ORGANISATION FOR ECONOMIC CO-OPERATION AND DEVELOPMENT
CALL FOR TENDERS 100000730
Outsourcing of maintenance, user support and development services of the OECD internal publishing systems
Closing date: Thursday 13th February, 2014 3.00 PM (Paris time)
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Introduction: ABOUT the OECD The OECD brings together the governments of Established: 1961 countries committed to democracy and the Location: Paris, France market economy from around the world to: Membership: 34 countries • Support sustainable economic growth Budget: EUR 347 million • Boost employment Secretariat staff: 2 500 • Raise living standards Secretary-General: Angel Gurría • Maintain financial stability Publications: 250 new titles/year
• Assist other countries' economic development Official languages: English/French • Contribute to growth in world trade The OECD also shares expertise and exchanges views with more than 100 other countries and economies, from Brazil, China, and Russia to the least developed countries in Africa.
Monitoring, analysing and forecasting The OECD’s mission is to promote policies that will improve the economic and social well-being of people around the world. We are focusing on helping governments in our Member and Partner countries and elsewhere in four main areas: First and foremost, governments need to restore confidence in markets and the institutions and companies that make them function. That will require improved regulation and more effective governance at all levels of political and business life. Secondly, governments must re-establish healthy public finances as a basis for future sustainable economic growth. In parallel, we are looking for ways to foster and support new sources of growth through innovation, environmentally friendly ‘green growth’ strategies and the development of emerging economies. Finally, to underpin innovation and growth, we need to ensure that people of all ages can develop the skills to work productively and satisfyingly in the jobs of tomorrow.
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Enlargement and enhanced engagement Since 2007, the OECD offered enhanced engagement to Brazil, China, India, Indonesia and South Africa. In 2013, the OECD agreed to invite Colombia and Latvia to open discussions for membership of the Organisation. Accession talks with Russia are on-going.
Publishing The OECD is one of the world's largest publishers in the fields of economics and public policy. OECD publications are a prime vehicle for disseminating the Organisation's intellectual output, both on paper and online. Publications are available through the Online Information System (OLIS) for government officials, through OECD iLibrary for researchers and students in institutions, corporate, subscribed to our online library and through the Online Bookshop for individuals who wish to browse titles free-of-charge and to buy publications.
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PART I: INSTRUCTIONS TO TENDERERS
1.1 Nature of the Call for Tenders The OECD is issuing this call for tenders with a view to selecting a provider for maintenance, user support and development services of the OECD internal publishing systems.
1.2 Conditions of the Call for Tenders
1.2.1 Composition of the call for tenders This file contains 3 parts: a) Part I: Instructions to tenderers and its annex declaration; b) Part II: Technical specifications and its Annexes A and B; c) Part III: Minimum general conditions for OECD contracts.
1.2.2 Offers All offers will be treated as contractually binding for the Tenderer and the Tenderer shall consequently date and sign the documents mentioned above, as well as any document in support (including its proposal of prices).
1.2.3 Duration of tender validity Tenders shall remain valid for at least 180 days.
1.2.4 Additional information Should any problems of interpretation arise in the course of drawing up the response document, Tenderers may submit a written request for further information to the Organisation at the address indicated below, no later than 10 calendar days before the deadline for the submission of tenders. All answers will be available on the website of the OECD:
By email to [email protected]; or
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By mail to: OCDE EXD/PBF/CPG A l’attention de M. Jérôme REVERCHON Call for Tenders ref. 100000730 2, rue André Pascal 75775 Paris Cedex 16
1.2.5 Acceptance and rejection of tenders There is no commitment on the part of the Organisation to accept any offer or part thereof. The Organisation reserves the right to: Accept non-substantive defects that might affect the presentation of tenders; Reject tenders received after the deadline for submission of tenders, without justification.
1.2.6 Tenders submitted by partnerships Partnerships must jointly meet the administrative requirements set out in the CFT. Each of the partners must also meet those requirements individually. Once a tender has been submitted, there may be no change in the composition of a partnership without the prior written permission of OECD. The Organisation reserves the right to reject any request for such modification without having to justify its decision.
1.2.7 Modification or cancellation of call for tenders The Organisation reserves the right to modify or cancel all or part of the call for tenders, should the need arise, without having to justify its actions and without such action conferring any right to compensation on Tenderers.
