22/06/2017 - Direction Générale de la Présidence, Direction de la Séance Plénière, Unité du Courrier Officiel

TED Reference: 2017/S 118-236118

TED Reference (Corrigendum): 2017/S 174-355563

EP Reference/: EP/DGPRES/ERMS/2017/021

Time limit for receipt of tenders: 27/10/2017

TITLE: Acquisition and implementation of an Electronic Records Management System (ERMS)

QUESTION 1

I would like to know for how many accounts this is required.

ANSWER 1

The chapter 2.1 of the "Annex I Technical specifications" describes requirements about licenses and the chapter 4.5.1 of the same document specifies the number of users and applications expected to use the system end 2020.  See these two chapters for further information.

The license must cover at least 7.000 persons (see Error: Reference source not found of Annex I Technical specifications).

The European Parliament favours a global unlimited licence for the entire institution, instead of having a license that is limited to a certain number of users/records/processors/...

If the license is limited, it must be possible to extend it to additional users of the Parliament.

The usage data of the ERMS end 2020 (the expected first complete year with the system deployed), including records stored in GEDA and new records, registered both directly through the ERMS user interface or from applications integrated with ERMS, is estimated as follows:

End 2020 (ERMS - first usage year)

Number of users 7 000Number of records 2 200 000Number of new records/year 500 000Number of concurrent users (peak) 300Number of applications using records management services from ERMS

12

...

QUESTION 2

How many people will be deployed with the solution?

ANSWER 2

The chapter 6.2 of Annex I Technical specifications describes resources' requirements for the deployment of the ERMS.

The Contractor must setup a dedicated team for the Deployment project. The team must include at least persons working under the following roles:

- Project manager: overall responsibility and coordination of the work and resources- Analyst: analysis of EP requirements- Architect: technical design of the solution- Development Specialist: installation, configuration, customisation (including migrations) and

data migration- Tester: functional and non-functional testing of the solution deployed- Trainer: training of all the other persons except the normal end users

The number and roles of the external staff required to maintain the system working (once it has been rolled-out) will be defined during the deployment project.

...

QUESTION 3

“File XX_annex_VIII.2_declaration_compatibility_EP_IT_environment (Annex VIII.2 Declaration concerning the compatibility with the European Parliament’s IT environment)” asks the tenderer to declare that the proposed solution will be fully compatible with the European Parliament's IT environment requirements, which are defined in file “VII_annex_III.1_PE_IT_Environment”.

Furthermore, the file “VIII_annex_III.2_EP_development_standards_overview” specifies standards which MUST be taken into account for any new software developments produced for the European parliament. Most of those requirements are similar to the ones specified in Annex III.1 but not always.

a) For example, the Annex III.1 defines ARIS Connect as BPM standard while the Annex III.2 specifies Activiti as the standard Workflow tool.

Workflows are one of the requirements of this tender and it is clear that each of those standards significantly reduces the amount of products which can be proposed as ERMS solution and that no solution can be compatible with both.

Are we correct in assuming that a solution relying on its own workflow system be accepted by the EP?

b) Still related to the compatibility with the IT environment: we understand from the 2 annexes that the Application Server is limited to Tomcat, which again very much reduces the number of possible solutions that could be offered to the EP and would automatically exclude some providers.

An ERMS that matches most of the EP requirements shouldn't be considered as another Web Application which would be deployed in the PE web server farm, but should be considered as global platform that includes all the back-end services, development tools and applications that address both record and process management requirements.

In order to have the possibility to take advantage of a larger range of ERMS, would a solution relying on another system like Oracle WebLogic Server or IBM WebSphere Application Server be accepted by the EP?

c) Tomcat is mentioned as the WAS in the application "A" domain. Does that mean that java web applications are to be deployed on Tomcat and no other or additional web application server is admitted in the data center even though they are an integrated part of the solution?

ANSWER 3

European Parliament’s requirement to have an off-the-shelf product implies some flexibility.

For the sub-question 1.a), a solution relying on its own workflow system will be accepted by the EP.

For the sub-questions 1.b) and 1.c), the proposal will not be rejected but will be subject to an assessment of the operational implications. The deviation from the PE standard must remain minimal in order to limit operating costs (both human and technical).

The proposed technologies should not make use of proprietary technology that implies specific requirements not covered by the European Parliament.

...

QUESTION 4

Having carefully read V_annex_I_technical_specifications (p. 12, section 3.3.6 Management of the filing plan followed by 3.3.7 Management of the functional classification scheme), we are still unclear about the way you see these functioning together in the use of the records management repository. Could you please specify and provide examples?

