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By maximising our ability to adopt common portfolio products and services and
aggregating demand we can:
Create a unified market aligned to wider market investments
Generate competition that will drive down service prices and create opportunities for SMEs
Greatly reduce the number of
procurement frameworks and minimise public sector procurement and
framework management costs
Commit central resources to enable the public sector to better control and rationalise the provision of underlying PSN infrastructure and avoid duplication
Increase transparency and availability of management information
Drive adoption of Next Generation Network and Next Generation Broadband access and services
Improve workforce mobility
Move towards Unified Communications
The Public Sector spends an estimated £2.5bn per annum on
telecommunications services. Over 50% of this is in non-Central Government. PSN is aiming to significantly reduce this commitment by 2014/15
The Public Services Network (PSN) is a secure ‘network of networks’
established through adherence to industry defined common and open standards.
By working together and adopting common standards for the way we procure, operate and share
telecommunications services we can drive a more competitive market that encourages suppliers to remove the waste and duplication from their service offerings. Furthermore we can harness our corporate buying power and
enhance our ability to deliver
collaborative public services whilst at the same time reducing the cost of the telecommunications required to deliver them.
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The PSN National Frameworks
In order to support public sector organisations to procure PSN telecommunications services and maximise their ability to obtain best value, the PSN Programme is setting up two major telecommunications procurement frameworks for full PSN capabilities. The first relates to PSN Connectivity and the second is for PSN Services including Mobile/Mobility. Both are accessible to all public sector organisations and partnerships as well as their managing agents and outsourced service providers.
Key advantages of procurement through PSN National Frameworks
Contract Term - Long, medium and short-term contract lengths are supported by the
National Frameworks.
Flexible aggregation – Services can be procured directly or via aggregated
partnerships and service integrators. Cross-government aggregated procurements
will also be run centrally for some elements of the service.
Scale – the National Frameworks are consistent with the Government ICT Strategy
and will be the principal route to market for some of the largest public service
providers including major Central Government Departments, Local Authorities, Health
and Police.
Accelerated procurement timescales and realisation of benefits – in line with
recently announced Ministerial goals for reduced procurement times, procuring
services from a pre-established National Framework will be quicker than running your
own local procurement exercise which will enable the earlier realisation of benefits.
Reduced procurement costs and effort – procuring services from a pre-established
National Framework will enable organisations to obtain the services they need
without the need to engage in lengthy procurement exercises such as OJEU and
competitive dialogue. Indicative savings from accelerated and simplified procurement
are estimated at 30–50%. Furthermore the PSN Programme team will practically
support you to structure and maximise the effect of your ‘go to market’ position
Wide range of services – The National Frameworks offer a very broad range of
telecommunications services as well as the ability to bundle services together into
‘super-lots’ in order to simplify the management of various telecommunications
services.
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Ensuring the PSN National
Frameworks are fit for purpose
The scope of these procurements has been defined to support customers with varied service needs and scale and in consultation with a wide range of public serviceproviders. The PSN Procurement Board and project team comprises
representation from Local Government, NHS and the Police as well as the major Central Government Departments and representatives are involved in all stages of these key procurements.
Delivering best value through the PSN National Frameworks
The Government is determined to ensure that these national frameworks provide an
appropriate, convenient and cost effective procurement for all public service
providers.
Some of the largest public service providers including major Central Government
Departments, Health, Police and Local Authorities are planning to use the National
Frameworks and are actively involved in their implementation in order to ensure
they are fit for purpose and offer best value.
Services available through the PSN National Frameworks will be frequently
benchmarked, pricing will be simplified and transparent and service specifications
will be progressively standardised and aligned in the wider market.
The PSN Programme team are engaging with the supplier community to ensure they
are focussed on preparing their PSN offerings and appropriately engaged in the
National Framework procurements.
The PSN Programme team are providing practical support to Local Authorities,
Central Government Departments, Health and Police with respect to their
telecommunications procurements to ensure they are both aligned to the PSN and
deliver the best value outcome.
The PSN Programme’s active participation and leadership in the use of frameworks, closing off other routes to market,
establishing of requirements and driving standardisation of services is a marked departure from how common frameworks have been operated previously. Industry is well represented at the PSN Board level and the PSN Programme team is working with key suppliers to ensure that they are able to make the organisational, commercial, financial and technical changes required to maximise the opportunity for efficiency.
