The replacement public services network (PSN) network services framework appears to be more popular than its predecessor, according to industry body Innopsis.

Innopsis, the industry association for private sector suppliers to the public sector, said that customers have issued 368 requests for proposals under the new framework, RM1045, since it was introduced at the end of July last year.

Under previous PSN services and connectivity frameworks, only 200 contract awards were made each year.

Kelvin Prescott, information director at Innopsis, said: “The use of the framework is accelerating and it’s reasonable to expect an annualised rate of tenders well in excess of 500.

“That compares with a rate of about 200 per annum in the previous PSN frameworks. In short, things seem to be shaping up pretty nicely.”

However, he qualified his remarks by pointing out that it is impossible to tell how many RFIs will turn into signed contracts.

“In addition, we don’t know what the value of those contracts is, so we can’t say for certain whether the total amount of spend is higher or lower,” he said.

He called for better information on direct awards under the framework, to give a complete picture of the adoption of RM1045.

Consisting of 59 suppliers and ten lots, with over 30% small and medium enterprises, the Framework replaced the previous PSN Services and PSN connectivity frameworks.

Prescott said that under the old regime, “some lots saw very high levels of activity whilst others were more or less unused.”