ANSWER 4

The purpose of the two-fold structure (filing plan and functional classification scheme) is to associate each folder with two “properties”: a property that specifies its business activity and another property that specifies the “type” of the folder and its retention policy.

For example, let us assume that the department responsible for the organisation of plenary sessions launches a call for tender for the acquisition of a specific software to manage the agenda of plenary sessions. A folder named “Call for tender 123-2017 software for management of agenda of plenary sessions” would be created and linked to the heading of the filing plan “Institutional matters -> Plenary sessions -> Organisation of plenary sessions -> Agendas of plenary sessions” and to the functional class “Procurement -> Tendering -> Tender”.

Let us suppose that the Medical Service launches a call for tender for the acquisition of some medical material. The folder could be named “Call for tender 234-2017 material ABC for the Medical Service” and linked to the heading of the filing plan “Resources management -> Human resources -> Health and social matters -> Working environment” and to the same functional class as before: “Procurement -> Tendering -> Tender”.

In this case, the two folders are attached to different branches of the filing plan but share the same functional class, and consequently, have the same retention policy. All folders related to the management of the agendas of plenary sessions are attached to the same heading of the filing plan but they may be linked to different functional classes. Similarly, all folders that refer to the organisation and execution of call for tenders are attached to the same functional class but each folder is linked to a different business activity branch of the filing plan.

The ERMS must allow to create and manage the two structures (a filing plan and a functional classification scheme) and to link folders to a component of each structure (a business activity and a functional class/retention policy), in order to make the management of folders and their preservation easier.

...

QUESTION 5

External users: the RFP refers to the creation of external users (external consultants and Members of the Parliament, p. 9 of V_annex_I_technical_specifications) in the Records Management system in light of notifications and direct access to Parliamentary records. Can you provide us more details on the composition of the external audience who will be accessing records? How broad is this audience expected to be and can you estimate the number of users involved (indication of the amount)?

ANSWER 5

It is expected that the system will initially be used by about 7.000 users, mainly from the administration staff. However, this figure could increase in future if other users, like Members of the Parliament, Parliamentary Assistants, staff from Political groups, etc use the ERMS, either directly or through applications connected to the ERMS. The additional audience can be roughly estimated to 4.000 users.

We remind that the European Parliament favours a global unlimited license for the entire Institution instead of having a license that is limited to a certain number of users/records/processors/...

QUESTION 6

"be submitted in two electronic copies on CD or DVD which are identical to the signed original tender submitted on paper" (document: II_Conditions_submitting_tender, concerned page: 4, concerned chapter/paragraph: 4). Can we also deliver the tender on an usb-stick?

ANSWER 6

Yes, we can accept usb-stick.

QUESTION 7

“Deadline for sending replies:15/09/2017” (document: II_Conditions_submitting_tender, concerned page: 3, concerned chapter/paragraph: 2). There is only one week between receiving the replies and submitting the tender. Is it possible to extend the submission deadline with 1 week so we have more time to process all the received replies?

ANSWER 7

No, we consider that no relevant new information but only some clarifications have been provided and the reply to your questions is published two weeks before the deadline for sending offers.

QUESTION 8

"The Tenderer shall furnish proof in the form of certificates issued or countersigned bythe customers that the number of users and records..." (document: III_tender_specifications, concerned page: 15, concerned chapter/paragraph: 14.3.b). Do you have a form template for the customer reference or do we need to create our own?

ANSWER 8

There is no compulsory form template. You can use your own form provided that the requested information is supplied.

QUESTION 9

"The Tenderer shall furnish proof in the form of certificates issued or countersigned bythe customers that the number of users and records..." (document: III_tender_specifications, concerned page: 15, concerned chapter/paragraph: 14.3.b). The EP requests a signed reference statement from a customer. Customers that want to act as a reference have indicated that. Can the EP agree for the first selection phase that a summary of our main relevant references (with details) is enough (indicating there are plenty of references available) and that EP can contact them after the first selection phase?

ANSWER 9

The provision of at least three certificates signed by customers is one of the selection criteria to assess the technical and professional capacity of the tenderer. Certificates cannot be provided after the selection phase. Exceptionally we can accept a signed (pdf) copy of such certificates provided that the originals will be sent to the European Parliament at first request.

QUESTION 10

"The new policy states that important documents, whatever their format (electronic, paper, video...), must be registered and filed in folders which must be attached to a Parliament's filing plan, stored according to a corporate retention list and transferred to the Historical Archives or disposed after the administrative retention period." (document: V_annex_I_technical_specifications, concerned page: 5, concerned chapter/paragraph: 1.1). Can we get a copy of the records management policy currently existing at EP?

