tender specifications - european...
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Commission européenne/Europese Commissie, 1049 Bruxelles/Brussel, BELGIQUE/BELGIË - Tel. +32 22991111
EUROPEAN COMMISSION Budget Resources
Tender specifications
Call for Tenders
for
Open Procedure Reference Number: BUDG16/PO/01
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Table of Contents
1. TITLE, PURPOSE AND CONTEXT OF THE PROCUREMENT ........................... 4
1.1. Title .................................................................................................................... 4
1.2. Purpose .............................................................................................................. 4
1.3. Context .............................................................................................................. 4
2. SUBJECT OF THE CONTRACT ............................................................................... 6
3. ORDERING PROCESSES ......................................................................................... 7
3.1. Fixed Price (FP) Orders ..................................................................................... 7
3.2. Quoted Time and Means (QTM) Orders ........................................................... 8
3.3. Time and Means (T&M) Orders ........................................................................ 9
3.4. Extensions ........................................................................................................ 11
3.4.1. Fixed Price (FP) ................................................................................. 11
3.4.2. Quoted Time & Means (QTM) .......................................................... 12
3.4.3. Time & Means (T&M) ...................................................................... 12
4. CASCADING MECHANISM .................................................................................. 14
5. ACCEPTANCE OF WORKS ................................................................................... 16
6. TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS ............................................................................ 17
6.1. Profiles ............................................................................................................. 17
6.2. Languages ........................................................................................................ 17
6.3. Working Hours ................................................................................................ 18
6.4. Work outside of Normal Working Hours ........................................................ 18
6.5. On-guard service ............................................................................................. 19
6.6. Place of work ................................................................................................... 19
6.7. Places of Delivery ............................................................................................ 19
6.8. Travels outside normal locations of deliveries ................................................ 19
6.9. Training ........................................................................................................... 20
6.10. Confidentiality ................................................................................................. 20
6.11. Code of Conduct .............................................................................................. 21
6.12. Security Clearance ........................................................................................... 21
6.13. Reporting ......................................................................................................... 21
7. ACCESS TO THE MARKET ................................................................................... 22
8. COLLABORATING WITH OTHER COMPANIES ............................................... 23
8.1. Joint Tenders ................................................................................................... 23
8.2. Subcontracting ................................................................................................. 24
9. ASSESSMENT OF TENDERERS AND OFFERS .................................................. 26
9.1. Exclusion criteria ............................................................................................. 26
9.1.1. Declaration of Honour (affidavit) ...................................................... 26
9.1.2. Evidence ............................................................................................ 27
9.2. Selection criteria .............................................................................................. 28
9.2.1. Economic and financial capacity ....................................................... 28
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9.2.1.1. Introduction ....................................................................... 28
9.2.1.2. Documentation to be supplied ........................................... 28
9.2.1.3. Questionnaire ..................................................................... 29
9.2.2. Technical and professional capacity .................................................. 29
9.3. Award criteria .................................................................................................. 30
9.3.1. Technical Evaluation ......................................................................... 30
9.3.1.1. Lot 1................................................................................... 30
9.3.1.2. Lot 2................................................................................... 32
9.3.1.3. Lot 3................................................................................... 35
9.3.1.4. Total Technical Scores - Formulas .................................... 38
9.3.2. Financial Evaluation .......................................................................... 38
9.3.3. Award ................................................................................................ 39
10. VOLUME OF THE CONTRACT ............................................................................ 40
11. PRICES AND REIMBURSEMENT OF EXPENSES .............................................. 41
11.1. Prices 41
11.2. Tax exemption ................................................................................................. 41
11.2.1. European Commission ....................................................................... 41
11.2.2. Other European institutions, bodies and agencies ............................. 41
11.3. Reimbursement of expenses ............................................................................ 41
12. INFORMATION ON DECLARATION OF ABSENCE OF CONFLICT OF
INTEREST ................................................................................................................ 42
13. PREPARING AND SUBMITTING THE OFFER ................................................... 43
13.1. Preparing your Offer ........................................................................................ 43
13.1.1. Receiving the tendering specifications .............................................. 43
13.1.2. Clarifying the tendering specifications .............................................. 43
13.1.3. Drawing up your offer ....................................................................... 43
13.1.3.1. Replying to mandatory questions ...................................... 43
13.1.3.2. Formal aspects ................................................................... 43
13.1.4. Specific requirements for the financial quotation.............................. 44
13.2. Submitting Your Offer .................................................................................... 44
14. LIST OF ANNEXES ................................................................................................. 45
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1. TITLE, PURPOSE AND CONTEXT OF THE PROCUREMENT
1.1. Title
Provision of Development, Implementation, Maintenance/Operations, advice and
consultancy services in accounting/finance and financial IT systems (“DIMOS IV”).
1.2. Purpose
This procurement relates to the provision of services to the Contracting Authorities
regarding:
- the area of financial/accounting advice and assistance. The European Commission
applies accrual accounting in preparing its annual accounts and follows rules
based on internationally accepted accounting standards for the public sector. The
accounts of the Commission and the EU are audited by the European Court of
Auditors;
- the area of the development and operations of accounting and financial
information technology systems.
The services can be used by all Directorate-Generals and Services of the European
Commission, and by any of the European institutions, bodies and agencies, specified in
the framework contracts.
1.3. Context
The financial accounts of the EU institutions are established by means of computerized
recording and processing.
A substantial number of financial IT systems, spanning low-volumes to high-volumes of
financial transactions, are used to enable modern financial accounting methods, including
accruals-based.
Within this overall context, one particular IT system plays a major role: it is called
“ABAC” (for Accrual-Based Accounting System), and the Directorate-General for
Budget of the European Commission (DG-BUDGET) is responsible for such system.
ABAC is the chosen reference accounting and financial system implementation for this
tender.
Accordingly, a summary description follows.
The ABAC system encompasses two accounting paradigms:
- Budgetary accounting (cash–based).
- Accrual-based accounting (registering accounting events such as invoices and
receipts when they occur).
Users of ABAC are typically financial officers, accountants, and financial auditors.
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Technologically, ABAC results from an evolution, summarized as follows:
System Date Technology
Système CUC (Centre Unique de Comptabilité) 1976 Mainframe (Siemens BS2000) and Unix (NCR)
SINCOM (Système INformatique de COMptabilité) 1988 Mainframe (Amdahl)
SINCOM2 1998 Client-Server (Unix, PowerBuilder)
CIR (Central Invoice Register) 2002 Web (Unix, Java and SAP)
ABAC 2005 Web (Unix, Java and SAP)
ABAC has 4 main components:
ABAC Workflow: Deals with the workflow nature of ABAC transactions in
accordance with the Financial Regulations.
ABAC Accounting: SAP-based, it is the official accounting system of the EU on the
base of which the official annual accounts of the EU are established.
ABAC Datawarehouse: stores historical data for business intelligence purposes
ABAC SWIFT: processes the payments
These components interoperate through a variety of means that includes an Enterprise
Service Bus.
If the ABAC IT operations were to be down in excess of its RTO (Recovery Time
Objective), the execution of the EU budget could be impacted: in that sense, ABAC is a
critical infrastructure.
Along with the high-volume ABAC IT system (payments fluctuating around €130 billion
per year), a number of relatively low-volume IT systems coexist both within the
landscape of DG-BUDG, such as the BadgeBud IT system used for budget preparation,
and outside. Financial IT Systems located outside the ABAC IT enterprise perimeter are
sometime called “Local Systems”.
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2. SUBJECT OF THE CONTRACT
The call for tender comprises 3 lots:
- LOT 1: covers financial/accounting advice and assistance to the Contracting
Authorities.
- LOT 2: covers the delivery of services in the areas of the development and
operations financial and/or accounting information technology systems to the
Contracting Authorities in various technologies.
- LOT 3: covers the delivery of services in the areas of the development and
operations of financial and/or accounting information technology systems to the
Contracting Authorities, making use of SAP technologies.
For all lots, this procurement relates to the provision of on-site (intra muros) and off-site
(extra muros) services.
As regards the information technology landscape, the rendered services are to cover the
following DevOps activities:
- IT software development (DEV): analysis, architecture, development;
- IT production (OPS): IT systems configuration and deployment & IT systems
monitoring and operations.
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3. ORDERING PROCESSES
Services shall be provided on the basis of three different kinds of orders:
Fixed-price order, which correspond to the order of a defined work.
Quoted Time & Means order which correspond to the order of a number of
days for defined tasks.
Time & Means order, which correspond to the order of a number of days
performed at the Contracting Authority’s premises by a named contractor.
