Award

Provision of Cloud Based Enquiry Management Software Suite

THE UNIVERSITY OF BIRMINGHAM

This public procurement record has 1 release in its history.

Award

17 Jan 2025 at 11:13

Summary of the contracting process

The University of Birmingham has concluded the procurement process for the "Provision of Cloud Based Enquiry Management Software Suite," falling under the software package and information systems category (CPV 48000000). This contract, valued at £352,160, has been awarded to Harbers Solutions BV, with the contract being active as of 17th January 2025. This procurement falls within the UK's West Midlands region (UKG31) and involves the extension of an existing contract due to expire in July 2025, aiming to transition various university services to a centralised CRM platform by 2028-29. The procurement method used was a limited award procedure without prior publication of a call for competition, justified as falling outside the directive's scope.

This contract presents significant growth opportunities for businesses specialising in CRM solutions, system integration, and cloud-based software services, particularly those capable of meeting diverse, large-scale academic and administrative needs. Companies experienced in synchronising software with existing systems like Ellucian Banner and managing staff access through core systems will find this project particularly suitable. The focus on a centralised CRM solution creates a competitive edge for businesses offering comprehensive, integrated software suites and consulting services with the capability to facilitate and support digital strategy implementations within educational institutions.

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Notice Title

Provision of Cloud Based Enquiry Management Software Suite

Notice Description

The University of Birmingham uses Verint Express, a cloud-based enquiry management software suite supplied by Harbers Solutions Ltd to support customer relationship management (CRM) and case note functionality widely across student-facing and administrative teams within Academic Services and beyond. The product is fully integrated with our Student Records System (Ellucian Banner), to synchronise student data and with Core Systems to manage staff access. Given that one of the aims of our digital strategy is to consolidate the number of CRMs across the organisation a wider set of institutional needs for the future have been identified around providing CRM functionality to areas which do not currently have it available, including student wellbeing case management, and moving areas already using CRMs onto a centralised system, including student communications (as their current technology will be gone in the next 1-3 years). Verint has been identified as another CRM which can be rolled into this process of consolidation and replaced by a centralised platform. An initial implementation roadmap has been developed by ITS and their preliminary prioritisation has determined that the transition of services from Verint Express is less urgent than a number of other areas. As a result, we anticipate that 2025-28 will be required to migrate those higher priority areas to the centralised CRM solution, with 2028-29 identified for mobilisation of Verint services to the new platform. It would not be cost effective to go through a tender and procurement process of this scale for what is expected to be a short-term solution. Therefore, we are looking to extend the current contract with Harbers Solutions Ltd for a period of up to four years (current contract expires July 2025).

Lot Information

Lot 1

The University of Birmingham uses Verint Express, a cloud-based enquiry management software suite supplied by Harbers Solutions Ltd to support customer relationship management (CRM) and case note functionality widely across student-facing and administrative teams within Academic Services and beyond. The product is fully integrated with our Student Records System (Ellucian Banner), to synchronise student data and with Core Systems to manage staff access. There are currently around 350 active users across a total of 24 teams based in the Aston Webb Student Hub as well as the Wellbeing and Student Experience teams in the College of Social Sciences, Student Services and Wellbeing teams in Dubai, Birmingham Global in External Relations, and during the Welcome period the Online Registration helpline in IT Services.

Procurement Information

The University of Birmingham uses Verint Express, a cloud-based enquiry management software suite supplied by Harbers Solutions Ltd to support customer relationship management (CRM) and case note functionality widely across student-facing and administrative teams within Academic Services and beyond. The product is fully integrated with our Student Records System (Ellucian Banner), to synchronise student data and with Core Systems to manage staff access. Given that one of the aims of our digital strategy is to consolidate the number of CRMs across the organisation a wider set of institutional needs for the future have been identified around providing CRM functionality to areas which do not currently have it available, including student wellbeing case management, and moving areas already using CRMs onto a centralised system, including student communications (as their current technology will be gone in the next 1-3 years). Verint has been identified as another CRM which can be rolled into this process of consolidation and replaced by a centralised platform. An initial implementation roadmap has been developed by ITS and their preliminary prioritisation has determined that the transition of services from Verint Express is less urgent than a number of other areas. As a result, we anticipate that 2025-28 will be required to migrate those higher priority areas to the centralised CRM solution, with 2028-29 identified for mobilisation of Verint services to the new platform. It would not be cost effective to go through a tender and procurement process of this scale for what is expected to be a short-term solution. Therefore, we are looking to extend the current contract with Harbers Solutions Ltd for a period of up to four years (current contract expires July 2025).

Publication & Lifecycle

Open Contracting ID
ocds-h6vhtk-04d414
Publication Source
Find A Tender Service
Latest Notice
https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/001653-2025
Current Stage
Award
All Stages
Award

Procurement Classification

Notice Type
Award Notice
Procurement Type
Standard
Procurement Category
Goods
Procurement Method
Limited
Procurement Method Details
Award procedure without prior publication of a call for competition
Tender Suitability
Not specified
Awardee Scale
Large

Common Procurement Vocabulary (CPV)

CPV Divisions

48 - Software package and information systems


CPV Codes

48000000 - Software package and information systems

Notice Value(s)

Tender Value
Not specified
Lots Value
Not specified
Awards Value
Not specified
Contracts Value
£352,160 £100K-£500K

Notice Dates

Publication Date
17 Jan 20251 years ago
Submission Deadline
Not specified
Future Notice Date
Not specified
Award Date
17 Jan 20251 years ago
Contract Period
Not specified - Not specified
Recurrence
Not specified

Notice Status

Tender Status
Complete
Lots Status
Not Specified
Awards Status
Active
Contracts Status
Active

Contracting Authority (Buyer)

Main Buyer
THE UNIVERSITY OF BIRMINGHAM
Contact Name
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →
Contact Email
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →
Contact Phone
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →

Buyer Location

Locality
BIRMINGHAM
Postcode
B15 2TT
Post Town
Birmingham
Country
England

Major Region (ITL 1)
TLG West Midlands (England)
Basic Region (ITL 2)
TLG3 West Midlands
Small Region (ITL 3)
TLG31 Birmingham
Delivery Location
TLG31 Birmingham

Local Authority
Birmingham
Electoral Ward
Edgbaston
Westminster Constituency
Birmingham Edgbaston

Supplier Information

Number of Suppliers
1
Supplier Name

HARBERS SOLUTIONS

Open Contracting Data Standard (OCDS)

View full OCDS Record for this contracting process

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The Open Contracting Data Standard (OCDS) is a framework designed to increase transparency and access to public procurement data in the public sector. It is widely used by governments and organisations worldwide to report on procurement processes and contracts.

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