Government’s tax department enters into new arrangement for provision of software tool that supports a range of services, and is expected to help enable a new plan for data virtualisation
HM Revenue and Customs has signed a multimillion-pound contract to extend its use of a data-management platform that “plays a vital role… [in] underpinning a number of essential services”, according to the department.
On 8 November, the tax agency entered into a three-year engagement with specialist Silicon Valley tech company Denodo. The agreement, which can be extended for a further 12 months, is valued at almost £6.3m, inclusive of VAT.
For that price, HMRC will be provided with 56 licences of the firm’s data-management software, as well as related support and professional services. The technology is expected to play a key role in delivering the department’s “data virtualisation strategy”, according to a freshly published procurement notice.
“This software plays a vital role in HMRC by enabling users fast access to data, supporting several strategic departmental objectives, and underpinning a number of essential services,” the document adds.
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Because of the key role the vendor’s technology already plays, the contract was directly awarded to Denodo without any competitive process.
“Moving to an alternative solution would result in the authority receiving services that are different from, or incompatible with, the existing services,” the notice says. “This would create disproportionate technical difficulties in operation or maintenance that would impact business operations and not demonstrate commercial value or provide the most economically advantageous outcome.”
On top of the upfront software purchases, the agreement provides HMRC with “the right to additional purchases… should there be a business need to expand licensing or support, additional licences and professional services can be acquired accordingly”.
According to the company’s website, Denodo’s technology “dramatically accelerates data integration, management, and delivery for AI, analytics, and operational use cases, with superior agility, consistency, and semantics, without the need for data movement and duplication”.
Online procurement archives on GOV.UK indicate that the firm’s other public-sector customers include NHS Scotland and the Department for Work and Pensions.