The next sections provide an in-depth description of each kind of order, and of contract
extensions as well, while the ordering processes are described in the Roadmap to Order
(Annex 1).
The Contractor must have the capacity to carry out in parallel several individual orders.
The Contractor must be capable of providing the services ordered rapidly and with a high
degree of quality.
3.1. Fixed Price (FP) Orders
Fixed Price orders are generally executed outside the Contracting Authority’s premises
(i.e. off-site or extra-muros)
In a Fixed Price order the Contracting Authority specifies the deliverables corresponding
to the outcome of the work to be performed, as well as the expected delivery date, by
means of a Request Form and attached technical annex.
The following conditions apply to fixed price orders:
The Contractor must present concrete proposals meeting the requirements as
specified in the Request Form and associated technical annex (specifications,
work packages, deliverables and services, deadlines etc.).
The technical offer must include a project plan. Such project plan has to
indicate the proposed activities, schedule of action, team structure (including
profiles, roles, and responsibilities) and workload (person-days) of the
different team members. The CVs of the proposed team members (with the
front-page signed by themselves), accompanied by the signed Code of
Conduct, Declaration of Confidentiality and if necessary by the Letter of
Intent to work as freelancer for each team member, must be part of the
technical offer if deemed necessary by the Contracting Authority. Proof of
education and/or professional experience stated in any submitted CV may be
requested by the Contracting Authority (e.g. copy of diplomas, employment
contracts, employer's reference, etc.).
The financial offer must be based on this workload estimate and the number
of working days for each profile in the proposed team structure.
Work is normally performed off-site, typically on the Contractor’s premises.
The Contractor shall provide the necessary infrastructure on his premises for
the successful execution of the work. Any cost related to any required project
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meeting in the Contracting Authority’s premises is deemed to be included in
the financial offer and in the daily rates of the proposed profiles.
Meetings with a member of the team at the location of delivery can be
required without any additional cost by the Contracting Authority. Typically,
they should not exceed an average of one per week.
Technical interventions may be foreseen on the Contracting Authority’s
premises for specific tasks like installations, configurations, acceptance tests,
technical analysis or maintenance tasks.
The deliverables and services must be on time, and conform to the
specifications as attached to the Specific Contract.
The invoicing is pending the prior acceptation of the deliverables and services
by the Contracting Authority’s services, independently of any declared work
performed by the Contractor. The formal acceptance of each task is done via
a signed and countersigned Receipt Advice Slip for “Deliverables”.
A warranty applies to the deliverables ordered and accepted by the
Contracting Authority.
3.2. Quoted Time and Means (QTM) Orders
Quoted Time & Means Orders can be executed outside the Contracting Authority’s
premises (i.e. off-site or extra-muros) or on the Contracting Authority’s premises if
requested so by the Contracting Authority.
In a Quoted Time & Means order:
(a) The work is ordered for a total number of days and is divided into a number of
specific tasks (or "quoted time & means").
(b) The Contracting Authority specifies the different tasks to be executed.
The following conditions relating to Quoted Time & Means (QTM) orders apply:
The Contracting Authority subdivides the work into different tasks and the
total number of days necessary for the execution of the work. The Contracting
Authority can choose to stipulate (or not) the required profiles.
The Contractor must present an offer for the execution of each task (including
the workload and time schedule) on the basis of a number of person days with
the requested or proposed profile(s) in conformity with the requirements set
out in the Request Form and associated documents (e.g. technical annex with
description of tasks, etc…).
The financial proposal has to be based on the profiles and their workload.
Contractor’s staff must match the requested profile description.
The offer must detail, amongst others, the proposed teams structures, profiles
(including CVs of the proposed team members with front-page signed by
themselves, as well as signed Code of Conduct, Declaration of Confidentiality
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and if necessary by the Letter of Intent to work as freelancer for each team
member), roles, responsibilities and individual workloads. Proof of education
and/or professional experience stated in any submitted CV may be requested
by the Contracting Authority (e.g. copy of diplomas, employment contracts,
employer's reference, etc.).
Once the specific contract is signed, the contracting authority fills-in a
quotation form for each task, with a detailed description of the work to be
carried-out. After agreement by both parties, the quotation form is signed by
the Contractor and countersigned by the Contracting Authority.
The work is most often performed off-site, typically on Contractor’s premises.
In that case, the Contractor shall provide all necessary infrastructures on his
premises for the successful execution of the work.
Only agreed costs for the specified tasks are chargeable, and only after
acceptance by the Contracting Authority. The invoicing is pending the prior
acceptation of the deliverables and services by the Contracting Authority’s
services, independently of any declared work performed by the Contractor.
The formal acceptance of each task is done via a signed and countersigned
Certificate of Conformity.
If required, meetings and the physical delivery of a task - including
acceptance process, have to be done at the Contracting Authority’s premises.
Typically these activities will not exceed an average of one day per week.
Technical interventions may be foreseen on Contracting Authority’s premises
for specific tasks like installations, configurations, acceptance tests, technical
analysis or maintenance tasks.The deliverables and services must be on time,
and conform to the specifications as attached to the Specific Contract.
A warranty applies to the tasks accepted by the Contracting Authority.
3.3. Time and Means (T&M) Orders
Time & Means orders are executed on the Contracting Authority’s premises (i.e. on-site
or intra muros).
In a Time & Means order the Contracting Authority specifies the workload (e.g. person-
days) and its specific needs for requested profiles.
The following conditions relating to Time & Means (TM) orders apply:
The Contractor must present proposals meeting the requirements as specified
in the Request Forms and associated documents, including Technical Annex.
Contractor’s proposed staff must match the requested profile description and
the specific needs indicated in the request form.
The request form can combine different profiles, with the requested quantity
for each profile and the individual workload.
The request indicates the profile, the level, and the required specific
knowledge and skills, if any. The Contractor must be able to propose per
requested profile at least two qualified service providers to choose from,
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complying with the level or levels of specific expertise domain requested. All
the information indicated in the CV has to be correct and verified. Pre-defined
CV forms must be used (Annex 11). Each proposed service provider must
have signed his/her CV’s front-page prior to being proposed to the
Contracting Authority in reply to a specific request. A Code of Conduct,
Declaration Of Confidentiality and, if needed, Letter of Intent to Work as
freelancer are required before the signature of specific contracts.
When establishing the formal offer, the Contractor clearly specifies therein
the relevant profile, level and specific knowledge and skills.
Proof of education and/or professional experience stated in any submitted CV
may be requested by the Contracting Authority (e.g. copy of diplomas,
employment contracts, employer's reference, etc.). In that regard, the
Contracting Authority reserves the right to bring to the attention of the
judicial authorities any false information and/or forgery, so that the Law of
the Country may be applied to the offender.
Service providers proposed must be available for interviews at short term
(within 10 working days from the receipt of the relevant curriculum vitae).
Service providers proposed must be available at the start of the project, as
requested in the request for offer.
Work is normally performed on the Contracting Authority’s premises when
not specified otherwise. In some cases, on Contracting Authority’s request,
travels outside the normal location can be required. A prior written
authorisation of the Contracting Authority is necessary before any such travel.
On the Contracting Authority’s demand the Contractor must replace service
providers which have been found not being able of carrying out the specified
tasks to the required standards. The replacement candidate will be given
sufficient training during an adequate handover period, so that he/she may be
immediately operational when the original candidate is withdrawn. Any such
replacement and training, if required, will be carried out at no additional cost
to the Contracting Authority.
The Contractor shall give a month’s notice to the Contracting Authority of
any personnel changes in the team. The prior agreement of the Contracting
Authority must be obtained.
In case of 'Force Majeure', if the original service provider is no longer able to
carry out the work, the Contractor is obliged to inform the Contracting
Authority, immediately provide a competent replacement service provider and
arrange sufficient training (during an adequate handover period where
possible) to guarantee continuity of the service provided to the Contracting
Authority. Any such replacement will be effected at no additional cost to the
Contracting Authority.
In case of replacement, the Contracting Authority is entitled to request a
handover period of up to 10 working days. If so, the overlapping days of the
replacement shall not be charged to the Contracting Authority. When no
handover is realistically feasible, and specific on-the-job training is deemed
necessary by the Contracting Authority, it is entitled to request that up to 15
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working days be performed by the replacement service to that end. In that
case, all direct costs, fees and expenses related to such on-the-job training
shall be borne by the contractor, while indirect costs (office space, car park if
any, heating, office automation systems, and software licence fees) shall be
borne by the contracting authority.
