Personal computer (PC) operating system software package

Choose 48624000 when the operating system targets ordinary PCs, the desktops and laptops your staff use, rather than another class of machine. The sibling codes exist precisely to keep machine classes apart: a mainframe OS is 48621000, a minicomputer OS is 48622000, a microcomputer OS is 48623000, and open-systems operating systems sit at 48625000.

The practical trigger is the estate. Contracting authorities reach for this code when they are licensing or relicensing the operating system across a fleet of PCs, very often as part of a Microsoft enterprise or framework agreement that also sweeps in productivity software, server access and support. That bundling is the norm here, not the exception, and it is visible in the award titles below.

This creates a tagging judgement call. When a single contract licenses the PC operating system alongside office software, server access licences and cloud subscriptions, set the primary CPV code by whichever element is the dominant purpose. Where the operating-system estate genuinely leads, 48624000 fits. Where the office suite or a broader software bundle leads, a more general software-package or licensing code is the better primary tag.

On the evidence, this is an enterprise-licensing market, not a market for shrink-wrapped operating systems. Most awards run through volume-licensing channels, and the realistic field is large software resellers and licensing-solution partners rather than software authors. If you are not an authorised reseller for the platform in question, there is little room to bid.

The disclosed mean of about €4.0M (TED 2009-2026) makes these contracts substantial, but it reflects estate-wide bundles, so size the opportunity by seat count and contract term, not by the per-licence price. What carries a bid here is licensing-program accreditation, the ability to administer multi-year agreements and true-ups, and a clean record on volume-licensing compliance. Headline discount matters, but program standing and account continuity matter more, and incumbency on an existing enterprise agreement is hard to displace.

The concentration in a handful of countries, with Slovakia, Germany and Romania placing the most (TED 2009-2026), points to centralised public-sector framework buying. Suppliers who win here are usually already on those frameworks. Neighbouring bidders arrive from the general software-package and licensing codes; the OS line is rarely the whole prize.