ANSWER 10

You will find attached a copy of the records management policy, which includes two documents: the Bureau Decision of 2 July 2012 and the Implementing measures adopted by the Secretary-General on 25 October 2013.

QUESTION 11

"In parallel, the Parliament is developing records management tools (filing plan, common retention list and functional classification scheme), reviewing current document management working procedures and promoting staff awareness." (document: V_annex_I_technical_specifications, concerned page: 5, concerned chapter/paragraph: 1.1). Which tooling/products are currently used to support the document management cases?

ANSWER 11

The tools mentioned in the paragraph refer to internal policies and procedures, not to IT software.

QUESTION 12

"The filing plan consists of a number of headings which are organised in a mono-hierarchical (1-to-N relationship) manner and which reflect all the activities of the Parliament, from the most general (first level heading) to the most detailed (terminal heading)." (document: V_annex_I_technical_specifications, concerned page: 7, concerned chapter/paragraph: 1.3.3). Can we get a snippet of the filing plan and classification scheme existing at EP?

ANSWER 12

You will find attached a chapter of the Parliament’s filing plan (chapter 6 on Multilingualism).

The functional classification scheme is under preparation. The answer 4 presents an example of functional class combined with two headings of the filing plan. QUESTION 13

"The Historical Archives are in the process of replacing the current system (Clara) by a new application (Clavis), which is currently under development." (document: V_annex_I_technical_specifications, concerned page: 16, concerned chapter/paragraph: 3.5.1). Do we have integration/import possibilities described of Clavis?

ANSWER 13

Data may be imported in Clavis via webservices.

QUESTION 14

"The Historical Archives are in the process of replacing the current system (Clara) by a new application (Clavis), which is currently under development." (document: V_annex_I_technical_specifications, concerned page: 16, concerned chapter/paragraph: 3.5.1). How does Clavis expects data to be delivered?

ANSWER 14

Clavis expects to import data in XML format based on ead3.

QUESTION 15

"For this purpose, the ERMS must allow users to tag records for transfer to the ERR. The system needs to transfer at a regular basis a copy of all tagged records to the ERR" (document: V_annex_I_technical_specifications, concerned page: 16, concerned chapter/paragraph: 3.5.2). How will project be able to communicate with ERR?

ANSWER 15

Via webservices.

QUESTION 16

"For this purpose, the ERMS must allow users to tag records for transfer to the ERR. The system needs to transfer at a regular basis a copy of all tagged records to the ERR" (document: V_annex_I_technical_specifications, concerned page: 16, concerned chapter/paragraph: 3.5.2). How can a solution integrate to import fresh data? 

ANSWER 16

Via webservices.

QUESTION 17

"The ERMS must also allow exporting entities to another application, operation by which those entities can be described in sufficient detail in a common XML data format, so that their metadata values, event histories, access controls and content can be preserved and transferred" (document: V_annex_I_technical_specifications, concerned page: 18, concerned chapter/paragraph: 3.6.4). Please describe what is an external entity?

ANSWER 17

External entities are “external persons or organisations encoded in the ERMS as senders/recipients metadata” (3.6.4).

The paragraph mentioned refers to the possibility of exporting a specific set of metadata of several types of objects (e.g. records, folders, headings of the filing plan...) to another application in XML format.

QUESTION 18

"The ERMS should provide system administrators with monitoring programs so that they are able to regularly monitor the use of the system." (document: V_annex_I_technical_specifications, concerned page: 19, concerned chapter/paragraph: 3.6.4). Has the EP already an overall integrated monitoring tool for installed applications?

ANSWER 18

On a pure technical level, the EP is using systems like Nimsoft, Zabbix, etc to monitor the health of the different environments on which the applications are running. Applications can integrate with these tools using standard protocols (SNMP, etc) to communicate technical data reflecting their internal status and conditions (error messages, etc). Alternatively applications can use syslog to integrate their logs in system logs that can be monitored by EP tools.

Furthermore, other EP information systems are using Business Objects as a mean to produce reporting useful for application users. ERMS could provide a universe with reports covering similar functionality.

Finally, specific application usage monitoring is often achieved by special reports and screens provided by the application itself.

QUESTION 19

"For each marking, it must be possible to define: (1) users allowed to apply the marking and (2) users allowed to consult records with that marking." (document: V_annex_I_technical_specifications, concerned page: 22, concerned chapter/paragraph: 3.7.6). Is there a need to put more than one marking on a specific record?

ANSWER 19

No, one marking is sufficient.