In case of replacement, the Contractor must propose a minimum of two
candidate replacement service providers with the required qualifications and
experience for the profile (within 15 calendar-days). If the contractor does not
propose a suitable replacement, the requesting Contracting Authority may
immediately terminate the specific contract.
In case the service provider is scheduled to be absent during holidays or
during a prolonged time period, the Contractor must provide an adequate
back-up at the request of the Contracting Authority. In that case, if so deemed
necessary by the Contracting Authority, the back-up shall be provided with all
required training, at the Contractor's expense. The Contractor shall also ensure
that the absentee discloses in due time all relevant information to his/her
back-up so as to fully guarantee the continuity of service.
When a service provider is no longer available before the start of a new
contract, the Contractor must inform the Contracting Authority immediately.
If the specific contract is not yet signed by both parties, the contractor is not
authorized to propose new candidates. The Contracting Authority remains
however entitled to issue a new request. If the specific contract is signed, the
Contracting Authority can either cancel the contract or ask for a replacement
within 10 working days.
The invoicing is based on the number of days or half-days performed.
The Contracting Authority cannot guarantee that the contractors' staff working
intra muros in a Contracting Authority building will have access to parking
spaces in any of the Contracting Authority’s buildings.
3.4. Extensions
An extension is a specific contract based on the initial request and the initial offer, when
all the requested tasks have not been achieved by the previous specific contracts.
The extension takes the form of a new specific contract. In an extension, the Contracting
Authority may conclude another Specific Contract with the same contractor without
having to follow the complete order cycle.
3.4.1. Fixed Price (FP)
The initial request form contains a list of tasks (modules, work packages) corresponding
to the deliverables. The contractor has given a proposal according to this request. The
specific contract may have covered only a part of the project corresponding to some
deliverables. In this case, the Contracting Authority can conclude one or more new
specific contracts for the remaining work without having to send again a Request Form
and follow the complete order cycle.
The new specific contracts have to cover tasks included in the initial request under the
conditions of the original offer. The technical annex could be updated if necessary, but
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the global conditions (including defined deliverables and price) cannot be modified. The
total price of the project may not exceed the price quotation given in the initial offer. If
the total price specified in the initial offer is exceeded, it is not possible to request an
extension and the normal procedure applies.
3.4.2. Quoted Time & Means (QTM)
For a “Quoted Time & Means” request, the Request Form covers the whole of the project
and a Specific Contract might be for the same number of days or for only a part of the
project.
If the amount of days foreseen in the Request Form hasn’t been covered completely by
Specific Contracts made, the Contracting Authority can conclude another Specific
Contract without having to send again a Request Form and follow the complete order
cycle. In this case an extension is done.
To make an extension for a Quoted Time & Means Specific Contract:
The Contracting Authority checks if the number of days on the corresponding
initial Request Form haven’t been used up yet. If they are not, a new Specific
Contract can be concluded on the basis of the initial Request Form. If the
number of days specified in the initial request form is exceeded, it is not
possible to request an extension and the normal procedure applies.
The Contracting Authority asks an offer from the contractor for the period
that they want an extension for, making a reference to the original Request
Form sent, and including a technical annex related to the extension. Any task
that is unspecified in the initial request form may not be included.
In the extension, the profiles, projects and tasks defined in the initial request
form and the related offer must match.
The Contracting Authority prepares the new Specific Contract.
3.4.3. Time & Means (T&M)
For a “Time & Means” request, the Request Form covers the whole of the project (the
specifications of the services are here referred as project) and a Specific Contract might
be for the same number of days or for only a part of the project.
If the amount of days foreseen in the Request Form hasn’t been covered completely by
Specific Contracts made, the Contracting Authority can conclude another Specific
Contract without having to send again a Request Form and follow the complete order
cycle. In this case an extension is done.
To make an extension for a Time & Means Specific Contract:
The Contracting Authority checks if the number of days on the corresponding
initial Request Form haven’t been used up yet. If they aren’t, a new Specific
Contract can be concluded on the basis of the initial Request Form. If the number
of days specified in the initial request form is exceeded, it is not possible to
request an extension and the normal procedure applies.
The Contracting Authority asks an offer from the contractor for the period that
they want an extension for, making a reference to the original Request Form sent.
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The offer delivered by the contractor should contain the name of the service
provider(s) executing the service and price. A template extension form is
provided for that purpose.
In the extension, the profiles, projects and tasks defined in the initial request form
must correspond.
The Contracting Authority prepares the new Specific Contract
Remarks
- The initial request shall not exceed 4 years (e.g. 880 working days per service
provider);
- Through an extension, it is possible to update the level of expertise of a service
provider, in order to update/reflect the accurate number of years of higher studies
and/or of relevant professional experience, without requiring the launch of an
initial request.
- In case of non-availability of the service provider for a future extension, the
contractor must inform the Contracting Authority before receiving the extension
form. If not, the replacement conditions are applicable.
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4. CASCADING MECHANISM
For each lot, the Contracting Authority may award framework contracts in cascade, with
up to 3 contractors.
To that end, the contracting authority shall ranks, for each lot, the successful tenderers in
descending order.
The cascading mechanism is described by the following rules which shall apply to
requests for the supply of Services.
(1) In each case, the Contracting Authority shall determine the specifications of
the Services required, hereinafter referred as project, and the relevant
response time. The Contractor shall make its offer in response to the
Contracting Authority's specifications within this time limit.
(2) When requesting an offer to supply Services, the Contracting Authority shall
initially address its request to the contractor who has been nominated in first
place on the basis of the results of the evaluation of the call for tenders as
specified in the Contract. If this first contractor is in a position to meet the
criteria for response time and specifications, then it shall be awarded the
project in question.
(3) If the first contractor is unable to meet either of these criteria, then it shall be
regarded as being unable to supply the Services requested. In this case, the
Contracting Authority shall then address the same request to the contractor
who has been nominated in the second place on the basis of the results of the
evaluation of the call for tenders cited in the Contract. If this second
contractor is in a position to meet the specified criteria, then it shall be
awarded the project in question.
(4) If this second contractor is unable to meet either of these criteria, then it shall
be considered unable to supply the Services requested. In that event, the
Contracting Authority shall then repeat this process with the contractor who
has been ranked in third place.
(5) This process will terminate either with the award of the project in question to
one of the contractors who has been nominated, or with the failure to award
the project to any contractor. In the event of failure the Contracting Authority
may redefine the project or start the procedure again on the same project at a
later time.
(6) The occasional inability of the Contractor to supply the Services for a project,
requested under the conditions (1) – (5), shall not be considered to afford
grounds for terminating the Contract, nor shall it affect the order in which the
Contractor is to be addressed for subsequent projects.
As described in the Roadmap to Order (cf. Annex 1), the contractor ranked first must
always be consulted first as a rule, barring any authorized decision to the contrary (as
envisaged namely in the SLA). The first contractor has won the market described in the
call for tenders and the other contractors only serve to compensate the lack in the first
contractor’s service offering. If it arises that the main contractor is unable to service all
requests, the cascade mechanism may apply. In this case careful documentation of all
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communication between the contractors and the Contracting Authority is imperative in
order to ensure a decision transparent to all parties.
During the execution of cascade mechanism the Request Form specifications may not
change (e.g. profiles and/or technical annexes must remain the same), except if the
Request Form covers a service requirement for more than one service provider and the
already contacted contractor(s) can provide some of the required service providers but
not all of them. If the request concerns activities whereby the involved service providers
have to work closely together, the Contracting Authority reserves nevertheless the right
to refuse partial offers (provision of some of the service providers but not all of them).
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5. ACCEPTANCE OF WORKS
For all types of orders, formal acceptance of the work carried out will take place at
milestones during and at the end of each order execution using a procedure described in
the request form/specific contract. Invoices may be issued only for executed orders and
tasks that have been completed and duly formally accepted.
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6. TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS
6.1. Profiles
The following profiles will be used for delivery of services:
Lot Acronym Profile Name
1 CACC Consultant in accounting
1 CCFI Consultant in accounting for financial instruments
1 AUD Auditor in accounting
1 PORT Program Portfolio Advisor
1 BUA Business Analyst
1 PMA Project Manager Financial Information Systems
1 DIA Data and Information Analyst
2 FAN Functional Analyst
2 AOM Access and Authorization Manager
2 TST Testing Expert
2 DEV Analyst –Programmer “Web/JEE/RDBMS”
2 ISA Expert in Information Systems Architecture
2 OPS Expert in IT Operations (IT Ops)
2 DBA Database Administrator (DBA)
2 SEC IT Security Specialist
3 SAN SAP Functional Analyst
3 SEC3 SAP Access and Authorization Manager
3 TST3 SAP Testing Expert
3 DEVSP Analyst–Programmer “SAP”
3 DEVBI Financial and Accounting Reporting Programmer
3 SSA SAP System Administrator
3 CIS Certified SAP Interoperability/SOA Specialist
3 CSO Certified System administrator SAP/Oracle
3 CSA Certified SAP System administrator
3 ASAP SAP Architect
For each lot, details on the individual requirements for each of the profiles can be found
in the Annex 2 document entitled “Profiles”.
