Award

Funnelback Search Engine

UNIVERSITY OF EDINBURGH

This public procurement record has 1 release in its history.

Summary of the contracting process

The University of Edinburgh has awarded a contract for the provision of the Funnelback Search Engine. The tender was undertaken using a limited procurement method, with the award made without prior publication of a call for competition. The contract was signed on 15th September 2023, with a contract value of £177,282. The University is the buying organization, based in Edinburgh, UK. The procurement falls under the services category and aimed to ensure continuity of services provided by the incumbent supplier, Squiz UK.

This awarded contract for the Funnelback Search Engine presents business growth opportunities for companies offering SaaS products, web content crawlers, database hosting services, and search mechanism administration platforms. Small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) specializing in digital solutions tailored for educational institutions could find this tender particularly suited for their expertise. As the University of Edinburgh values continuity and performance, businesses capable of providing reliable and customised solutions in the education sector stand to benefit from engaging in similar procurement processes.

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Notice Title

Funnelback Search Engine

Notice Description

Funnelback is the current suppliers SaaS product which includes the following components: A website content crawler, configured to scan content across the University web estate; A database which hosts all crawled content in customised collections; An administration platform which allows selected University staff to configure and control aspects of the search mechanism, its crawling and hosting configuration, and provides detailed performance reports.

Lot Information

Lot 1

The current supplier is providing their Software as a Service (SaaS) product, "Funnelback", which includes the following components: - A website content crawler, configured to scan content across the University web estate; - A database which hosts all crawled content in customised collections; - An administration platform which allows selected University staff to configure and control aspects of the search mechanism, it's crawling and hosting configuration, and provides detailed performance reports; A mechanism which, returns the most relevant results for a specific or a set of search terms, consisting of an interface delivering these by Squiz, and a bespoke, in-house developed, front-end code presenting them to the audiences using the web search. These can either access it by University websites or directly at https://search.ed.ac.uk/. As this was an NCA there was no evaluation involved regarding quality however, the system does not allow for no quality % to be inserted.

Procurement Information

By not concluding this NCA would result in Squiz switching off their services, which will have an immense detrimental effect to the Universities online experience since staff and students will not be able to search within the Universities web estate. Squiz is currently the University's incumbent supplier.

Publication & Lifecycle

Open Contracting ID
ocds-r6ebe6-0000756885
Publication Source
Public Contracts Scotland
Latest Notice
https://www.publiccontractsscotland.gov.uk/search/show/search_view.aspx?ID=FEB497724
Current Stage
Award
All Stages
Award

Procurement Classification

Notice Type
PCS Notice - Website Contract Award Notice
Procurement Type
Standard
Procurement Category
Services
Procurement Method
Limited
Procurement Method Details
Award procedure without prior publication of a call for competition
Tender Suitability
Not specified
Awardee Scale
SME

Common Procurement Vocabulary (CPV)

CPV Divisions

72 - IT services: consulting, software development, Internet and support


CPV Codes

72414000 - Web search engine providers

Notice Value(s)

Tender Value
Not specified
Lots Value
Not specified
Awards Value
Not specified
Contracts Value
£177,282 £100K-£500K

Notice Dates

Publication Date
1 Feb 20242 years ago
Submission Deadline
Not specified
Future Notice Date
Not specified
Award Date
15 Sep 20232 years ago
Contract Period
Not specified - Not specified
Recurrence
Not specified

Notice Status

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

Contracting Authority (Buyer)

Main Buyer
UNIVERSITY OF EDINBURGH
Additional Buyers

THE UNIVERSITY OF EDINBURGH

Contact Name
Andy Oughton, Natalie Broughall
Contact Email
aoughton@ed.ac.uk, natalie.broughall@ed.ac.uk
Contact Phone
+44 1316502508

Buyer Location

Locality
EDINBURGH
Postcode
EH1 1HT
Post Town
Edinburgh
Country
Scotland

Major Region (ITL 1)
TLM Scotland
Basic Region (ITL 2)
TLM1 East Central Scotland
Small Region (ITL 3)
TLM13 City of Edinburgh
Delivery Location
TLM75 City of Edinburgh

Local Authority
City of Edinburgh
Electoral Ward
City Centre
Westminster Constituency
Edinburgh East and Musselburgh

Supplier Information

Number of Suppliers
1
Supplier Name

SQUIZ

Further Information

Notice Documents

  • https://www.publiccontractsscotland.gov.uk/search/show/search_view.aspx?ID=FEB497724
    Funnelback Search Engine - Funnelback is the current suppliers SaaS product which includes the following components: A website content crawler, configured to scan content across the University web estate; A database which hosts all crawled content in customised collections; An administration platform which allows selected University staff to configure and control aspects of the search mechanism, its crawling and hosting configuration, and provides detailed performance reports.

Open Contracting Data Standard (OCDS)

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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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