The BBC has invited suppliers to bid for the provision of newsroom computer system software to support more than 11,000 users.
The BBC issued a tender in the Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU), stating that the software was required to support its users in: production and play out of running orders and scripts, operational messaging, search, wires and social media feeds, storage and management of contacts, and "story shelf ways of working".
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The organisation said it intends to play a significant role in the provision of integration and transition services, because of the unique and complex nature of the BBC's technical environment.
"For this reason, once the implementation is complete and the transition substantially underway, it is not anticipated that further significant integration or transition services will be required from the successful economic operator or consortia of economic operators. This will be reflected in any contract that the BBC may award as a result of this procurement," the tender reads.
"Accordingly, at the present time the BBC's preference is not to receive bids from economic operators or consortia of economic operators offering a managed service solution. Nevertheless, an economic operator or a consortium may put forward a managed service as a variant bid provided that it also puts forward a compliant bid for the BBC's requirement for software and ancillary support services as outlined [in the tender]," it continues.
The BBC estimates that the contract value for the mandatory prime requirements will be between £18m and £44m (excluding VAT), and that the non-mandatory variant requirement would be between £33m and £104m (excluding VAT).
The contract is covered by the Government Procurement Agreement (GPA) and the initial duration of the agreement will be between eight to 12 years, with the option to extend the term by a maximum of six years.
"The option to extend shall be exercised at the sole discretion of the BBC and may be exercised by multiple shorter periods, up to the maximum period of six years, meaning a total maximum term of 18 years," the BBC said.