An estimation of the distribution of profiles is as reflected in the weightings for the
financial evaluation.
The indicated distribution is purely indicative and based on current estimates at the time
of launching the Call for Tender.
The actual use of profiles during the execution of the Framework Contracts may differ
from the indicative distribution.
6.2. Languages
Without prejudice to the individual requirements for each profile as per Annex 2, the
required services must at least be provided in English. When applicable, additional
language requirements may be specified in the request forms.
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6.3. Working Hours
Delivery will mainly take place on normal working days and during normal working
hours.
Without prejudice to the Law of the country and any applicable regulation, a normal
working day corresponds to 8 hours (40 hours per week).
The normal daily working time frame is between 7 am and 8 pm.
The periods of service provider’s on-site presence have to be agreed by the services of
the Contracting Authority. If normal daily working hours are exceeded, no recuperation
is possible, except when this overtime resulted from a specific request from the
Contracting Authority (infra 6.4).
As an exception (e.g. within the framework of continuous support service), specific
working time frames may be requested by the Contracting Authority (e.g. from 8 am to 4
pm or from 12 noon to 8 pm).
The on-duty days (such as Holy Thursday, Good Friday, the day following Ascension
Day and the period between 27 and 31 December in the case of the EU Commission) of
the Contracting Authority are included in the normal working days. In the event that the
Contracting Authority would require the service provision on these days, the rate for
Normal working days shall apply.
The Contracting Authority reserves the right to close down its premises, entirely or in
parts, during on-duty days.
However, in exceptional cases subject to prior written authorisation of the Contracting
Authority, the need to deliver services outside of the normal working days and the
normal working hours may arise, as well as the need of on-guard service.
The level of service delivery that may be requested outside of normal working days and
hours is estimated at about 2 to 5% for the Expert in Enterprise IT Operations (IT Ops)
typical workload. About half of this percentage is foreseen to be related to deliveries on
normal working days but outside of normal working hours (infra).
6.4. Work outside of Normal Working Hours
As an exception (e.g. within the framework of continuous support service), the
Contracting Authority may request delivery of services outside of the normal working
hours.
For these situations, the following surcharges will be added to the applicable daily rates:
- Service delivery on normal working days, but outside of normal working hours:
Surcharge of 50% of the applicable day rate.
- Service delivery outside of normal working days: Surcharge of 100% of the
applicable day rate.
The surcharges will only apply if at least 50% of a person-day1 (a normal person-day is
8 hours) is provided in the timeframe that allows for a surcharge.
1 Person-day is often called man-day in the literature.
19
6.5. On-guard service
On-guard service consists of having a service provider available on the phone and/or via
an Internet connection during periods when on-site presence is either unavailable,
unnecessary, or else disproportionate, while work is of the utmost importance (ABAC,
BIC or SWIFT releases for example). In that case:
The service provider must be capable of assessing an incident and if necessary
initiating corrective actions, either off-site or on-site.
The service provider must have the appropriate knowledge of the technical
environment on which he/she may have to intervene.
It is the contractor's responsibility to provide connectivity (mobile phone and
DSL connection) and transport.
The Contracting Authority shall provide a configured laptop PC and the security
equipment for accessing the Contracting Authority’s IT environment.
If remote access to the systems is available then the on-guard service provider
must be in position to access the managed IT system within 15 minutes after
receiving a notification.
For on-guard service delivery, a surcharge of 100% of the applicable day rate shall be
applied, on the condition that at least 50% of a person-day (a normal person-day is
8 hours) is provided during the timeframe that allows a surcharge.
6.6. Place of work
Depending on the framework contract and the request, work can be executed on the
Contracting Authority’s premises (so-called on-site or intra muros work) or can be
executed on the Contractor’s premises (so-called off-site or extra muros work). The
Contracting Authority indicates on the Request Form where the work has to be delivered.
In the case of intra muros work, the execution of the contract shall, as a rule, be
performed at the Contracting Authority premises, as required, within the territory of the
European Union, as per the place of delivery specified in the Request Form. Exceptions
shall be duly justified in written and approved by the Contracting Authority.
In the case of extra muros work, the execution of the contract may be performed
primarily at the Contractor's premises. Project meetings shall be held in the place(s) of
delivery as per the Request Form. Travel costs to the place of delivery shall not be
reimbursed.
6.7. Places of Delivery
Delivery will normally take place within the territory of the European Union, as per the
Request Form. In exceptional cases however, and for a reasonably limited time span (e.g.
5 days in a row), the Contracting Authority may require services to be delivered outside
the normal working premises.
6.8. Travels outside normal locations of deliveries
As an exception, the Contracting Authority may request delivery of services outside
normal places of delivery, e.g. in other sites or in the Commission’s delegations or
representations abroad.
20
Travel costs and daily allowances associated with these deliveries outside the place of
delivery specified in the Request Form shall be reimbursed according to the daily
subsistence allowance and accommodation flat-rate ceilings relevant to Articles II.22.4
(d) and (e) of the General Conditions.
In case of travel, contractors shall invoice travel days at the normal day rate, with no
surcharge foreseen, for the relevant profile, as specified in the Framework Contract.
6.9. Training
The continuous learning of the Contractor’s staff in the areas of accounting and of
financial information systems shall be wholly borne by the Contractor, barring
exceptional cases as foreseen in the present specifications.
Without prejudice to any binding training programme forming part of the tenderer’s
offer, in those exceptional cases where the Contracting Authority would require that a
contractor’s staff follow a specific training, whether functional (e.g. business procedures
or application functionalities) or purely technical (e.g. a particular Java library or a
monitoring tool), the request shall be done in written. In such case, the time spent in
training shall be considered normal working time. Further, the training charges shall be
fully incurred by the Contracting Authority.
In exceptional cases, and subject to the prior written approval of the Contracting
Authority, contractor staff working for a Time and Means contract may follow an
accounting (including financial audit) or information technology training course
organised by the Contracting Authority. If the training is required by the Contracting
Authority, it shall not be charged to the contractor, and training time shall further be
considered as normal working time. Otherwise, the training time shall not be invoiced by
the contractor.
Without prejudice to any other supplementary training specified in the offer of the
successful tenderer, the contractor shall plan at least 4 days of information technology
training per year for its staff working under Time & Means contracts directly related to
the consultants’ profiles. Further, for LOT 3 only, the tenderer, or tendering group, shall
demonstrate that it has a 'SAP Knowledge base' and a SAP Learning HUB (or equivalent)
fielded.
6.10. Confidentiality
The Contractor undertakes to treat in the strictest confidence and not make use of or
divulge to third parties any information or documents which are linked to performance of
the Contract. The Contractor shall continue to be bound by this undertaking after
execution of the Specific Contracts.
In case of award, the Contractor shall obtain from each member of his board and
directors an undertaking, by means of a Declaration of Confidentiality (as per Annex 3)
that they will respect the confidentiality of any information which is linked, directly or
indirectly, to execution of the tasks and that they will not divulge to third parties or use
for their own benefit or that of any third party any document or information not available
\publicly, even after execution of the Specific Contracts.
Such Declaration of Confidentiality (as per Annex 3) shall also be required for each staff
involved in the delivery of the services pursuant to a specific contract or order form
under the framework contract.
21
6.11. Code of Conduct
The contractor staff involved in the delivery of the service shall abide by a Code of
Conduct (Annex 5), of which a copy shall be signed by the contractor staff and provided
to the Contracting Authority as proof of acknowledgement.
6.12. Security Clearance
When relevant in terms of security, the Contracting Authority may ask from the
Contractor in a specific request that the staff involved for the provision of certain
services be submitted to a security clearance procedure performed by the relevant
Security Accreditation Authority (SAA). This shall be considered as a particular
requirement within the scope of a well-defined project, and shall not influence the other
applicable conditions.
6.13. Reporting
Without prejudice to any other supplementary reporting specified in the offer of the
successful tenderer, the Contractor shall provide reports with, at a minimum, the
following characteristics:
Frequency: every quarter.
