. Conclusion Based on the outcomes of the market engagement and supplier assessments, the Authority concludes that a direct award is legally justified under Schedule 5 of the Procurement Act 2023. This approach ensures continuity of service, cost-efficiency, and technical compatibility, while avoiding disproportionate risk and resource burdens.

Other Information

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