Direct national procurement, : iLab Resource Management Software

The resource management software was tendered on 2019 through an open procedure, which received only one bid. We will continue the agreement until further notice. Integrating the system into the financial management information systems of the University of Oulu and Certia Oy took about six months and was technically challenging. This included several testing phases to customize the software for use by different units. All of this would need to be redone if switching to a different provider. The system was also integrated with the HAKA authentication used by Finnish universities and ensured GDPR compliance in accordance with the law (including server locations in Europe). The equipment and services of six different infrastructure units at the University of Oulu have been integrated into the system with their equipment information and pricing. Re-doing this in a new system would require a significant amount of work.

Direct purchase according to the 40 § of the Act on Public Contracts (1397/2016) contracting authorities may award contracts directly in accordance with the provisions laid down in the Act. 2) only a certain supplier can implement the procurement for a technical reason, or for a reason related to protecting an exclusive right; it shall be a further condition that there are no reasonable alternatives or substitute solutions, and that the absence of competition is not due to an artificial narrowing of the terms and conditions of the procurement; iLab Resource Management Software: “Core facility and resource management” is a niche market that is only wholly served by a single vendor Agilent Technologies. This company is the only one that provides all of the required features in a single, fully integrated electronic system. Additionally, iLab’s software can be integrated with other institutional tools including billing and accounting, contributing to the institution-wide integrated electronic network, which is not offered by any other software that meets all the requirements described below: 1. scheduling and booking calendar for research equipment 2. billing related tools for device use 3. publication tracker 4. automated and flexible statistics and reporting of outcome indicators like device utilization hours, generated income per device or device groups, how different research groups and other customers have used the devices and what scientific articles and publications they have made utilizing the research devices. 5. The software must be compatible with current HAKA (shibboleth) user authentication system and SAP accounting (where applicable) at University of Oulu. 6. Provide GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) for users The implementation of the new system would unreasonably hinder university research because booking and billing for large university-level research equipment would not be possible (the replacement system used during the implementation of this software no longer exists). This would mean significant harm to the university’s core mission and teaching, as well as causing substantial financial losses. Additionally, reporting the expenses of various university projects to funders would require unreasonable efforts. The resource management software was tendered on 2019 through an open procedure, which received only one bid. We will continue the agreement until further notice.