1.2.8 Extension of the deadline for submission The OECD reserves the right to extend the deadline for submission of the offers. In that case, all the tenderers’ and Organisation’s rights and duties and in particular Article 1.2.3 above (Duration of tender validity) will be subject to this new deadline.
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1.2.9 Tendering expenses Offers are not paid. No reimbursement of expenses related to the preparation of any proposal will be made by the OECD.
1.2.10 Confidentiality It is requested that this call for tenders be treated as confidential, as well as any further information furnished to the candidate, or to which the candidate may have access in relation to this CFT or in the performance of the contract, regardless of the format, with the exception of information used to respond to the CFT. The OECD reserves the right to have all documents and information returned at the end of the tender process, regardless of their format.
1.3 Presentation, Submission and Contents of Tenders
1.3.1 Tender presentation and conditions for submission Tenders shall be entirely drafted in either English or French and shall be submitted: Before the deadline: In three paper copies + one CD ROM version or USB key; By recorded delivery in return for a receipt from the OECD or by registered mail with postal acknowledgement of receipt: In a sealed double envelope bearing the words "NE PAS OUVRIR par le service courrier – Appel d’Offres n°100000730”, to: OCDE EXD/PBF/CPG A l'attention de M. Jérôme REVERCHON 2, rue André Pascal 75775 PARIS CEDEX 16 FRANCE
The deadline for submission of tenders is Thursday 13th February 2014 at 3.00 PM (Paris time).
Tenders received after that deadline or in unsealed envelopes and/or bearing any mention that would identify or make reference to the tendering company may be rejected, as may any offers that do not respond to all the services described in the Technical Specifications.
Tenders sent by email or fax will be systematically rejected, even if a duplicate is sent by mail.
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1.3.2 Contents of the tender The Tender as well as the terms included in the documentation relating to the present CFT are contractually binding, and must be initialled on each page and duly signed, with the following documents attached: The Minimum General Conditions for OECD Contracts; The Terms of Reference.
1.3.3 General Information The Tenderer must provide: A letter of application signed by the Tenderer and specifying that all the elements of the offer are contractually binding, and explaining the reason for the interest in this call for tenders; All certificates identifying the Tenderer, including its name, legal nature, address, SIRET Number or equivalent, date founded, areas of activity and number of employees by country and activity, financial information for the past three years, professional insurance, and any other information it may deem relevant; If the tender is submitted by a partnership, the letter of application must be signed by each of the partners in that group to ensure their joint and several liabilities. In such cases the tender must include a letter from each of the partners stating their joint liability for the commitment entered into; All certificates identifying each of the partners within a partnership and the persons with power of signature or the individuals and legal entities constituting the group submitting the tender; Any related, existing agreements with intermediaries or third parties; The Tenderer, or each of the partners in the case of a partnership, must have fulfilled all its legal obligations with regard to tax declarations and payments in its home country and must supply all the requisite certificates to that effect.
1.3.4 Financial Conditions Prices quoted must include everything necessary for the complete execution of an eventual contract, with the understanding that charges for items not identified in the proposal will be borne by the respondent, if they are essential to execution of the contract.
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1.4 Interviews The Organisation reserves the right to organise hearings and request the candidates to specify the content of their offers.
1.5 Selection Criteria The criteria for tender appraisal are as follows: Relevance of the offer in light of the context described in the technical specifications. Pricing terms. The providers service level commitment based on his proposed SLA. Relevance of experience and references provided on current clients, if possible comparable to the OECD environment and actively using the service. Financial soundness of the tenderer, or each of the partners in the case of a partnership.
