Tender: Derby College Group Financial Management System Replacement – Implementation by 1 August 2027

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Derby College Group is seeking a supplier for a replacement Financial Management System to succeed its current Open Accounts system, with the existing contract due to expire on 31 July 2027 and implementation required before 1 August 2027 to ensure continuity. DCG carried out a Pre‑Market Engagement in May 2026 under Section 17 of the Procurement Act 2023 (ocds-h6vhtk-06908f; FTS ref 2026/S 000-040647), which confirmed a competitive market and informed a refined specification, clarified implementation expectations, defined the evaluation methodology, confirmed pricing assumptions and strengthened guidance on migration, integrations and ongoing support. Market feedback highlighted the need for a clear functional specification that distinguishes mandatory from desirable requirements, a transparent evaluation approach and treatment of partial compliance, clarity on user volumes and entity structure, defined integration and data migration expectations, reporting, dashboard and self-service requirements for non-finance users, realistic implementation timetables with adequate internal change-management resource, and clear pricing assumptions to allow direct comparison of tenders. Participation in the PME does not confer any advantage and all bidders will be evaluated solely against the published criteria.