Arts Council cloud grant-management system

Verified opportunity overview

The Arts Council is procuring a configurable cloud-hosted COTS platform for application, assessment, award, monitoring, reporting and finance-system integration, with a phased proof of concept before production. The official procurement workspace remains the controlling source for supplier decisions and current documents.

Current status and key dates

The opportunity lifecycle is open. The controlling submission deadline is 2 October 2026, 17:00 Europe/Dublin; status must be reopened before any later publication or supplier action.

Scope and deliverables

The objective of this procurement is to secure a modern, cloud-hosted, configurable off-the-shelf Grant Management System capable of supporting the full grant lifecycle for applicants, assessors, panellists, and Arts Council staff. The solution will provide a secure and accessible digital platform for application management, assessment workflows, award administration, post-award monitoring, reporting, and integration with the Arts Council’s existing Finance Management System. The organisation's strategic preference is for a solution that requires minimal custom development and can be configured using standard platform functionality. The replacement programme will be delivered through a phased implementation approach centred on the successful completion of a Proof of Concept (PoC) using a live Arts Council funding programme. This approach is intended to validate vendor capability, system performance, user experience, and organisational readiness before progressing to full production deployment. The Arts Council is seeking a long-term technology partner capable of delivering a proven solution while supporting a structured, low-risk transition from the existing environment. The new system must support bilingual service delivery (Irish and English), modern digital user experiences, robust security controls, workflow automation, management reporting, and interoperability with current and future finance platforms. The solution should also align with public sector best practice, including cloud-first principles, accessibility requirements, data protection obligations, cybersecurity standards, and emerging NIS2 requirements. This description is deliberately bounded to what the official public workspace states and does not extend unstated deliverables.

Lots and contract structure

Refer to the current official procurement documents. Complete lot schedules, quantities, specifications and allocation mechanics remain within the live procurement documents.

Supplier requirements

Refer to the current official procurement documents. Suppliers must use the official documents rather than this research brief to determine eligibility and compliance.

Submission and award method

The official procedure is Competitive with negotiation. The submission deadline is 2 October 2026, 17:00 Europe/Dublin. The evaluation mechanism is Most Economically Advantageous Tender (MEAT). The workspace identifies directive 2014/24/EU (Classic). The workspace marks the procurement as above threshold. The clarification deadline is 25 September 2026, 12:00 Europe/Dublin. Tender opening is stated as 2 October 2026, 17:30 Europe/Dublin. An online expression of interest is required. Multiple tenders are accepted. Tender validity is 180 days. These are current official submission mechanics; the procurement documents remain authoritative for response forms and eligibility.

Value explanation

The displayed value is EUR 1,800,000. An estimate is not guaranteed expenditure, supplier revenue, call-off volume or realised award value.

Amendments and status history

The public workspace should be checked for later clarifications, deadline changes, document replacements, cancellations, awards and other status notices before acting.

Supplier relevance

Relevant to grant-management platform providers able to meet bilingual, accessibility, cloud, security, data-protection, integration and long-term support requirements. Relevance does not establish eligibility, capacity, selection or likely award for any specific supplier.

Procurement data limitations and missing details

EUR 1,800,000 is the official estimated procurement value, not guaranteed spend or supplier revenue. This competition does not prove vendor selection, proof-of-concept success, production deployment, migration completion or realised service outcomes. Missing facts are preserved as unknowns and are not inferred from comparable procurements, market prices or supplier assumptions.

Official sources and verification history

Primary evidence is the official procurement source at https://www.etenders.gov.ie/epps/cft/prepareViewCfTWS.do?resourceId=8978060, checked on 5 September 2026. The current official documents remain authoritative.