School ICT News Bulletin No. 258 - 11/11/2015

Published by ICT Shared Services

November eBulletin Update

Norfolk Schools Broadband procurement – update November 2015

There have been a number of communications to schools about the procurement project for a new Broadband Service for schools from April 2016. Here’s an update on where we are with the procurement of the new contract and what this means to schools.

In September we advised that three companies had been shortlisted and we were starting dialogue in early October. Dialogue continues this week with the suppliers and enables both parties to clarify solutions against our requirements, in particular the key success criteria, to develop the optimum solution. During this part of the process we welcome the opportunity to discuss elements of the solution with schools. We expect to close dialogue by week ending 20^th November.

Next steps – the new proposition

At the end of the dialogue sessions the three bidders will submit their tender responses for evaluation. We expect to award the contract by mid December 2015.

In January we will write to schools with details of the successful bidder and the broadband proposition for individual schools explaining what this means and next steps. We’ll work with the successful bidder to provide clear supporting information so it is easy to understand the services offered, how they are delivered and what they cost.

So what will be different about the new contract?

We have previously described the key success criteria we expect the bidders to deliver. Click on this link to see the full article and table indicating the key differences for schools from the new contract based on dialogue with the suppliers.

More information about the procurement timeline and the key success criteria are available at the respective hyperlinks.

Please contact ICT Shared Services by email ict@norfolk.gov.uk if you have feedback on the service information above or to raise any concerns or request more information. Once the contract is awarded then the information will be more specific and costed for individual schools.