Customers achieved an average of 14% savings against estimated market values by taking part in the latest IT hardware aggregation.

Published 13 December 2021

Last updated 13 December 2021


The requirement

Due to the increase in working from home, the pandemic has caused a rise in demand for IT hardware for organisations across the public sector. 

With budgets stretched like never before, we strive to help our customers make the most from every penny spent. That’s why, through our aggregation team’s regular bulk buying opportunities, we can provide you with the technology you need at the best price possible. 

After combining all customer requirements, we run an aggregated procurement process. We then benefit from competitive prices, discounts and favourable terms from suppliers. After taking the aggregated requirements to market, we can provide customers with contracts following a fully compliant tender exercise.

Contracts are delivered through further competitions in lot 2 of the Technology Products and Associated Services Framework.

Our latest aggregation

This summer’s IT hardware aggregation required the bulk buying of many different technologies such as: laptops and desktops; mice and keyboards, and tablets and iPads.

An NHS Trust, 2 schools and a statutory consumer body were some of the customers involved in this aggregation.

The solution

Before the aggregation, we reached out to the public sector to understand the level of interest in the upcoming opportunity. Based upon approximate volumes, we were able to identify the minimum indicative savings and ceiling prices. These are minimum savings that customers can expect.

Customers could then confirm how many items they wanted to buy, along with any required services, and state whether the items were necessary or optional by signing a call-off order form and letter of intent. Once volume was confirmed we ran the aggregation, identified the supplier who offered the best quality and price, and presented each customer with a standalone contract. 

It normally takes around 6 weeks from customer confirmation to award.

The results 

The total customer saving for this aggregation was more than £200,000, with an average saving of 14%. Despite the average, one school benefitted from savings of 30% by combining their requirements with a larger NHS Trust.

By bringing together a range of customers with similar needs, our aggregations help organisations harness bulk buying power to unlock greater savings.

Add power to your procurement with CCS

Taking part in an aggregation means many of the usual further competition procurement steps are handled by us, saving you precious time and resources. We will draft all documentation, build the specification and run the procurement. 

This is a fully managed service, provided and funded by us. It is a tried and tested approach that has delivered significant savings to the public sector. 

Our next IT hardware aggregation (NFC144) is now open for expressions of interest from customers. You have until the end of January 2022 to submit your requirements, with a formal contract award set to take place in March 2022. 

If you would like to take part, please complete our enquiry form quoting ‘NFC144 IT Hardware Aggregation’ in the comment box and a member of our team will be in touch. Or, you can email the aggregation team

Learn more about the framework on our Technology and Associated Services framework web page

To find out more about aggregation with CCS, visit our aggregation web page or watch our Microsoft Licensing Aggregation webinar.