Time: on the 16th following the quarter end date, at the latest.
Content, at least:
i. History of Requests (last quarter and cumulative aggregates for FWC).
ii. History of Specific Contracts and/or order forms (last quarter and
cumulative aggregates for FWC).
iii. Listing of in-progress Specific Contracts and/or order forms.
iv. History of the training and continuing training of the contractor staff
with in-progress Specific Contracts and/or order forms (last quarter
and cumulative aggregates for FWC).
v. Values of the Quality of Service (QoS) indicators as per the Service
Level Agreement (SLA).
Form: in spreadsheet format.
Report data shall include all relevant references, dates, and subject of the Specific
Contracts and/or order forms.
22
7. ACCESS TO THE MARKET
Participation in this tender procedure is open on equal terms to all natural and legal
persons falling within the scope of the Treaties (this includes all economic operators
registered in the EU and all EU citizens). Concerning subcontracting, the rules governing
the access to the market are described in section 8 “Collaborating with other companies”.
23
8. COLLABORATING WITH OTHER COMPANIES
Companies may consider two ways of collaborating in an offer: either as joint partners
in the offer or through subcontracting.
Offers by a tendering group will be assessed as follows:
a) The exclusion criteria (section 9.1) will be assessed in relation to each company
individually.
b) The selection criteria
a. for economic and financial capacity
i. 1st, 2nd and 3rd indents (section 9.2.1.2) will be assessed in
relation to each company individually
ii. 4th indent (section 9.2.1.2) will be applied to the tendering group
as a whole (Subcontractors may be included subject to the
provisions stated in section 9.2.1.2)
b. for the technical and professional capacity (section 9.2.2):
i. It shall be assessed in relation to the tendering group as a whole.
(Subcontractors may be included subject to the provisions stated in
section 9.2.2)
c) The award criteria (section 9.3.3) shall be assessed in relation to the tendering
group as a whole.
8.1. Joint Tenders
Joint tenders are permitted.
Partners in a joint offer assume joint and several liability towards the Contracting
Authority for the performance of the contract as a whole.
Upon award of the contract, the Contracting Authority shall be provided with formal
status of the proposed association before the contract is signed. This can take the form of:
- an entity with legal personality recognised by a Member State;
or
- an entity without legal personality but offering sufficient protection of the
Contracting Authority’s contractual interests (depending on the Member State
concerned, this may be, for example, a consortium or a temporary association);
The joint tender must further specify the role, qualifications and experience of
each member of the tendering party. A prime contractor acting as the Group
Leader must be designated and a Power of Attorney (as per Annex 8) must be
completed accordingly.
24
8.2. Subcontracting
Subcontracting is the situation where a contract has been or is to be established between
the Contracting Authority and a contractor and where the contractor, in order to carry out
that contract, enters into legal commitments with other legal entities for performing part
of the work, service or supply. However, the Contracting Authority has no direct legal
commitment with the subcontractor(s).
Subcontracting is permitted, subject to the constraint that the primary contractor retains
full liability towards the Contracting Authority for performance of the contract as a
whole, and provided the subcontractor is established in a country signatory to the
Agreement on Government Procurement (GPA) under the auspices of the World Trade
Organization (WTO) or in a country which has with the European Union a special
agreement in the field of public procurement.
One-person companies (or freelancers) as subcontractor are permitted.
The Contracting Authority will treat all contractual matters (e.g. payment) exclusively
with the primary contractor, whether or not the tasks are performed by a subcontractor;
Under no circumstances can the primary contractor avoid liability towards the
Contracting Authority on the grounds that the subcontractor is at fault.
During the execution of the contract, new subcontracting to other than one-person
companies (or freelancers) may be exceptionally accepted by the Contracting Authority
in the exceptional event that a much specialised technical expertise is required for the
provision of the services.
Additional levels of subcontracting (e.g. subcontracting of subcontracts) are not allowed
during the execution of the contract unless:
- There is a second round of a cascade (when the first round has not yielded any
result);
- Very specialised technical expertise is required for the provision of the services
(but only in the case when no contractor or declared subcontractor would be able
to provide this expertise).
Companies and freelancers that are proposed as subcontractors at the tender stage shall
provide a Letter of Intent as per Annex 6 and 7, respectively, and a Declaration of
Honour as per Annex 4.
The exclusion criteria (section 9.1) will be assessed for each proposed sub-contractor.
Freelancers may be added to the list of subcontractors at any time during the execution of
the contract, provided they have concomitantly supplied a signed Letter of Intent.
The Contracting Authority reserves the right to require to the Contractor confirmation
that all of its members (including subcontractors and freelancers) have fully respected the
legislation and obligations deriving from the legislation in force. These obligations may
include, amongst others, any obligation to be registered for VAT purposes and/or in an
25
enterprise database (e.g. the Belgian Crossroads Bank for Enterprises2). Upon request,
evidence of compliance with the aforementioned obligations must be provided.
2 Banque-Carrefour des Entreprises (BCE) – Kruispuntbank van Ondernemingen (KBO)
26
9. ASSESSMENT OF TENDERERS AND OFFERS
9.1. Exclusion criteria
The exclusion situations, as well as the required evidence, are listed hereafter.
9.1.1. Declaration of Honour (affidavit)
It is requested that each tenderer (or else each tendering group member when applicable)
and subcontractors, if any, provide a Declaration of Honour (affidavit) as per Annex 4,
whereby it is stated that the signatory is not in any one of the situations subject to
exclusion.
Tenderers will be disqualified if:
(1) they are bankrupt or being wound up, are having their affairs administered by
the courts, have entered into an arrangement with creditors, have suspended
business activities, are the subject of proceedings concerning those matters, or
are in any analogous situation arising from a similar procedure provided for in
national legislation or regulations;
(2) they or persons having powers of representation, decision-making or control
over them have been convicted of an offence concerning their professional
conduct by a judgment of a competent authority of a Member State which has
the force of res judicata;
(3) they have been guilty of grave professional misconduct proven by any means
which the contracting authority can justify including by decisions of the EIB
and international organisations;
(4) they are not in compliance with their obligations relating to the payment of
social security contributions or the payment of taxes in accordance with the
legal provisions of the country in which they are established or with those of
the country of the contracting authority or those of the country where the
contract is to be performed;
(5) they or persons having powers of representation, decision-making or control
over them have been the subject of a judgment which has the force of res
judicata for fraud, corruption, involvement in a criminal organisation, money
laundering or any other illegal activity, where such illegal activity is
detrimental to the Union’s financial interests;
(6) they are subject to an administrative and/or financial penalty referred to in
Article 109(1) of the Financial Regulations (EU, Euratom) No 966/2012,
imposed by the contracting authority, following another procurement
procedure or grant award procedure financed by the Community budget.
(7) they are subject to a conflict of interests. There is a conflict of interests where
the tenderer and a person who is a player in the implementation of the
Community budget or an internal auditor share interests (including, for
example, family, emotional life, political or national affinity and economic
interests) which compromise the impartial and objective exercise of that
person’s functions;
27
(8) they committed misrepresentation in supplying the information required by
the contracting authority as a condition of participation in the procurement
procedure or if they fail to supply this information.
9.1.2. Evidence
During the assessment of tenderers stage, evidence will only have to be provided
following a specific request by the Contracting Authority. In that case, the said evidence
shall be provided within 5 working days from the sending of the specific request.
In case of award, evidence with a view to corroborate the aforementioned Declaration(s)
of Honour is deemed necessary by the Contracting Authority. The following evidence in
relation to items mentioned previously shall specifically be supplied:
In relation to items (1), (2) and (5) above, relevant extract(s) from the judicial
record or, failing that, equivalent documentation issued by a judicial or
administrative authority in the country where you are established. The extract(s)
or equivalent documentation must be the most recent available. Depending on the
national legislation of the country in which you are established, these documents
must relate to entities with legal personality and/or natural persons; in the latter
case, they must relate to the person(s) empowered to represent the tenderer and
sign the contract if your offer is successful.
In relation to item (4) above, the most recent certificates issued by the competent
social security and tax authorities of the country where you are established.
Where no such certificate is issued in that country, this can be replaced by a
sworn or solemn statement made before a judicial or administrative authority, a
notary or a qualified professional body in that country. The statement provided
must be dated less than four months before the final date for submission of offers.
Depending on the national legislation of the country in which you are established,
these documents must relate to entities with legal personality and/or natural
persons; in the latter case, they shall relate to the person(s) empowered to
represent the tenderer and sign the contract if your offer is successful.