QUESTION 20

"The following table shows the expected usage data of GEDA end 2017" (document: V_annex_I_technical_specifications, concerned page: 28, concerned chapter/paragraph: 4.5.1). Can you deliver information on amount of data/Storage/Number of documents/compound records/single records?

ANSWER 20

GEDA only deals with compound records called "record cards". The number of documents can vary a lot from one record card to another, therefore is difficult to tell the number of documents stored in the database. The number of record cards is approaching 1.700.000 and the database size is around 5 TB.

QUESTION 21

"Before the ERMS goes in production, the records stored in GEDA have to be migrated to the ERMS so that GEDA may be abandoned. Thus, when the roll-out of the ERMS is completed, GEDA will be available neither for registering nor for consulting record cards." (document: V_annex_I_technical_specifications, concerned page: 46, concerned chapter/paragraph: 3.2.4). How can we integrate with GEDA to support migration?

ANSWER 21

Via webservices.

QUESTION 22

"Before the ERMS goes in production, the records stored in GEDA have to be migrated to the ERMS so that GEDA may be abandoned. Thus, when the roll-out of the ERMS is completed, GEDA will be available neither for registering nor for consulting record cards." (document: V_annex_I_technical_specifications, concerned page: 46, concerned chapter/paragraph: 3.2.4). Is there an architectural document available?

ANSWER 22

There are architectural documents available documenting the way GEDA interconnects with other EP applications. All these connections (and the future connections with the new ERMS system) will be done through already existing web services. These webservices could be adapted to facilitate the data migration to the new ERMS.

QUESTION 23

"As explained in chapter 3.6.8, a remote connectivity using reverse-proxy and user authentication is available." (document: V_annex_I_technical_specifications, concerned page: 32, concerned chapter/paragraph: 4.7.4). Which technology is EP currently using in the overall IT environment to support 2-factor authentication?

ANSWER 23

There are several ways to support 2-factor authentication. The legacy way was to embed a Radius client in the application. This Radius client would connect to a Radius proxy that would validate the end-user's one-time-password (received by SMS or generated by a token). The new solution ('WebSSO') relies on the use of an OpenAM agent in each application (refer to https://forgerock.org/openam). This agent connects to the OpenAM servers that, based on policies, may request 2-factor authentication. In this case, the OTP is validated against Radius OTP servers via a Radius proxy.

Another way to support 2-factor authentication would be to rely on EU Login (previously known as 'ECAS', refer to https://webgate.ec.europa.eu/cas/about.html). By embedding the EU Login client (which is supported on different platforms: Weblogic, Tomcat, etc.) in the application, the application can request a 2-factor authentication to the end-user. The end-user can then authenticate via different means (EU Login mobile app (PIN or QR code), Mobile phone + SMS, token).

QUESTION 24

Migration of documents to the new ERMS system: Is migration of documents/records from current data repositories/archives/GEDA to the new ERMS anticipated? Is it in scope of this delivery?

ANSWER 24

The scope of the deployment project includes the migration to the ERMS of records stored only in GEDA, not in other repositories.

QUESTION 25

Quantitative measures: How many users do you expect to use the system in parallel (activities like search, document collaboration, document filing)?

ANSWER 25

The estimated number of concurrent users (peak) end 2020 (the expected first complete year with the system deployed) is 300 (see chapter 4.5.1 of the “Annex I Technical specifications”).

QUESTION 26

Quantitative measures: Solution infrastructure (servers) should be distributed over datacenters in order to ensure reasonable system response times. How many datacenters does the Parliament have?

ANSWER 26

The Parliament has 2 data centres at present and may have 3 in the future.

QUESTION 27

Paper documents / electronic media archives: How many physical archives are in operation?

ANSWER 27

The departments of the Parliament store paper documents in their local archives, which are transferred to the Historical Archives or disposed after the administrative retention period, according to the retention policy applicable.

In this context, the ERMS should allow users to assign folders an additional metadata (free text) to specify the physical location of the non-electronic documents/records filed in that folder.

QUESTION 28

Paper documents / electronic media archives: Do the archives use the same procedures for registering and filing records?

ANSWER 28

Folders may contain both electronic and paper documents. The administrative retention period and the disposal instruction of a folder apply to all records of that folder, regardless of their format (e.g. paper or electronic).

QUESTION 29

Paper documents / electronic media archives: Do you anticipate integration of any currently used devices (bar code scanners/printers etc.) with the new ERMS system?

ANSWER 29

It is expected to connect printers and scanners in order to allow users to print (e.g. the list of documents retrieved as a result of a search query, a report, etc) and to upload scanned documents. QUESTION 30

Technical and professional capacity of the Tenderer: When proposing a project team, might one expert be proposed for two different roles assuming that he fulfils the requirements for both?

