Contracting, Purchasing and Finance (CP&F) and Defence Sourcing Portal (DSP) tools
Updated 23 August 2023
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The Ministry of Defence is pleased to announce that the Defence Sourcing Portal (DSP), the new official one-stop-shop for contract opportunities, tendering and information on doing business with the Ministry of Defence, is now live. With effect from Monday 15th February 2021, all new MOD contract opportunities will be advertised and tendered on the DSP.
Please note that MOD opportunities advertised on Defence Contract Online (DCO) prior to the 15th February 2021 will be processed to conclusion on DCO.
Introduction to CP&F
The CP&F programme is about the provision of an end to end eProcurement system and associated business processes which span the commercial, purchasing and financial accounting functions for the department. As an extension to this it includes the provision of more complete, reliable and accurate management information.
The programme is being rolled out in phases. This started with Release 2: the finance functionality, which happened in December 2016. Followed by Release 3: demand capture and contract management, which was implemented to different teams from May 2018 to December 2018.
The final release, has delivered e-Catalogues (formerly known as Government eMarketplace (GeM)) and the E-Sourcing capability will be implemented in the financial year 2020/21.
Latest news
The Defence Sourcing Portal (DSP) is now live!
It gives us great pleasure to announce that the new Defence Sourcing Portal (DSP) went live as planned on the 15 February 2021.
The DSP is now the MODs strategic platform for advertising new opportunities, conducting pre-qualification, tendering and subsequently the evaluation of tender submissions.
We’d like to thank you for your support so far in helping achieve this important milestone.
As market opportunities are defined by the MOD they will be advertised on the DSP, the volume of these will ramp up over the coming weeks.
We are still in a transition phase as we conclude opportunities on our legacy platform (Defence Contracts Online) and ramp up the use of the DSP. It’s key that you don’t miss any opportunities, please see below a reminder on navigating the transition period.
1. Managing Opportunities during Transition
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Up to the 15 of February 2021 we will still advertise and run pre-qualification for new opportunities on our legacy platform, Defence Contracts Online (DCO). Opportunities started on DCO will remain there until they close, we will retire the platform once all ongoing opportunities on DCO are concluded.
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From the 15 February 2021, all new opportunities will be advertised and tendered on the DSP. Any opportunities published prior to the 15th will continue to be completed on DCO.
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Both the DSP and DCO publish opportunities on the Contracts Finder and Find a Tender portals. For the period up to the point that all opportunities on DCO close, there will be opportunities on Contracts Finder & Find a Tender that have originated from either DCO or the DSP. It’s important to register interest for opportunities on the platform they originated from.
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The publishing date on the opportunity is the primary reference to use, however, we will ensure that there is further support and guidance covering this both on the published opportunities and on the DSP homepage.
2. Using the DSP
The DSP Supplier User Guide is now available, both on the DSP login landing page for those already registered, and under ‘DSP Useful documents’ further down on this page.
Please note that there is absolutely no charge for registering or using the DSP. The DSP help desk is available if you are experiencing any issues. All details can be found at MOD Contracts page.
E-Catalogues
The E-Catalogues functionality first went live on 22 June 2020.
Technology products, Furniture and Office Solutions catalogues are now available to MOD users on the Government e-Marketplace. It is planned that additional catalogues will be transitioned from existing MOD infrastructure to the Government e-Marketplace during 2021. Further details on this will be shared in due course.
Access to the e-Catalogues provides iProcurement Users with real time pricing, so out-of-date catalogue item pricing and information will no longer cause additional processing. For Suppliers, content only needs to be held in one system, updates to content can be made quickly and easily and MOD Customers are able to view detailed information on the products available for purchase.
Further Information
A ‘CP&F End to End Guide Including Exostar’ has been produced.
If you are experiencing any issues relating to your contracts in the first instance please contact your commercial manager. The Defence Business Services (DBS) enquiry centre can be contacted from 8:00am to 4:00pm, Monday to Friday, on +44 (0)151 242 2000 or via email on dbscs-ecfinanceteam@mod.uk.
The programme team is also providing direct support to suppliers and can be contacted on defcomrcl-systemsguidance@mod.gov.uk.
Should you have any questions about managing your contract please engage with your MOD commercial officer directly.
Defence Business Services (DBS) enquiry centre for CP&F system support can be contacted between 8:00am to 4:00pm, Monday to Friday on +44 (0)151 242 2000 option 2, or via email on dbscs-ecfinanceteam@mod.uk.
DSP Supplier Communications
Defence Sourcing Portal – Introducing the new MOD E-Sourcing Platform - A Forzani letter
Defence Sourcing Portal – Implementation Update - A Forzani letter
Defence Sourcing Portal (DSP) - Implementation Update number 3 - A Forzani letter
Defence Sourcing Portal (DSP) - Implementation Update number 4 - A Forzani letter
Defence Sourcing Portal (DSP) - Implementation Update number 5 - A Forzani letter
Defence Sourcing Portal (DSP) - Implementation Update number 6 - A Forzani letter
Defence Sourcing Portal (DSP) – Go-Live – A Forzani Letter
DSP Useful documents
*Defence Sourcing Portal (DSP) - JA Supplier Handbook - Supplier User Guide