Unit4 Upgrade

Description

The U4ERP (Unit4 Enterprise Resource Planning) application is the system used by the entire university for the management and control of its finances and core financial operations. The application is essential IT infrastructure as it provides accounting functionality with end-to-end financial operations capability, which enables budget allocation and management across the whole university. It is also the system that handles all expense claims (staff & students), procurement, accounts receivable (commercial), accounts payable, estates inventory management, fixed assets management, , accounting and financial management, accounting for capital and projects, commitment accounting and reporting. Included in the contract is also e-invoicing functionality, together with contract management, and an option to migrate to Unit4's new partner for providing a research costing & pricing platform. The firm also provides support and maintenance under this contract. The University has a perpetual license for the U4ERP (Unit4 Enterprise Resource Planning) application and receives annual maintenance and support from Unit4 Business Software Limited (Unit4). On 17 October 2023 Unit4 announced that it would no longer provide maintenance and support services for perpetual licenses or any on-premises solutions post 31 December 2024, meaning that due to these unforeseen events University have to sign the contract by end of 2024 and migrate the existing solution to Unit4's own cloud services within the 3 year contract period. The Unit4 system is an essential part of the University infrastructure such that any down time or system failure would have a detrimental effect on the running of the University services. Unit4's announcement that it would cease to provide maintenance and support services for on-premises solutions post 31 December 2024 was not foreseeable by the University and has given rise to a situation of extreme urgency in which the University must ensure that its ERP systems do not become unsupported post 31 December 2024. It is the University position that the time period provided by Unit4 before the ERP system becomes unsupported is insufficient to undertake the intricate process of compiling detailed business requirements for a new solution, perform an exhaustive market analysis, execute a comprehensive open procurement exercise, and deploy a new system prior to 31 December 2024. The decision to award a contract pursuant to Unit4 Business Software Limited pursuant to Regulation 32(2)(c) is therefore considered to be strictly necessary in a situation of extreme urgency, to ensure business continuity for the University. This approach will also provide the necessary time to conduct wider assessment of its infrastructural IT provision - with respect to Finance, HR and Procurement and ensure that any future procurement decisions align with the University best interests and value for money obligations.