--- title: "Soft Market Testing Exercise for a School of Business Accreditation Management System" ocid: "ocds-b5fd17-2b1afc91-14b3-44ec-9761-29eebe68c896" canonical_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-b5fd17-2b1afc91-14b3-44ec-9761-29eebe68c896" markdown_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-b5fd17-2b1afc91-14b3-44ec-9761-29eebe68c896.md" json_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-b5fd17-2b1afc91-14b3-44ec-9761-29eebe68c896.json" source: "Contracts Finder" current_stage: "Tender" buyer: "UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHAMPTON" published: "2021-05-11" --- # Soft Market Testing Exercise for a School of Business Accreditation Management System Buyer: UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHAMPTON Current stage: Tender OCID: ocds-b5fd17-2b1afc91-14b3-44ec-9761-29eebe68c896 [View canonical contract page](https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-b5fd17-2b1afc91-14b3-44ec-9761-29eebe68c896) [Download OCDS JSON](https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-b5fd17-2b1afc91-14b3-44ec-9761-29eebe68c896.json) ## Summary The University of Southampton is conducting a Soft Market Testing Exercise for a School of Business Accreditation Management System. This procurement process is aimed at sourcing software solutions to assist in the management and reporting of accreditation data, as the University seeks to achieve Triple Crown accreditation by 2025. The tender period concludes on 4th June 2021, with the contract anticipated to commence shortly thereafter on 7th June 2021. The procurement is classified under the software package and information systems category, located in Southampton, England. This opportunity invites software providers, particularly those experienced in accreditation data management systems, to engage with the University. Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and voluntary, community, and social enterprises (VCSEs) are particularly encouraged to participate, given the focus on innovative solutions tailored to educational accreditation. Engaging in this exercise could significantly enhance business growth for providers capable of delivering efficient and effective software solutions for management and reporting processes within educational institutions. ## Notice The University of Southampton's ("University") School of Business is aiming to achieve the accreditation Triple Crown by 2025, accreditations from three of the largest and most influential business school accreditation organisations: * AMBA - The Association of MBAs (United Kingdom) * EQUIS - EFMD Quality Improvement System (European Union) * AACSB - The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (United States) To achieve this, they must continually record and report on evidence to be used at time of accreditation (which varies between 1 to 3 years depending on organisation). They are seeking to procure some software to help manage the collection and reporting of said data. The University is keen to explore a currently available COTS with suppliers experienced in providing solutions for the management of accreditation data management and application for the named accreditations. Please Note: This early engagement notice is issued solely for the purpose of conducting pre-procurement market engagement and does not constitute an commitment to undertake any procurement in the future. Interested parties will not be prejudiced by any response or failure to respond to the Soft Market Testing Exercise and a response to this notice does not guarantee and invitation yo participate in this exercise of any future procurement. This notice does not constitute a call for competition to procure any services, supplies or works mentioned in this notice and the University will not accept and proposals offered in response to this notice. The University of Southampton is not liable for any costs, fees or expenses incurred by any party in relying to this early engagement notice and/or providing a soft Market Testing Exercise response. Additional information: The University is utilising an electronic tendering tool (In-Tend: https://in-tendhost.co.uk/universityofsouthampton) to manage this procurement and to communicate with participating organisations. All documentation in relation to this tender can be downloaded from the In-Tend portal. Participating organisations are advised that there will be no hard copy documents issued to organisations and all communications with the University including the submission of Soft Market Testing Exercise questionnaires will be conducted via the In-Tend portal. Regular monitoring of the portal is the responsibility of the participating organisation. If you are not already registered as a supplier with the University of Southampton, you will need to register in In-Tend in order to access the tender documentation. Once you have logged in as a supplier: click on 'Tenders'; locate the relevant project; and click 'View Details'. Once you are in the project screen, you will be able to register your company against the project and access all documentation by clicking 'Express Interest'. Further instructions for the submission of the Soft Market Testing Exercise questionnaires are below. To submit your return, please follow the instructions below: 1. Log In 2. Click 'Tenders' 3. Locate the relevant project 4. View Details 5. Click on the tab relating to the relevant project stage (e.g. 'Soft Market Testing') 6. Click on the 'Attach Documents' button and upload your return. 7. Check ALL your response documents are uploaded and displayed in the "My Tender Return" panel. The system will only permit your organisation to make one return. 8. Click the red "Submit Return" button. Please note that, to preserve the integrity of the tendering procedure, all queries must made be via the correspondence function within the In-Tend portal. Please Note: This early engagement notice is issued solely for the purpose of conducting pre-procurement market engagement and does not constitute an commitment to undertake any procurement in the future. Interested parties will not be prejudiced by any response or failure to respond to the Soft Market Testing Exercise and a response to this notice does not guarantee and invitation yo participate in this exercise of any future procurement. This notice does not constitute a call for competition to procure any services, supplies or works mentioned in this notice and the University will not accept and proposals offered in response to this notice. The University of Southampton is not liable for any costs, fees or expenses incurred by any party in relying to this early engagement notice and/or providing a soft Market Testing Exercise response. ## Key Details | Field | Value | | --- | --- | | Publication source | Contracts Finder | | Latest notice | https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Notice/0e9978c1-f80f-4799-ac67-0c5e227c2ab3 | | Notice type | Tender Notice | | Procurement type | Standard | | Procurement category | Goods | | Procurement method | Not Specified | | Procurement method details | Other - Soft Market Testing Exercise (STME) | | Tender suitability | SME, VCSE | | Awardee scale | Not specified | | All stages | Tender | ## Dates | Field | Value | | --- | --- | | Publication date | 11 May 2021 | | Submission deadline | 4 Jun 2021 | | Future notice date | Not specified | | Award date | Not specified | | Contract period | 6 Jun 2021 - 8 Jun 2021 | | Recurrence | Not specified | ## Values | Field | Value | | --- | --- | | Tender value | £1 | | Lots value | Not specified | | Awards value | Not specified | | Contracts value | Not specified | ## Status | Field | Value | | --- | --- | | Tender status | Active | | Lots status | Not specified | | Awards status | Not specified | | Contracts status | Not specified | ## Buyer | Field | Value | | --- | --- | | Main buyer | UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHAMPTON | | Locality | SOUTHAMPTON | | Post town | Southampton | | Postcode | SO17 1BJ | | Country | England | | ITL 1 | TLJ South East (England) | | ITL 2 | TLJ3 Hampshire and Isle of Wight | | ITL 3 | TLJ32 Southampton | | Local authority | Southampton | | Electoral ward | Portswood | | Westminster constituency | Southampton Test | | Delivery location | Not specified | ## CPV Codes ### Divisions - 48 - Software package and information systems - 72 - IT services: consulting, software development, Internet and support - 80 - Education and training services ### Codes - 48000000 - Software package and information systems - 72000000 - IT services: consulting, software development, Internet and support - 80000000 - Education and training services ## Release History - 11 May 2021 at 10:08 - Tender - Tender Notice - https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Notice/0e9978c1-f80f-4799-ac67-0c5e227c2ab3 ## Documents - https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Notice/0e9978c1-f80f-4799-ac67-0c5e227c2ab3 11th May 2021 - Opportunity notice on Contracts Finder ## Notice URLs - https://in-tendhost.co.uk/universityofsouthampton ## Provenance This Markdown file is an alternate public rendering of the D3 Tenders contract record. The canonical page is https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-b5fd17-2b1afc91-14b3-44ec-9761-29eebe68c896. The underlying structured data is available as OCDS JSON at https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-b5fd17-2b1afc91-14b3-44ec-9761-29eebe68c896.json.