South Lanarkshire Plans To Invest £40m In School IT

South Lanarkshire Council has put out a tender for an IT provider to implement services worth £40 million in the region’s schools.

According to the online tender document, the provider is to supply wired LAN infrastructure, manage wireless LANs, software and hardware, including desktops and printers. The successful bidder will also have to provide basic IT training.

He who opens a school door, closes a prison

The infrastructure is intended for 17 secondary schools, 124 primary schools, 57 nursery classes, eight additional support needs (ASN) schools, 14 early-years establishments, 10 youth facilities and 25 public libraries. The council said it is looking for “innovative” proposals that will provide “robust and flexible” infrastructure.

Suppliers have until 19 March to submit proposals and the winner will sign up for seven years, beginning in October 2013, with the possibility of a five-year extension depending on a performance review.

Last week the central government launched a £4 billion ICT framework designed to deploy a wide range of hardware, including desktops, portable devices and infrastructure intended for include central government departments, non-departmental public bodies, NHS organisations and local councils. Among the organisations to use the two-year framework are the BBC, the Royal Mail Group and the Met Office.

What they need

The Government Procurement Service (GPS) said it was looking for three suppliers for desktop client devices, four suppliers for laptops, five suppliers for tablet devices, three contractors for monitors and monitor equipment, three suppliers for thin clients, three suppliers for servers, including tower, rack and blade servers, three suppliers for storage devices, three suppliers for network switches, five suppliers for desktop printers, and three suppliers for ICT peripherals.

The framework is also looking for five suppliers for non-standard products related to desktop hardware, as well as eight suppliers for non-standard infrastructure hardware. The deadline is 19 March for companies to submit their details to participate in the tender process, according to the GPS.

Two weeks ago the government issued a pre-tender notice worth up to £1.5 billion for ICT services including CRM, human resources, business intelligence and other services.