Probrand has landed a 'best value best practice' accreditation for its innovative 'theitindex.co.uk/gov' system from the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England & Wales (ICAEW).

Probrand, based in Birmingham, says the award reflects its claim to be the first official government supplier to offer reassurance to prospective public sector customers that they are buying into genuine best value best practice procurement.

The ICAEW has recognised theitindex.co.uk/gov as a European benchmark for delivering consistent time and fiscal savings through an efficient online procurement process.

The system daily updates a list of 100,000 IT products from 1,200 suppliers by best price and availability.

Product prices are aggregated and users see the current UK best value from multiple suppliers, allowing users to make an intuitive purchasing choice for best value IT.

For example, theitindex.co.uk/gov recently helped Coventry Council's Woodway Park School shave ten per cent off its IT budget and four working days a month in time.

As a result, the school has been able to buy more for the same budget, delivering better, faster technology education to its pupils.

Vice-chairman of the ICAEW's IT Faculty, John Oates, said: "Given procurement is focused on generating efficiencies in both time and money to ultimately add value to the bottom line, we felt that as an Institute of financial practitioners it was appropriate for us to take the initiative and launch an accreditation that qualifies and recognises best value and best practice procurement.

"Theitindex.co.uk/gov offers public sector organisations a boxed and ready solution that will swiftly help them make cashable and non-cashable savings in the area of IT procurement. This accreditation has the potential to shape the future course of public sector procurement."

Probrand Group's head of new business development, Stephen Bushell, also said: "Since the Efficiency Review by Government, there has been considerable debate around best value best practice processes in procurement.

"The Transformational Government paper also stimulated much discussion around how best value practices would and could deliver the efficiency savings demanded by the chancellor.

"We knew we had a solution that consistently delivers best value IT goods through a best practice process.

"It offers a structured approach that continues to help public sector organisations save time and money. We were so confident the solution would pass the ultimate test that we submitted it for accreditation.

"Now we are the first ever UK operation to offer a procurement tool with a genuine seal of approval that explicitly badges the solution as offering what public sector procurement circles have been debating for years - best value, best practice, available now; proven and working with several thousand users. Public sector organisations can enjoy free sign-up and purchase IT.

"They have total reassurance that they are operating best practice, best value within the guidelines laid down by Government."