DCSF seeks IT prime contractor

DCSF seeks IT prime contractor

The Department for Children, Schools and Families is looking for a firm to support and maintain its applications through a four year deal worth up to £200m

A single supplier will act "as an integral part of the business including influencing, informing and contributing to strategic planning and decision making," according to the tender notice published in the Official Journal of the European Union on 28 October 2009.

It includes the support of existing applications, estimated to be worth £6.4m, but could extend to a wide range of other services which make the potential value of the deal much higher.

These extra services include strategy, business model and architecture development, work on data standards, product evaluation and selection, provision of web related services, consultancy, project management, delivery of services over their full life cycle, mobile working and disaster recovery.

The tender notice says the supplier will be expected to make full use of small and medium sized companies if it subcontracts work. It should employ an "innovative, best of breed approach", with a strong focus on value for money.