In relation to items (3), (6), (7) and (8) above, regarding the tenderer, an
affidavit3, signed by a person(s) empowered to represent the tenderer and sign the
contract if the offer is successful and dated less than four months before the final
date for submission of offers, stating that:
1) The tenderer has not been declared guilty of professional misconduct in a
Court of justice;
2) The tenderer has not been declared in serious breach of contract following
a procurement procedure or grant award financed by the Community
budget;
3) The tenderer is not subject to a conflict of interest;
4) The tenderer has supplied all the information required for the call for
tenders in good faith and without misrepresentation.
3 In case of a joint offer, each company taking part in the joint tender should sign a separated affidavit.
28
9.2. Selection criteria
The selection criteria shall be applied in the present procurement procedure for the
purposes of assessing the financial, economic, technical and professional capacity of the
candidate or the tenderer.
The contracting authority has laid down hereunder minimum capacity levels below which
candidates may not be selected.
9.2.1. Economic and financial capacity
9.2.1.1. Introduction
Tenderers are required to prove that they have sufficient economic and financial capacity
to perform the contract.
In case of a joint offer (e.g. consortium), any economic and financial threshold will be
verified at the combined level of the group, having attention to the following:
In case of participation of group members, e.g. local affiliates of international
companies, figures of the entire group will only be taken into account if a specific
written endorsement of the participation by the parent company is provided
specifying that it shall place the resources necessary for the performance of the
contract at your disposal.
Subcontractors are not tenderers stricto sensu and shall not be taken into
account for the establishment of an economic and financial capacity, excepting
for those contractors that, without prejudice to the requirement of paragraph 8.2
“Subcontracting”, supply a written and signed statement declaring its
unambiguous undertaking to place at the disposal of the contractor(s), if the
respective tender wins the contract, all the economic and financial resources
necessary for the performance of the contract.
9.2.1.2. Documentation to be supplied
For each tendered lot, the following documentation shall be supplied in the tender bid:
1. evidence of professional risk indemnity insurance;
2. balance sheets or extracts from balance sheets for the last three financial
years for which accounts have been closed, or equivalent documentation (e.g.
where company law in the country in which you are established does not
require you to publish your balance sheet);
3. profit and loss accounts for the last three financial years;
4. a statement of overall turnover concerning the services covered for each
tendered lot, during the last three financial years, establishing that, on yearly
average, the following applicable financial thresholds (minimum values) are
complied with:
Lot 1 €21.000.000,00
lot 2 €38.000.000,00
lot 3 €28.000.000,00
29
9.2.1.3. Questionnaire
The filled in section 3 “Selection of the Tenderer – Economic and Financial
Capacity” of the Annex 9, “Tender Form Questionnaire” (Part 2), and documentation
detailed therein, for the relevant lot.
9.2.2. Technical and professional capacity
Tenderers are required to prove that they have sufficient technical and professional
capacity to perform the contract.
Such capacity shall be assessed with regard in particular to their know-how, efficiency,
experience and reliability.
For each lot, evidence of the technical and professional capacity is to be furnished on the
basis of the duly filled in relevant section 4 “Selection of the Tenderer / Technical and
Professional Capacity” of Part 2 of Annex 9 (“Tender Form Questionnaire”), and
documentation required therein.
Subcontractors may be taken into account for the establishment of a technical and
professional capacity, provided they are proposed as subcontractors at the tender stage,
and fulfil the criteria laid in 8.2 “Subcontracting” supra.
Commission européenne/Europese Commissie, 1049 Bruxelles/Brussel, BELGIQUE/BELGIË - Tel. +32 22991111
9.3. Award criteria
9.3.1. Technical Evaluation
9.3.1.1. Lot 1
Time & Means, Quoted Time & Means and Fixed Price (100 points - 100% of the technical evaluation score):
# Award cr it er ia M aximum Point s M inimum qualit y
t hreshold (in point s)
1 Quality and relevance of the replies to the essays. 100 60
2 Quality and relevance of the methodology for the provision of the services. cf. infra cf. infra
The relative weight of each criterion is expressed in the section 9.3.1.4 ‘Total Technical Scores - Formulas’
Award criteria #1: Quality and relevance of the replies to the surveys pertaining to lot 1. For the purpose of establishing the overall score (points) of the aforementioned award criteria #1, the Tenderer is required to provide its best answers for the following
essays (as described in Annex 12):
# Essay Max point Min points
1 Financial Instruments 20 12
2 Trust funds 20 12
3 In-kind Contributions 20 12
4 Consolidation 1 20 12
5 Consolidation 2 20 12
Total 100
31
Award criteria #2: Quality and relevance of the methodology for the provision of the services pertaining to lot 1.
For the purpose of establishing the overall score (points) of the aforementioned award criteria #2, the Tenderer is required to fill in the respective Annex 9 “Tender
Form” Questionnaire – Part 3, and provide relevant supporting documentation, including submitting a Service Level Agreement (SLA) as per Annex 10.
Time & Means services:
# Sub-criteria Max point Min points
1 Quality and relevance of the service organisation related to Time & Means services, including interfaces, roles and
responsibilities, the level of traceability/auditability, the level of segregation of tasks, the clarity of the lines of
responsibility and reporting, and the quality of internal controls.
10 6
2 Quality and relevance of the measures to guarantee sufficient service provider availability for requested profiles. 50 30
3 Quality and relevance of the procedures used to ensure the quality of the proposed profiles, in conformity with the
service requests.
10 6
4 Quality and relevance of training and ongoing, in-service, training of consultants. 15 9
5 Quality and relevance of the measures aimed at providing continuity of service, to reduce risk and impact of
service interruptions.
15 9
Total 100 60
Quoted Time & Means and Fixed Price services:
# Sub-criteria Max point Min points
1 Quality and relevance of the service organisation related to Quoted Time & Means and Fixed Price services,
including interfaces, roles and responsibilities, its level of traceability/auditability, its level of segregation of tasks,
the clarity of the lines of responsibility and reporting, and the quality of internal controls.
15 9
2 Quality and relevance of the project management methodology, including its adherence to standards and best
practices, methods, reporting, control, risk management, change management, time and cost management for
the purpose of fulfilling QTM and Fixed Price service requests.
15 9
3 Quality and relevance of procedures and any other action proposed with the aim of fulfilling project deadlines. 35 21
4 Quality and relevance of the proposed methods and tools aimed at ensuring high quality deliverables. 35 21
Total 100 60
32
9.3.1.2. Lot 2
For the purpose of technical evaluation, the Tenderer is required to fill in the respective Annex 9 “Tender Form” Questionnaire – Part 3, and provide
relevant supporting documentation, including submitting a Service Level Agreement (SLA) as per Annex 10.
The technical evaluation of the offers will be based on a rating of the quality criteria below.
The relative weight of each criterion is expressed in the section 9.3.1.4 ‘Total Technical Scores - Formulas’
Time & Means (T&M):
# Award cr it er ia M aximum Point s M inimum qualit y
t hreshold (in point s)
1
Quality and relevance of the service organisation related to Time & Means services,
including interfaces, roles and responsibilities, the level of traceability/auditability, the
level of segregation of tasks, the clarity of the lines of responsibility and reporting, and
the quality of internal controls.
25 12,5
2 Quality and relevance of the measures to guarantee sufficient service provider availability
for requested profiles. 25 12,5
3 Quality and relevance of the procedures used to ensure the quality of the proposed
profiles, in conformity with the service requests. 20 10
4 Quality and relevance of training and ongoing, in-service, training of consultants. 5 2,5
5 Quality and relevance of the measures aimed at providing continuity of service, to reduce
risk and impact of service interruptions. 20 10
6 Quality and relevance of the QoS indicators and of compensations / penalties and of the
corrective measures to be applied in case of non-compliance 5 2,5
Total 100
33
Quoted Time & Means (QTM) and Fixed Price (FP)
# Award cr it er ia M aximum Point s M inimum qualit y
t hreshold (in point s)
1
Quality and relevance of the service organisation related to Quoted Time & Means and
Fixed Price services, including interfaces, roles and responsibilities, its level of
traceability/auditability, its level of segregation of tasks, the clarity of the lines of
responsibility and reporting, and the quality of internal controls.
20 10
2
Quality and relevance of the project management methodology, including its adherence
to standards and best practices, methods, reporting, control, risk management, change
management, time and cost management for the purpose of fulfilling QTM and Fixed
Price service requests.