ANSWER 30

No, the offer must include CVs of different persons that cover the minimum profiles specified in page 15 of the Annex III Tender specifications.

QUESTION 31

"When a written document is registered, the ERMS should automatically create a pdf version of the record and stamp a mark on it with the registration number and the registration date." (document: V_annex_I_technical_specifications, concerned page: 14, concerned chapter/paragraph: 3.3.9). Do we need to integrate with existing tooling for PDF conversion, or should the software for PDF conversion be included in the offer?

ANSWER 31

The offer should include PDF conversion software.

QUESTION 32

"By default, tasks are executed in the order in which they are defined in the workflow. However, it should be possible to bypass steps in the workflow, once the workflow has started." (document: V_annex_I_technical_specifications, concerned page: 21, concerned chapter/paragraph: 3.7.3). How should we interpret the capability to 'bypass steps' in the workflow? Does this mean a predefined process definition should be dynamically changed, or does it refer to the use of gateways?

ANSWER 32

Bypassing tasks refers to the possibility of dynamically changing a predefined workflow: e.g. a senior manager may decide to accelerate the validation process of a document by bypassing several intermediate open tasks; a user with the needed rights may bypass a given open task to avoid blocking the workflow in case of the unexpected absence of the recipient of that task.

QUESTION 33

"The ERMS must scan uploaded documents for viruses, by integrating with well-known industry anti- malware products." (document: V_annex_I_technical_specifications, concerned page: 26, concerned chapter/paragraph: 4.4.2). Does the EP have a preference for virus scanning technology to be integrated? If yes, does the EP already have the required licenses for this technology?

ANSWER 33

The EP uses different antimalware technologies to increase chances of detection of virus at different levels. The EP has already licences for the antimalware technologies. The tenderer must confirm to question 4.4.2.d (XV_annex_VI.1_requirements_questionnaire) that the product is able to integrate with well-known industry products and should also specify in the

open question 4.4.2.II (XVI_annex_VI.2_open_questions) what well-known industry anti-malware products are supported to scan uploaded documents for malicious content.

QUESTION 34

A service of us as integrator, is this seen as Customization Vendor?

ANSWER 34

No.

QUESTION 35

“Filing / 3.3.4.b) / Does the system allow multiple filing without creating duplicates of the documents/records? / 1. Must / The system allows filing a document/record in several folders without creating duplicates of the document/record. The system manages the possible different retention period of folders where the document/record is filed.”What is the philosophy behind this requirement? Should the document be centrally managed but available at multiple locations? Or is the requirement to have one document which is stored twice be managed as one document from storage perspective?

ANSWER 35

The rationale behind multiple filing is to allow EP departments to file the same document in different folders. For example, a department may register a document, file it in one of its folders and notify the record to another department, which may file the same record in one of its folders. The document is registered only once and there is only one record stored in the repository but that record is filed in several folders because it is relevant in several cases.

It is required to manage filing through a system of pointers instead of storing duplicates of a record when the latter is filed in several folders in order to ensure file consistency and because otherwise the repository could quickly become very big.

QUESTION 36

“Management of Folders / 3.3.5.m) / Does the system allow users to export the content of folders? / 2. Should / The system allows users to export the metadata of a folder and the metadata of documents/records filed in it to a document in docx, xlsx, pdf, xml or other formats.”Is the requirement to support all formats, or is one format sufficient?

ANSWER 36

One format is sufficient if it is widely used. More formats are desirable.

QUESTION 37

“Management of the Filing Plan / 3.3.6.b) / Does the system allow users to modify headings? / 1. Must / The user selects a heading and modifies a number of metadata, possibly adding a comment.” What do you mean by adding a comment to a heading? Where do you want this comment reflected, and can you give an example of this? Can we understand headings as a set of metadata which constitute a certain level of a filing plan?

ANSWER 37

Yes, a heading can be seen as a set of metadata which constitutes a certain level of a filing plan (see an example of a chapter of the filing plan in the document “XXIX. Filing Plan”). The

comment to the modification of a heading may be put in a specific metadata of that heading (free text).

The specification describes the result required but does not prescribe the way in which the concept of heading of the filing plan can be implemented.

QUESTION 38

“Preservation of the folders / 3.3.8.a) / Does the system manage folders' retention period and disposal policy? / 1. Must / When a folder is closed, the retention period associated to the functional class to which the folder is linked starts. The folder is preserved in the system during the retention period. At the end of it, the disposal policy associated to the functional class applies (elimination or transfer to the Historical Archives system).”How can we integrate with the historical archives system? What type of services does it accept?

