Shared services organisation plans to make framework available to all public services
Scotland’s NHS shared services agency has revealed plans to set up a new procurement framework for commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) software, with the aim of making it available to the rest of the country’s public sector.
NHS National Services Scotland (NSS) has published a prior information notice for a single supplier collaborative framework, indicating it wants a value added reseller and valuing the contract at £60-160 million.
The organisation currently has a similar service in place specifically for NHS Scotland, and a spokesperson said the new framework would replace this and be open to any Scottish public sector organisation.
“It relates to off-the-shelf software such as Microsoft Office or Adobe, but could also include some sector-specific off-the-shelf software which is available without development or complex system administration,” the spokesperson said.
NSS already provides a few framework deals to other parts of the public sector, most notably the Scottish Wide Area Network, and has indicated that the team setting it up has included people from outside healthcare.
In addition to providing a procurement route to the relevant software, the framework will involve the provision of a helpdesk for ordering and support.
Pictured: Blank E-Box for Software, Przemyslaw 'env1ro' Szczepanski, SXC