20 10
3 Quality and relevance of procedures and any other action proposed with the aim of
fulfilling project deadlines. 20 10
4 Quality and relevance of the proposed methods and tools aimed at ensuring high quality
deliverables. 5 2,5
5 Quality and relevance of the QoS indicators and of compensations / penalties and of the
corrective measures to be applied in case of non-compliance 5 2,5
6 Quality and relevance of the reply to the essays/scenarios including in terms of scalability
and adherence to standards and generally accepted best practices. 30 15
Total 100
34
The points for the essays/scenarios relevant to lot 2 (cf. Annex 12) shall be obtained as follows:
Part Section Max. Points Min. Points
Part 1 20 10
Part 2 A 20 10
B 20 10
C 20 10
Part 3 20 10
Sum 100
Final Score =Sum x 0,3
35
9.3.1.3. Lot 3
For the purpose of technical evaluation, the Tenderer is required to fill in the respective Annex 9 “Tender Form” Questionnaire – Part 3, and provide
relevant supporting documentation, including submitting a Service Level Agreement (SLA) as per Annex 10.
The technical evaluation of the offers will be based on a rating of the quality criteria below.
The relative weight of each criterion is expressed in the section 9.3.1.4 ‘Total Technical Scores - Formulas’
Time & Means (T&M):
# Award cr it er ia M aximum Point s M inimum qualit y
t hreshold (in point s)
1
Overall quality and relevance of the service organisation related to Time & Means
services, including interfaces, roles and responsibilities, the level of
traceability/auditability, the level of segregation of tasks, the clarity of the lines of
responsibility and reporting, and the quality of internal controls.
25 12,5
2 Quality and relevance of the measures to guarantee sufficient service provider
availability for requested profiles. 25 12,5
3 Quality and relevance of the procedures used to ensure the quality of the proposed
profiles, in conformity with the service requests. 20 10
4 Quality and relevance of training and ongoing, in-service, training of consultants. 5 2,5
5 Quality and relevance of the measures aimed at providing continuity of service, to
reduce risk and impact of service interruptions. 20 10
6 Quality and relevance of the QoS indicators and of compensations / penalties and
of the corrective measures to be applied in case of non-compliance 5 2,5
Total 100
36
Quoted Time & Means and Fixed Price (FP)
# Award cr it er ia M aximum Point s M inimum qualit y
t hreshold (in point s)
1
Overall quality and relevance of the service organisation related to Quoted Time &
Means and Fixed Price services, including interfaces, roles and responsibilities, its
level of traceability/auditability, its level of segregation of tasks, the clarity of the
lines of responsibility and reporting, and the quality of internal controls.
20 10
2
Quality and relevance of the project management methodology, including its
adherence to standards and best practices, methods, reporting, control, risk
management, change management, time and cost management for the purpose of
fulfilling QTM and Fixed Price service requests.
20 10
3 Quality and relevance of procedures and any other action proposed with the aim of
fulfilling project deadlines. 20 10
4 Quality and relevance of the proposed methods and tools aimed at ensuring high
quality of delivered software and its maintenance. 5 2,5
5 Quality and relevance of the QoS indicators and of compensations / penalties and
of the corrective measures to be applied in case of non-compliance 5 2,5
6 Quality and relevance of the reply to the essays/scenarios including in terms of
scalability and adherence to standards and generally accepted best practices. 30 15
Total 100
37
The points for the essays/scenarios relevant to lot 3 (cf. Annex 12) shall be obtained as follows:
Part Max. Points Min. Points
Question 1 30 15
Question 2 30 15
Question 3 30 15
Question 4 10 5
Sum 100 Final Score = Sum x 0,3
Commission européenne/Europese Commissie, 1049 Bruxelles/Brussel, BELGIQUE/BELGIË - Tel. +32 22991111
9.3.1.4. Total Technical Scores - Formulas
For lot 1 the total technical score for each offer shall be obtained as follows:
(𝑇𝑆𝑒 × 60%) + [(𝑇𝑆𝑇&𝑀) × 65% + (𝑇𝑆QTM and FP) × 35%] × 40%
Where:
TSe = Technical score for essays
TST&M = Technical score for methodology, T&Ms part
TSQTM and FP = Technical Score for methodology, QTM and FP part
For lots 2 and 3, the total technical score for each offer shall be calculated as follows:
(𝑇𝑆𝑇&𝑀) × 65% + (𝑇𝑆QTM and FP) × 35%
Where:
TST&M = Technical score for T&Ms
TSQTM and FP = Technical Score for QTM and FP
For every lot, the selected tenderers must score at least half of the points, or else the
minimum quality threshold specified (whichever is greater), for each of the award criteria
and must score a minimum total of 70 points out of 100 in order to be admitted to the
financial evaluation.
When a minimum quality threshold is not met, the offer shall be rejected.
9.3.2. Financial Evaluation
The financial evaluation will be performed on the basis of the prices stated in the
“Annex 9 – Attachment 5 – Price List” which constitutes the financial offer.
Prices quoted for person-days therein must be all-inclusive, thus no additional costs may
be charged for delivery at the normal places of delivery in accordance with section 6.7
supra.
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9.3.3. Award
The contract will be awarded to the tender that offers the best-value-for-money (meaning
the highest number of points – maximum being 100 points). 70 points are given to the
quality ratio and 30 points to price ratio.
The value-for-money of each tender will be quantified by allocating it a number of points
(pts) calculated as follows:
(𝑄𝑡𝑒𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑟
𝑄𝑏𝑎𝑠𝑒) × 70 𝑝𝑡𝑠 + (
𝑃𝑏𝑎𝑠𝑒
𝑃𝑡𝑒𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑟) × 30 𝑝𝑡𝑠
Where:
𝑄𝑡𝑒𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑟 = Quality mark of the tender
𝑃𝑡𝑒𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑟 = Price offer of the tender
𝑄𝑏𝑎𝑠𝑒 = Quality mark of the tender with the highest quality mark
𝑃𝑏𝑎𝑠𝑒 = Price of the tender with the lowest price offer
It is stipulated that the cheapest price can only derive from an offer which does not fail
the technical evaluation.
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10. VOLUME OF THE CONTRACT
The volume of the total market over the maximum framework contract duration (4 years
or 48 months) is estimated at approximately:
Lot 1 €40.800.000,00
lot 2 €75.600.000,00
lot 3 €54.900.000,00
The above figure is merely an estimate and does not imply a commitment to order any
specific volume of services. The total value of the contract will ultimately depend on the
orders which the Contracting Authority will place through specific contracts.
A proportion of roughly 90:10 between intra muros (on site) and extra muros (off site)
services is possible.
In line with Article 134.1(f) of the rules of application to the Financial Regulation
No 966/2012 of 25.10.2012, during the 3 years following the conclusion of the original
contract, the contracting authority may exercise the option to use the exceptional
negotiated procedure for additional services (without prior publication of a contract
notice) consisting in the repetition of similar services (up to a maximum of 50 % of the
original contract value) entrusted to the economic operator awarded the initial contract by
the same contracting authority.
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11. PRICES AND REIMBURSEMENT OF EXPENSES
11.1. Prices
§ 1. Without prejudice to Article II.22 of the General Conditions, prices shall be
defined by person-day or else at a fixed price, in line with the provisions of the General
Terms and Conditions for Information Technology Contracts.
§2. Prices shall be inclusive of all costs and expenses directly and indirectly
connected with the goods and/or services to be supplied barring any exception clause
explicitly stating otherwise, in line with the provisions of the General Terms and
Conditions for Information Technology Contracts.
§3. Prices shall be quoted in euros (€) and free of all duties and taxes (in particular
VAT) as per section 11.2.1 et seq.
§4. The price-grid as per the Price List attached to the Tender Form Questionnaire
(Annex 9) does factor-in experience. In that regard, there shall be no automatism. The
price (daily rate) shall ultimately be fully and uniquely determined by the request as
issued by the Contracting Authority.
11.2. Tax exemption
11.2.1. European Commission
Without prejudice to Article II.21 of the General Conditions, the European Commission
is exempt from all duties and taxes, in accordance with:
- Articles 3 and 4 of the Protocol of 8 April 1965 on the privileges and immunities
of the European Union; annexed to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European
Union
- Article 151 of the Council Directive 2006/112/EC of 28 November 2006 on the
common system of value added tax.
The Governments of the Member States grant this exemption either through refunds upon
presentation of documentary evidence, or by immediate exemption. The European
Commission will give the successful tenderer instructions regarding this point.
11.2.2. Other European institutions, bodies and agencies
These organisations shall be entitled to tax exemptions provided these conform to their
own rules, in conformity with the Protocol of 8 April 1965 on the privileges and
immunities of the European Union annexed to the Treaty on the Functioning of the
European Union and any other applicable laws and regulations.
