Haringey Council has approved a £5.4 million deal with Microsoft to ensure the continuity of essential digital services.
The decision, made by Councillor Dana Carlin, Cabinet Member for Finance and Corporate Services, secures a three-year Enterprise Subscription Agreement (ESA) with Bidder A, commencing on May 1, 2026, and concluding on April 30, 2029.
The urgency of the decision was highlighted due to the current agreement expiring on April 30, 2026, with no option for extension. A competitive procurement process was conducted via the Crown Commercial Services (CCS) framework RM6098, which led to Bidder A being selected as the most advantageous tender.
This tender process involved a mini-competition open from January 13, 2026, to February 5, 2026. Sixteen suppliers viewed the tender, and four submitted final bids. Bidder A secured the highest score, making it the most economically advantageous tender.
Failure to secure a new agreement by the deadline would have resulted in significant disruption to council operations, including potential service degradation and negative impacts on the council's reputation. The decision was deemed urgent, with the Chair of Overview and Scrutiny Committee agreeing that the call-in procedure would not apply to prevent delays.
The new agreement will provide the council with access to Microsoft services, including M365 E5, Azure Cloud, and AI tools. Specifically, the core subscriptions covered include E5, Azure, Power Platform, and AI tools like MS 365 Copilot. Essential features such as MS Teams, Power BI Pro, and advanced security capabilities critical for current operations are also included. The agreement facilitates the transition to M365 E5, which underpins the council's current technology stack and future digital roadmap, and supports the phasing out of old systems by transitioning to native E5 functionalities. The security products within E5 are fundamental to protecting the council's digital infrastructure, offering enhanced controls for endpoint protection, user accounts, email content, file data, OneDrive, and SharePoint.
The council noted that while E5 provides essential security features, future reassessments of licence allocation will explore a combination of E5 and E3 licenses to optimize costs. This reassessment will occur during the new term and could involve allocation based on user personas.
The bids were assessed according to criteria outlined in the Invitation to Tender document: 70% price, 20% quality, and 10% social value. Bidder A's successful bid met all requirements and achieved the highest overall score.