ANSWER 38

The ERMS may integrate with the historical archives system via webservices. See answers 13 and 14.

QUESTION 39

“INTEGRATION WITH THE SYSTEM FOR THE MANAGEMENT OF ARCHIVES / 3.5.1.a) / Can the system transfer folders to an archiving system? / 1. Must / The system provides a well-managed process to transfer to the archiving system closed folders whose administration retention period has expired.”Is this archiving system again the historical archives? How is this reachable?

ANSWER 39

Yes, this question refers to the system for the management of historical archives. Integration may be implemented via webservices.

QUESTION 40

“RESOURCE UTILIZATION / 4.2.2.b) / Reporting does not affect end user performance (ref. response times)? / 2. Should / It is assumed that a separate reporting database should be used for all heavy reporting.”Can you give an example of heavy reporting?

ANSWER 40

We are currently data mining records stored in GEDA with Business Objects. The ERMS should be able to improve the existing reporting capabilities.

QUESTION 41

“MANAGEMENT OF DOCUMENTS AND RECORDS / 3.3.2.b) / Does the system associate metadata with documents and records? / 1. Must / Metadata must be captured as separate values in distinct fields for each content item described. Composite documents and records must be associated to aggregated metadata in addition to the metadata of each individual component.”Do we understand correctly that composite documents have a separate set of metadata, additional to the metadata of each of its components. Can you also give an example of the structure of a composite document?

ANSWER 41

Yes. For example, a document composed of a cover note and several annexes will have a separate set of metadata, in addition to the metadata of individual files (cover note and its annexes).

QUESTION 42

“FILING / 3.3.4.c) / Does the system allow users unfiling documents and records? / 1. Must / The user selects a document/record, one of the folders where it is filed and unfiles it. If the document/record is filed in only one folder, unfiling is not allowed.”Can you clarify what compromises the 'unfiling' of a document?

ANSWER 42

A user may unfile a document from a folder if the document does no longer concern the case or action corresponding to that folder. Unfiling a document from a folder implies that the properties associated to the folder don’t apply to the document. For example, if a user can access a document because the latter is filed in a folder and later the document is unfiled from that folder, the user will lose access to the document. Similarly, the administrative retention period and the disposal instruction of the folder will not apply to the document.

QUESTION 43

“BASIC SERVICES / 3.4.1.k) / "Does the system contain a well defined and documented interface that EP can use with it's java based applications to perform the following actions?- Manage folders / 2. Should”What's understood under managing folders? Create/modify/delete folders & manage permissions to these folders?

ANSWER 43

Yes.

QUESTION 44

The EP requires tenderers to have the following professional capacity: „a team of experts in the field covered by the invitation to tender comprising at least 12 persons, among whom at least one Senior Project Manager, 2 Senior Analysts, 3 Senior Developers, 2 Senior Trainers and 2 Senior Product experts“. You enumerate 10 profiles in the Tender Specifications but you ask for at least 12 persons. What about the remaining two? Is it up to us?

ANSWER 44

Yes, please complete the team of experts as you deem appropriate.

QUESTION 45

The MEPs and political groups do not currently use the system GEDA but in the future „external consultants and Members of the Parliament may also need to access the system (ERMS)“. How do you want to modify access policies for such a disparate and large groups?

ANSWER 45

Initially, it is expected that the system will be used mainly by the administration staff. However, in the future, other users like Members of the Parliament, Parliamentary Assistants, staff from Political groups, etc could use the ERMS, either directly or through applications connected to the ERMS, to manage specific types of documents.

In any case, the ERMS is not currently intended to contain documents held by Members of the Parliament or by political groups that have not been tabled in accordance with Parliament’s Rules of Procedure.

Access rights will be managed according to the nature of documents and to the needs of users.

QUESTION 46

In the tender documents you also mention the possibility „the ERMS would also be used in the future by … by other Institutions like National Parliaments, for instance for sharing records“. How much is it likely? Is there a possibility of linking with similar systems of other EU institutions and agencies?

ANSWER 46

There is currently no planned action to link the ERMS with similar systems of other Institutions. However, in the future, the Parliament and other Institutions could agree on sharing specific types of documents stored in the ERMS.

QUESTION 47

Which system of recording and monitoring of mails and documents is currently used by the political groups, MEPs and external consultants?

ANSWER 47

Members of the Parliament, Parliamentary Assistants, Political groups, etc use specific IT systems to manage documents, depending on the nature of the documents. If, in the future, these systems are linked with the ERMS, the integration may be implemented through webservices.

