Information & Communications Technology (ICT)

Best Practice Tools

• Pre-Qualification Questionniare (PQQ)
• Programme and Project Delivery Joint Statement of Intent 
• Procurement Pre-Qualification Test

IT Hardware

OGC's publication Saving Money on IT Hardware is a free guide on how to buy IT hardware more efficiently, including details on open public sector frameworks, eAuctions and case studies on how organisations have already used these deals to achieve better value for money.

For more information on IT hardware eAuctions, including frequently asked questions and a downloadable Decision tool to help you decide if eAuctions are suitable for your procurement, visit the OGC eAuctions webpage.

NGN Procurement Standards
The Next Generation Networks (NGN) Procurement Standards Project was initiated as part of the Cabinet Office's NGN Risk Mitigation Programme. The objective of the Project was to produce 'best practice' procurement standards and guidance that will assist buyers of NGN-based telecommunication services and set standards that service providers will need to meet in order to supply to government.

This guidance helps to ensure that the public sector only contracts with service providers who invest in robust security and risk-mitigation measures. The guidance and standards outlined are aimed at experienced procurement and technology professionals with a good knowledge of telecommunications issues. This is NOT a comprehensive guide to buying telecommunications. Rather, it should be used to support and supplement, where appropriate, organisations' internal strategies, processes and standards. Expert technical, procurement and legal input should be applied locally when competing a requirement.

ICT Services Guidance & Model ICT Services Contract 
In July 2003, HM Treasury published its review of the Private Finance Initiative - "PFI: meeting the investment challenge" - in which it stated that "the Government will now adopt a presumption against PFI in future IT projects". Additionally, OGC were tasked to develop guidance to address the issues arising from the application of PFI to IT and hence specifically to ensure that the guidance provided for:

• appropriate levels of flexibility;
• optimal risk transfer to achieve value for money, given the lack of available third party finance;
  better handling of integration risk; 
• more considered approach to the ownership of IT assets; and
• due consideration of the capital and operational constraints of the private sector.

The Guidance which emerged following a period of consultation with both public and private sectors took many of the successful features of the service-based focus of PFI but sought to rebalance the payment profile to improve value for money. Specifically the new approach aimed to allow pre-service payments to minimise the high costs of internal financing whilst adding protections for the Authority in the event that the delivered service failed to perform.

The Guidance for output-based ICT service agreements was launched in Spring 2004 with various modifications to the standard PFI provisions - many of which were linked directly or indirectly to the new payment model, and has been successfully applied by UK public sector ICT procurement users. The associated model Terms & Conditions ("Model Ts & Cs") - incorporating further embedded guidance - was first published in November 2004 and following further periods of consultation seeking to address practical issues of implementing the Model agreement across a range of ICT applications, a Version 3 of the Guidance is planned for 2007.