What is the Digital Outcomes and Specialists framework?
Digital Outcomes and Specialists (DOS) is the Government Commercial Agency (formerly Crown Commercial Service) framework for procuring outcome-based digital projects and specialist digital resource from the public sector market. It has run since 2016, is now in its seventh iteration (DOS7, RM1043.9) and has become one of the most widely used digital procurement routes in UK government, covering everything from service design and agile development to user research and data engineering.
After DOS6 the route was split for a period into Digital Outcomes (DO) and Digital Specialists and Programmes (DSP). Both have now been brought back together in Digital Outcomes and Specialists 7 (DOS7, RM1043.9), run by the Government Commercial Agency, and DSP expired on 30 May 2026. If you or your buyers refer to "DOS framework", "Digital Outcomes and Specialists", or "DOS tenders", they are most likely looking at DOS7 opportunities. TenderSignal covers the publicly advertised notices for it.
Digital Outcomes vs Digital Specialists
DOS7 separates two procurement models in Lot 1 (Digital Outcomes) and Lot 3 (Digital Specialists), alongside lots for capability and delivery partners and user research. Digital Outcomes is for outcome-based contracts: the buyer describes what they need delivered, and suppliers propose their approach, team, and price. It is used for discovery and alpha phases of new digital services, end-to-end delivery of specific digital products, and bounded transformation projects with defined outcomes.
Digital Specialists (DOS7 Lot 3, which replaced the Digital Specialists and Programmes framework) is for resource-based contracts: the buyer specifies a role (delivery manager, software developer, UX designer, service designer, product manager, business analyst, data engineer, security architect) and suppliers provide appropriately skilled individuals at an agreed day rate. The Digital Specialists lot is used when buyers need to augment their in-house digital teams for a period, or when projects are scoped on a time-and-materials basis.
Day rates for digital specialists vary by role and seniority, from junior developers and business analysts through to senior architects, technical leads, and delivery managers, and are set out in each supplier's framework pricing.
Who uses Digital Outcomes and Specialists?
The primary buyers are central government digital teams and the Government Digital Service (GDS) supply chain. HMRC, DVLA, DWP, Ministry of Justice, Home Office, and NHS England are significant spenders. NHS digital transformation programmes, local authority digital services teams, police digital units, and devolved administration digital teams also use the frameworks. The common factor is buyers who have adopted agile delivery and GDS service design principles and need external digital capability to supplement their in-house teams.
Types of opportunities
Under Digital Outcomes, common opportunity types include: alpha and discovery phases for new government services (typically 8 to 12 weeks, small multidisciplinary team), live service development and iteration, legacy system migration and replacement, data and analytics platform development, accessibility audit and remediation, and content design for government-facing digital services.
Under the Digital Specialists lot, buyers post role requirements specifying skills, experience level, security clearance requirement, and duration. Common roles include delivery manager, senior developer (full-stack, front-end, back-end), DevOps engineer, data engineer, data scientist, UX designer, service designer, user researcher, and product manager.
Relevant CPV codes include 72212000 (programming services of application software), 72000000 (IT services), 72222300 (information technology services), and 80000000 (education and training) for digital skills programmes.
How to apply for Digital Outcomes and Specialists
DOS7 is an open framework under the Procurement Act 2023, so the Government Commercial Agency reopens it to new suppliers at set points. Suppliers submit capability evidence, complete supplier declarations, and agree to framework terms. For Digital Outcomes, you demonstrate capability across relevant service areas. For the Digital Specialists lot, you list the roles you can supply, the day rates for each, and the evidence of capability for each role.
Familiarity with the GDS service standard is expected for suppliers applying to Digital Outcomes. Most opportunity notices specify which phase of the service standard the work falls under (discovery, alpha, beta, live), and your service definition should reflect experience at the relevant phases.
How TenderSignal covers Digital Outcomes and DSP opportunities
TenderSignal monitors when DOS7 reopens to new suppliers on Find a Tender, alerting you before the window closes. It also captures direct digital procurement exercises issued by NHS bodies, councils, and other public sector buyers outside these frameworks, which represent a substantial volume of digital spend that never goes through GCA at all. Set your digital CPV codes and receive a matched digest covering both framework application notices and open market digital tenders, weekly free or daily on Pro. See also: G-Cloud framework opportunities and IT and software tenders.
Digital Outcomes tender FAQ
Is DOS still active?
Yes. After DOS6 the route was split into Digital Outcomes (DO) and Digital Specialists and Programmes (DSP), and both have now been superseded by Digital Outcomes and Specialists 7 (DOS7, RM1043.9); DSP expired on 30 May 2026. If you are not yet on DOS7, you will need to apply when it next reopens to new suppliers. TenderSignal alerts you when these windows are advertised on Find a Tender.
What are the IR35 implications for DSP placements?
IR35 (off-payroll working rules) assessment is the buyer's responsibility for public sector engagements. When a buyer engages an individual through DOS7 on a day rate basis, they must carry out a status determination and issue a Status Determination Statement (SDS). Suppliers who place individuals through DOS7 should understand how this affects their payment model and ensure their consultants are aware of the determination process. The specifics depend on the individual engagement and buyers' own policies.