The Scope of PSN National
Frameworks
Table 1 summarises the scope of the
PSN National Frameworks for Connectivity and Services.
PSN National frameworks will be available from April 2012.
A number of existing frameworks will be retired and service provided under them will be consolidated and provided under the PSN National Frameworks.
Frameworks that will be retired include:
MTS (31 Dec 11)
GSI (20 Feb 12)
Telecomm Networks (7 June 12)
Mobility (MS II) (30 Jun 12)
Specialist Solutions (Closed)
GTC (Closed)
Supporting PSN Procurement
The PSN Programme team is keen to support public service providers looking to re-procure telecommunications services, irrespective of the stage they are at, in order to help maximise the potential for efficiency through alignment to PSN.
If you wish to discuss PSN procurement further please contact the PSN Team via email
[email protected] and someone will contact you.
Business Continuity pre-PSN
transition
In order to provide business continuity for those currently consuming services such as GCSX, GSX and GSI under the Government Secure Intranet (GSi) and Managed
Telecommunications Service (MTS) frameworks, convergence frameworks
providing replacement services have been set up and will transition services to the PSN over the next two years, enabling customers to converge to PSN when they are ready to do so. These frameworks may also be of value to organisations needing to re-procure
telecommunications services prior to the introduction of the National PSN Connectivity and Services frameworks as they provide a simple, cost effective way to buy
telecommunications services that will become PSN compliant in due course and they can be procured on a short-term basis until the National Frameworks are in operation.
Table 2 summarises the scope of the
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Table 1 – PSN National Frameworks
Framework
Services
Term
Suppliers
Key Points
PSN
Connectivity
Available Now
Network and connectivity - incl. range of WAN
connectivity
Information Assurance - incl. encryption, key
management services, security consultancy
Design, Deployment, Transition and Business Continuity Call-off contracts 5yrs (+1+1) Framework refreshed every 2 yrs Single Lot framework with up to 12 suppliers capable of providing all services Flexibility to aggregate
demand and award on per site or multi-supplier basis
Assured connectivity to core PSN infrastructure
PSN Services
Available July 2012
Lot 1 Communications - Traditional and Next Generation Lot 2 CCTV and Physical Security Monitoring
Lot 3 Conferencing Services - Video & Telepresence Lot 4 Managed Equipment Room Services (MERS) Lot 5 Call/Contact Centre Services
Lot 6 Mobile Voice & Data Services Lot 7 Paging Services
Lot 8 LAN Services
Lot 9 Managed Gateways
Lot 10 Unified Services - provision of all or some of the
above services under one lot.
Call-off contracts 5yrs (+1+1) (except Lots 6 & 7 – 3yrs+1+1) Framework refreshed every 2 yrs Multi-Lot framework with maximum 12-15 suppliers capable of providing full scope of each lot
Framework re-let every 2 years to encourage new
entrants and innovation whilst retaining ability for successful bidders to recoup investment Strong SME presence
Supports a variety of customer and service integrator models
Table 2 – Convergence Frameworks
Framework
Services
Term
Suppliers
Key Points
MTCF
Available now
Voice - Traditional and Next Generation Network - incl. LAN, Internet, Remote Access Video - Conferencing and IP CCTV
Other - Directory, Professional Services, Business
Continuity and Disaster Recovery, training
2yrs (+1+1) Global Crossing Siemens Enterprise Virgin Media Business Provides managed telecommunications services previously provided under the MTS framework
Better value than MTS Services will be interoperable with PSN and become PSN compliant services in due course
GCF
Available now
Network - Connectivity to Government Secure Intranet
(various Impact Levels), Internet and Managed Firewalls
Core - incl. peer to peer network connectivity, Email List
Server, DNS
Data - Email Relay and Filtering, Mailbox Service, Secure
File Transfer Service, Hosting & Application Services
Other - Professional Services, Business Continuity and
Disaster Recovery, Training Services.
2yrs (+1+1) Cable & Wireless Worldwide
Provides unbundled GSi Services
Better value than GSi Additional service options Services will be interoperable with PSN and become PSN compliant services
