Hopwood Hall College - Provision of MIS

Overview

The contracting authority intends to award a contract directly to Tribal for the renewal of the EBS Management Information System (MIS) under Regulations 5 and 6 due to technical and operational reasons and the absence of a suitable alternative supplier capable of meeting the authority’s requirements without disproportionate risk or significant duplication of cost. The EBS platform is currently fully embedded within the College’s operational, reporting, and statutory data processes. As outlined and agreed at the Systems Development Group meeting on 5 February 2026, the authority has committed to further developing and consolidating its business systems around EBS over the next three years. This includes replacing several third party systems with functionality already available within EBS, ensuring a streamlined user experience, improved data integrity, and greater operational efficiency. Conducting a competitive procurement at this stage could require the authority to replace the existing MIS with an alternative system, which would impose substantial technical, financial, and operational burdens. These include data migration risks, extensive retraining, redevelopment of integrations, prolonged dual-running costs, and disruption to essential statutory reporting. No alternative supplier can provide the continuity of service or the system compatibility needed to deliver the authority’s business systems development plan within the required timeframes. A three-year renewal offers significant value for money compared to annual renewals, with cost savings achieved in Years 1 and 2 and overall expenditure maintained within existing budgets (subject to standard annual price adjustments). The direct award therefore represents the only viable, cost effective, and operationally safe option for the authority. For these reasons, the requirements can only be delivered by Tribal as the proprietary supplier of EBS, and competition is absent for technical reasons. The direct award is necessary to maintain continuity of critical MIS services and ensure the successful delivery of the authority’s strategic systems development programme.