QUESTION 48

Do you expect an increase in the number of users in connection with the EP elections in 2019?

ANSWER 48

No.

QUESTION 49

The ERMS must be integrated with the Historical Archives´ IT system. The Historical Archives´ IT system (Clara) is in process of replacing by a new application (Clavis) – which is under development. Is under development of the EP staff of some external contractor? What is the schedule? When will it be completed?

ANSWER 49

The Historical Archives’ IT system is being developed by an external company and it is foreseen to put the system in production by end of October 2017.

QUESTION 50

If we understand it correctly, GEDA was developed years ago by EP staff, not by an external contractor… If GEDA authors/administrators are still in the EP is it possible to count with their expert advice/consultation during implementation of the ERMS?

ANSWER 50

Yes, the team responsible for the maintenance of GEDA will closely cooperate with the contractor, in particular to migrate the records stored in GEDA to the ERMS.

QUESTION 51

Integration with Reference data system (CODICT): as you wrote, technical documentation is currently available in French only. Do you suppose to make an English version?

ANSWER 51

There are no plans to add any additional translation of the documentation already available. However, the team responsible for CODICT is fluent in English and French and will cooperate closely with the contractor to integrate the ERMS with CODICT.

QUESTION 52

Regarding „Confidential non-classified documents“: We understand it as documents with sensitive financial/personal data. Who and when will decide which documents should fall into that category? How its existence is regulated by law?

ANSWER 52

The decision on whether a document is a confidential non-classified document or not, (i.e. whether the document must bear a marking or not) is taken on a case-by-case basis by the originator or the service in charge of the reception at the registration of the document, taking into account the need to protect the information contained in the document.

EP internal regulation is the legal basis for the treatment of these documents. The contractor will receive the necessary information to implement the markings.

QUESTION 53

By the Tender Documents, „EP will provide the Contractor a shared office space for the work foreseen to be done on-site premises“. Does it mean Brussels only or also Luxembourg and Strasbourg?

ANSWER 53

It means mainly Brussels but occasional presence in Luxembourg or Strasbourg cannot be dismissed.

QUESTION 54

"Concurrent users: users performing an action in the system at the same time. The usage data of the ERMS end 2020 (the expected first complete year with the system deployed),including records stored in GEDA and new records, registered both directly through the ERMS user interface or from applications integrated with the ERMS, is estimated as follows:" (document: V_annex_I_technical_specifications, concerned page: 28, concerned chapter/paragraph: 4.5.1).

It is stated that there will be 7000 users accessing the content. Also is mentioned that there will be several other applications that need to access the content. How many users will access the ERMS via integrations with the current EP applications? How many users need a separate new user interface to access the content?

ANSWER 54

The ERMS must provide a graphical user interface (only one) and a set of records management functions for other applications in the form of web services or other interfaces.

It is expected that applications managing documents that need to be registered and preserved will progressively be integrated with the ERMS. The number of users using ERMS functions through applications connected to the ERMS heavily depends on the rhythm of the implementation of integrations.

In any case, the number of users accessing the ERMS via integration with EP applications will be a part of the total number of users, which is estimated to 7000 initially and possibly additional 4000 in the future (see answer 5).

QUESTION 55

With reference to tendering specifications, our understanding is that in case of a joint offer (consortium), the Annex VIII.2 need to be filled and signed only once, by the Consortium leader. Can you please confirm our understanding?

ANSWER 55

Yes, we confirm.

QUESTION 56

According to II_Conditions_submitting_tender document and the Q&A no. 6, as concerns the copies of our proposal, our understanding is that we need to provide 1 signed ORIGINAL tender on paper and 2 electronic COPIES on CD or DVD or USB, which means that apart from the ORIGINAL hardcopy, the COPIES will be provided only in electronic means. Can you please confirm or else specify?

ANSWER 56

Yes, the tender must comprise a signed original on paper and 2 electronic copies on CD or DVD or USB (see answer 6).

QUESTION 57

Can you please specify what documents need to be provided in the offer in case of using freelancers?

ANSWER 57

If freelancers are proposed as members of the team of experts mentioned in the Tender specifications (point 14.3), it is necessary to include a declaration of availability in addition to the CVs.

QUESTION 58

VII_annex_III.1_PE_IT_Environment, 3.3 Servers, page 9. The current configuration overview of the IT environment says that there is an Oracle 11g R2 database in the current configuration. Since our ERMS solution is compatible with Oracle 11g we assume that we can leverage on the existing database and that no additional Oracle licenses should be quoted as part of our proposal. Please confirm the assumption.

