Renewal of Annual Support, Hosting and Maintenance of ELMs2 - Loan Equipment Management System

North Tyneside Council intends to directly award a contract to Ethitec for the continued hosting, support and maintenance of the ELMS2 system.

ELMS2 is a specialist system configured for the Authority's community equipment loan service, and Ethitec is the only supplier with the technical knowledge, access and infrastructure required to maintain the service without disruption.

Changing supplier would require complex data migration, system reconfiguration and extensive user retraining, creating disproportionate technical difficulties and significant operational risk. The Authority therefore considers there are no reasonable alternatives capable of ensuring continuity of this critical service.