A recent value for money analysis indicated that HEAnet Brokerage Services generates savings of approximately €7.34 million annually across the education and research sector for the ICT Procurement activities.
HEAnet is Ireland’s National Education and Research Network, providing internet connectivity and associated ICT shared services across all levels of the Irish education system. Included in the ICT shared services are HEAnet’s Brokerage Services.
The purpose of the HEAnet Brokerage Services Team is to design, establish and promote ICT procurement agreements that deliver value to HEAnet Clients. This is achieved in terms of cost and subject matter expertise, compliance, reduced effort, and time-saving. HEAnet Brokerage Services, in partnership with the Department of Education, assist Clients in streamlining their ICT procurement processes by running aggregated procurements, including framework agreements, mini-tender competitions via the Office of Government Procurement (OGP), collaborating with international partners such as GÉANT for access to brokered agreements throughout Europe as well as providing advice and guidance.
To better understand the Brokerage Services’ positive impact on the education and research sector, HEAnet appointed Mazars to conduct an independent review. Mazars conducted a targeted value for money review (VFM) of Brokerage Services across four quantitative or qualitative VFM indicators. The four indicators evaluated were:
- Contract Discounts VFM
- Resource & Time VFM
- Net Saving VFM
- Expertise & Strategic VFM
The outcome of the VFM analysis indicated that the Brokerage Services generate a value for money of approximately €7.34 million annually across the education & research sector.
HEAnet Brokerage Services achieve the value for money by leveraging collective bargaining power from economies of scale with education and research sector clients, experience with public procurement practices and specialised technical knowledge of the ICT product and service sector.
Garvan McFeeley, Brokerage Services Manager, commented: “We are delighted to share the result of the Value for Money study and the impact that our small team is having on the education and research sector in Ireland.
The Brokerage Services team mantra is to save Clients time, effort, and money, and we look forward to continuously improving our service offering. We invite all HEAnet Clients to get in touch with us to learn more about our full portfolio of services, from hardware, software licensing to professional services and student & staff offers.”
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Submitted by Barbara Carroll
