Public sector procurement bags some IT bargains

OGCbuying.solutions has worked with six National Health Service (NHS) purchasing organisations on an IT hardware deal projected to deliver more than £6.5million of savings in its first year.

The NHS buying organisations, or Collaborative Procurement Hubs, that represent 220 Trusts across England have signed the deal to deliver the savings on desktop and laptop PCs, by maximising their collective buying power.

Dave Smith, OGCbuying.solutions IT procurement hardware category manager, said: "The six procurement hubs recognised that their requirements for IT equipment were common. It made sense, therefore, to take full advantage of this excellent opportunity to collaborate.

"OGCbuying.solutions was brought in at an early stage and helped to facilitate the collaboration and assisted with the procurement. NHS Connecting for Health were approached to input into the technical aspects of the procurement and to ensure alignment with the NHS National Programme for IT.”

The CPHs were established by the Department of Health as part of its Supply Chain Excellence Programme (SCEP) launched in 2004 as part of the government's drive for greater efficiencies.

Up until March 2008, they have delivered £275-million of savings, five million ahead of their SCEP target, while at the same time, raising the procurement capability of the Trusts.

Also today, OGCbuying.solutions said it had agreed a deal with HP to offer public sector buyers up to 50 per cent discount on a range of printing devices.

The deal which will be available until the end of October 2008 is expected to make significant cashable savings for the public purse.

David Parker, OGCbuying.solutions IT category manager said: “This is an exceptional deal for our customers. We have worked hard with HP and its channel partners to ensure it delivers cash savings. It hits all the right buttons in terms of cash savings and green technology issues.”

The deal is available exclusively through HP resellers on the OGCbuying.solutions’ IT Goods and Associated Services framework agreement, at varying prices to stimulate competition.

The resellers include Centerprise, Computacenter UK, DSGi Business, Fujitsu Services and Misco.

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