About Memorandum of Understanding (MOUs) and Bulk Licence Agreements (BLAs)
A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) is a pricing agreement between a software owner and the UK public sector managed by Buying Solutions. It usually contains the structure of the pricing and discount levels that a software owner is willing to offer to a public body that purchases commercial software and services. This can either be directly or through a 3rd party, for the use of that public body.
Some software owners operate Bulk Licence Agreements (BLAs), which may be more cost effective than purchasing individual licences. These licensing initiatives are intended to lower the cost of software purchases for commonly used software applications. BLAs consolidate the purchasing power of the UK public sector to obtain optimal pricing and/or preferred terms and conditions for widely used commercial software. These agreements provide users with lower prices while software owners get potentially higher sales volume at a lower cost due to the simplified approach to dealing with the UK public sector.
It should be noted that an MoU/BLA is not in itself an EU compliant route to purchase. Public bodies intending to make purchases under a MoU/BLA should ensure that their chosen procurement route is compliant with appropriate UK and European Community procurement legislation as well as all other applicable laws.
Benefits
MoUs and BLAs can provide organisations with the following benefits:
- Public sector discounts from economies of scale.
- Relationships with existing resellers can be maintained.
- No need for specific negotiations.
- Standard terms and conditions for public sector.
Who can use these MOUs and BLAs?
In general, most public sector organisations can benefit from the terms of these agreements. Please contact Buying Solutions direct if in doubt about whether your organisation can utilise these agreements.
Current MOU and BLA Agreements
Software Vendor | Agreement Type |
Adobe | MOU |
| Huddle | MOU |
| Scalable Software Limited | MOU |
SAP | MOU |
Oracle | MOU |
Microsoft | PSA09 - 'Public Sector Agreement' |
For further information on these agreements please log on the Buying Solutions website .