11.3. Reimbursement of expenses
Without prejudice to Article II.22 of the General Conditions, travel expenses shall be
included in the global price offered by the tenderer on the basis of the express travel
requirements found in the tender specifications.
The same principle applies to any specific expenditure incurred in performance of the
contract, which cannot be priced by the tenderer during the procedure, such as the cost of
translating various reports of unknown length into the languages indicated in the
specifications.
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12. INFORMATION ON DECLARATION OF ABSENCE OF CONFLICT OF INTEREST
Tenderers shall declare any conflict of interest in connection with the award of the
contract upon submitting their offers; a conflict of interest could arise in particular as a
result of economic interests, political or national affinities, family or emotional ties or
any other relevant connection or shared interest as per Annex 4 - Declaration of honour
on exclusion criteria and absence of conflict of interest as required in section 9.1 supra.
Successful Tenderers shall further inform the Contracting Authority, without delay, of
any situation arising that may be considered a conflict of interest or which could give rise
to a conflict of interest.
The contracting authority reserves the right to check the above-mentioned information.
43
13. PREPARING AND SUBMITTING THE OFFER
Without prejudice to the instructions in the Invitation to Tender letter, this section
describes how you should go about preparing and submitting your offer.
13.1. Preparing your Offer
13.1.1. Receiving the tendering specifications
The Budget Directorate General makes available the tendering specifications for
downloading from the following Internet address, 1 week after the publication of the
contract notice in the Official Journal of the European Union at the latest.
https://etendering.ted.europa.eu/cft/cft-display.html?cftId=1324
Answers to questions of general interest and any other important information about the
call for tenders arising during the tendering period will be handled in the same way, i.e.,
by publication at the same Internet address. Tenderers should thus continue to monitor
this website during the tendering stage.
13.1.2. Clarifying the tendering specifications
Clarifying the tendering specifications shall be done as per the instructions in the
Invitation to Tender letter.
13.1.3. Drawing up your offer
13.1.3.1. Replying to mandatory questions
You should pay particular attention to questions labelled “Mandatory”. These questions
require an unconditional affirmative answer on your part, without making any
assumption or hypothesis. If no answer is given, if an affirmative answer is qualified in
any way (e.g. a “yes, but …” answer) or if you include some assumptions or hypotheses,
your offer will be rejected.
13.1.3.2. Formal aspects
You should attach great importance to how your offer is presented. The following
guidelines lay down a minimum standard which must be respected in all cases.
You should draw up your offer by filling in the ad hoc questionnaires included in the
tendering specifications. Please do not alter the numbering of the questionnaires.
Your offer should be drawn up using word-processing or desktop publishing software, in
a font size giving a readable result on paper.
An electronic copy of your offer should be submitted, as specified in the Invitation to
Tender letter, on separate hard supports (such as a CD-ROM or a DVD-ROM) which
must also be clearly labelled. However, please note that where there is any doubt, the
paper version of the offer will prevail over the electronic one.
If the offer consists of several binders, the tenderers have to include a summary table in
the offer, clearly indicating the content of each binder.
44
Your answers must be concise and clearly drafted. Whenever possible, you should
answer in the place provided on the questionnaire form. However, if you cannot
reasonably do so, your reply should be made on a separate sheet and annexed to the
questionnaire. Such replies must be clearly referenced, and the reference noted on the
questionnaire in the space provided for the reply.
Answers must be complete. Where a question has not been answered, the Evaluation
Committee will make no assumption as to what the answer might have been and will
award no points for it.
Similarly, where only a partial answer is given, the Evaluation Committee will award
points only for the part of the question that has been answered.
13.1.4. Specific requirements for the financial quotation
Financial quotations must be drawn up on the “Price List” form included in the
questionnaires annexed to the tendering specifications. If you change this form in any
way, your offer will be disqualified.
Prices must be quoted:
1. in euros
2. free of all duties and taxes (in particular VAT);
3. inclusive of all costs and expenses directly and indirectly connected with the
services to be supplied.
Your financial quotation should be completely unambiguous. Your offer will be rejected
if it contains any statements preventing an accurate and complete comparison of the
offers (such as “To be discussed”, “Depending on x”, etc.) or referring to external
circumstances (such as an already existing but separate contract) or if it involves any
assumption or hypothesis.
If a particular tendering specification concerning the price is not clear or seems imprecise
to you, you can send us a request for clarification in writing via the e-tendering platform,
before the final date for submission of tenders, but no later than 5 working days before
such date.
13.2. Submitting Your Offer
Your offer shall be submitted as per the instructions in the Invitation to Tender letter.
Commission européenne/Europese Commissie, 1049 Bruxelles/Brussel, BELGIQUE/BELGIË - Tel. +32 22991111
14. LIST OF ANNEXES
00_TENDER_SPECIFICATIONS.pdf
Annex_01.RoadMaps_to_order.00.docx
Annex_01.RoadMaps_to_order.A01.Request_Form_TM.docx
Annex_01.RoadMaps_to_order.A03.Request_Form_QTM.docx
Annex_01.RoadMaps_to_order.A04.Request_Form_FP.docx
Annex_01.RoadMaps_to_order.A05.Proposal_Acceptance-Refusal.docx
Annex_01.RoadMaps_to_order.A06.Offer_Acceptance-Refusal.docx
Annex_01.RoadMaps_to_order.A07.Extension_TM.docx
Annex_01.RoadMaps_to_order.A09.Extension_QTM.docx
Annex_01.RoadMaps_to_order.A10.Extension_FP.docx
Annex_02.Profiles.01.TechnicalContext.docx
Annex_02.Profiles.02.Requirements.00.docx
Annex_02.Profiles.02.Requirements.A1.Profiles_table.docx
Annex_02.Profiles.02.Requirements.A2.Descriptions.lot01.pdf
Annex_02.Profiles.02.Requirements.A2.Descriptions.lot02.pdf
Annex_02.Profiles.02.Requirements.A2.Descriptions.lot03.pdf
Annex_03.Declaration_confidentiality.docx
Annex_04.Declaration-honour-en.docx
Annex_05.Code_of_conduct.docx
Annex_06.Letter_of_Intent_Subcontractor.docx
Annex_07.Letter_of_Intent_freelancer.docx
Annex_08.Power_of_attorney_template.docx
Annex_09.Tender_Form_Questionnaire.01.docx
Annex_09.Tender_Form_Questionnaire.02.lot01.docx
Annex_09.Tender_Form_Questionnaire.02.lot02.docx
Annex_09.Tender_Form_Questionnaire.02.lot03.docx
Annex_09.Tender_Form_Questionnaire.03.docx
Annex_09.Tender_Form_Questionnaire.A1.CVsProvidedTable.xlsx
Annex_09.Tender_Form_Questionnaire.A2.CRF.docx
Annex_09.Tender_Form_Questionnaire.A3.ProjectReferenceForm.docx
Annex_09.Tender_Form_Questionnaire.A4.AIF.docx
Annex_09.Tender_Form_Questionnaire.A5.PriceList.xlsx
Annex_10.SLA.docx
Annex_11.CV.00.InstructionsCompletionCV.docx
Annex_11.CV.01.TENDER_CVForm.docx
Annex_11.CV.02.DIGIT_template.docx
Annex_11.CV.03.EuroPass_template.docx
Annex_12.Technical_Eval_ScenariosEssays.lot01.00.docx
Annex_12.Technical_Eval_ScenariosEssays.lot01.A1.Essay01.FinancialInstruments.docx
Annex_12.Technical_Eval_ScenariosEssays.lot01.A2.Essay02.TrustFunds.00.docx
Annex_12.Technical_Eval_ScenariosEssays.lot01.A2.Essay02.TrustFunds.Annex 1.pdf
Annex_12.Technical_Eval_ScenariosEssays.lot01.A2.Essay02.TrustFunds.Annex 2.pdf
Annex_12.Technical_Eval_ScenariosEssays.lot01.A2.Essay02.TrustFunds.Annex 3.pdf
Annex_12.Technical_Eval_ScenariosEssays.lot01.A3.Essay03.In-kindContributions.docx
Annex_12.Technical_Eval_ScenariosEssays.lot01.A4.Essay04.Consolidation01.docx
Annex_12.Technical_Eval_ScenariosEssays.lot01.A5.Essay05.Consolidation02.docx
Annex_12.Technical_Eval_ScenariosEssays.lot02.docx
Annex_12.Technical_Eval_ScenariosEssays.lot03.docx