ANSWER 58

Yes, the assumption is correct.

QUESTION 59

III_tender_specifications, 15. AWARD CRITERIA, page 21. On the top of page 21 the line says: “for the initial deployment, including software license, installation, configuration /customisation, maintenance, ……” And “for on-going services on an annual basis, including configuration/ customization, maintenance, ….…”. The solution we will be proposing is based on a perpetual license model with a one off cost and recurring yearly maintenance fees. Could you please confirm that the recurring maintenance fee is not included in the initial budget of 4.8 million nor included in the on-going annual services. Is this yearly maintenance to be presented elsewhere?

ANSWER 59

The yearly maintenance fee is to be included in the on-going annual services (see points 2.1 and 2.2 in the Annex VII-Price List and the lines Maintenance Warranty period/Beyond warranty in the Tender specifications page 20). The price used to compare tenders is the total price (the sum of the value of the contract for the supply and deployment and for 8 years of use, i.e. the last line in the Tender specifications page 20).

QUESTION 60

V_annex_I_technical_specifications.pdf: Section 3.3.9 Conversion of written records to pdf and stamping — Please clarify whether a "written document" is to be understood as a scan of a paper document. There is a reference to OCR capabilities in this section, which suggests such understanding.

ANSWER 60

“Written document” means either an editable document (e.g. MS Word, MS Excel) or a scanned image of a document. In either case, upon registration, the ERMS should create a PDF version. For the scanned image, OCR must be performed in order to allow future text manipulation on PDF documents.

QUESTION 61

VII_annex_III.1_PE_IT_Environment.pdf: Section 3.1.2 — What is the latency of the 1 Gbit and 10 Gbit links between Parliament's main sites? What are the options for reserving bandwidth / applying a QoS prioritization policy for ERMS traffic?

ANSWER 61

The backbone connectivity between the Parliament’s main datacenters (Brussels and Luxembourg) is 10 Gb/S, unsaturated and highly available. The latencies are inferior to 4 mS.

The backbone connectivity between the Parliament’s main sites (working places - Brussels, Luxembourg and Strasbourg) are the same, but the latencies varies, due to the distance:

Brussels - Strasbourg: < 13 mS Luxembourg - Strasbourg: < 9 mS Brussels - Luxembourg: < 5 mS

As of today, the quality of service is implemented only on the backbone for the service levels (e.g. video, voice...). The application level QoS is not implemented (as mentioned above, our backbones are unsaturated with the current usage).

QUESTION 62

VII_annex_III.1_PE_IT_Environment.pdf: Section 3.3, Database Management System — MS SQL Server is not listed. However, Microsoft SharePoint, which requires MS SQL Server, is utilized by the Parliament. Please clarify the availability of MS SQL Server instances, and what versions you have in place.

ANSWER 62

MS SQL is available. We currently support the versions 2012 up to 2016.

QUESTION 63

VII_annex_III.1_PE_IT_Environment.pdf: Section 3.4 — You are running 64-bit OS, but also state you run 32-bit MS Office 2013. The same information is provided "New configurations" column. Do you have plans for rolling out MS Office 2016 64-bit?

ANSWER 63

We have plans to migrate (soon) towards MS Office 2016. We will stick to the 32-bit version (for compatibility with other products or plugins).

QUESTION 64

VIII_annex_III.2_EP_development_standards_overview.pdf: Section 1.2.2, "Development of applications for the European parliament should globally conform to Java standards … … must NOT rely on other equivalent platforms (.Net, Page 2 of 2 LAMP…etc)" — How is this related to the ERMS, its customizations and/or custom applications built on top of it?

ANSWER 64

This is relevant for the development of peripheral applications to the ERMS at the server layer. For minor extensions or customisations, the ERMS technology can be used (see Annex I Technical specifications, section 5.6, point 3).

QUESTION 65

XVI_annex_VI.2_open_questions.docx: Question 3.6.4.III) "Explain how the ERMS allows to manage the creation and validation of new external senders/recipients metadata. (max. 1 page)" — what is "external senders/recipients metadata"?

ANSWER 65

External senders/recipients metadata are metadata that refer to persons or organisations external to the Parliament. For example, if a citizen sends a letter to the President of the Parliament, the letter will be registered in the ERMS along with associated metadata, including the name of the citizen as sender.

In order to homogenise the use of the "external senders/recipients metadata” and make records retrieval easier, these metadata need to be saved in the system and validated by authorised users. If a new mail to be registered contains senders/recipients which are not previously stored in the system, before users are allowed to use the new senders/recipients, the latter should be validated/activated by authorised users.