1.6 Information to Tenders All Tenderers will be informed, whenever possible, of the decision taken on their tenders.
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1.7 Annex Declaration
DECLARATION Call for Tenders n° 100000730 As part of the offer in response to the OECD call for Tenders n°100000730, the Tenderer (company or individual) declares on oath the following: that it is not bankrupt or being wound up, is not having its affairs administered by the courts, has not entered into an arrangement with creditors, has not suspended business activities, is not the subject of proceedings concerning those matters, and is not in any analogous situation arising from a similar procedure provided for in national legislation or regulations; that it has not been convicted of an offence concerning its professional conduct by a judgement which has the force of res judicata; that it has not been the subject of a judgment which has the force of res judicata for fraud, corruption, involvement in a criminal organisation or any other illegal activity detrimental to the financial interests of the OECD, its members or its donors; that it is not guilty of misrepresentation in supplying the information required as a condition of participation in this call for tenders or fail to supply this information; that it is not subject to a conflict of interest; that its employees and any person involved in the execution of the work to be performed under the present call for tenders are regularly employed according to national laws to which it is subject and that it fully complies with laws and regulations in force in terms of social security and labour law; that it has not offered and will not offer, has not granted and will not grant, hat not sought and will not seek to obtain, and has not accepted and will not accept any advantage, financial or in kind, to or from any party whatsoever, constituting an illegal practice or involving corruption, either directly or indirectly, as an incentive or reward relating to the award or the performance of the contract that would result from the present OECD call for tenders. I, the undersigned, …………………………………. on behalf of the company …………………., understand and acknowledge that the OECD may decide not to award the contract to a Tenderer who is in one of the situations indicated above. I further recognise that the Organisation may terminate for default any contract awarded to a Tenderer who during the award procedure had been guilty of misrepresentation in supplying, or fail to supply, the information requested above. the .. / .. / .. Signature OECD publishing systems maintenance, support and development services Ref 100000730 Page 9 of 28
PART II: TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS
Contents 1. OBJECTIVE OF THE CALL FOR TENDERS ...... 11 2. DESCRIPTION OF THE EXPECTED SERVICE ...... 11 2.1. Objectives of the contract ...... 11 2.2. Context ...... 12 2.2.1. Personnel ...... 12 2.2.2. Location ...... 12 2.2.3. Working hours ...... 12 2.2.4. Users ...... 12 2.3. Scope ...... 12 2.3.1. Applications and systems ...... 12 2.3.2. Miscellaneous ...... 13 2.3.3. Typical distribution of incidents ...... 13 2.4. Service perimeter ...... 14 2.4.1. Day-to-day management of the publishing systems ...... 14 2.4.2. User assistance provided by the maintenance and support team ...... 15 2.4.3. Participation in developments to enhance applications ...... 15 2.4.4. Miscellaneous tasks ...... 16 3. OBLIGATIONS OF THE TENDERER ...... 16 3.1. General ...... 16 3.2. Confidentiality ...... 16 3.3. Service Level Agreements (SLAs) ...... 17 3.4. Response framework ...... 17 3.5. Implementation of the different phases ...... 18 3.6. Service management and monitoring ...... 18 3.7. Price of services and penalties ...... 19 4. STAFF PROFILE AND EXPERTISE ...... 19 4.1. Senior Support Engineer/Developer ...... 19 4.2. Other profiles ...... 21 5. MINIMUM INFORMATION REQUIRED ...... 21 6. ANNEX A ...... 22 7. ANNEX B ...... 22
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1. OBJECTIVE OF THE CALL FOR TENDERS The OECD Publishing Division (PAC/PUB) provides the 3000 staff members of the OECD Secretariat with access to the bibliographical and related information of the Organisation’s publications through the use of a number of applications and databases. It also provides bibliographic data as well as the related support to its network of resellers. It is essential to maintain the quality of the publishing services as they provide revenues which contribute to the OECD’s overall budget.
With a view to continuously improve the efficiency, reliability and availability of its publishing services as well as the support to be supplied to users of OECD Publishing systems, the OECD intends to negotiate a new partnership agreement with a provider capable of guaranteeing the quality of core services through the use of reliable and measurable processes (Service Level Agreements).
This call for tenders concerns the following core activities: Manage the day-to-day operations of the publishing systems Undertake developments for said systems, both by correcting them and by adding new features, or even new systems Report to and collaborate with the PAC/PS team; provide this team specific technical support as needed Provide first and second-line support for users of publishing systems and applications.
These activities will be described in more detail in the following section. 2. DESCRIPTION OF THE EXPECTED SERVICE
2.1. Objectives of the contract The core activities of PAC/PS are the design, development, deployment, maintenance and support of internal and external applications, among them applications that have a direct impact on the visibility of the Organization and its revenues. PAC/PS is currently in charge of the re- deployment of major applications whose timing and performance will be critical for the future of the OECD Publishing services and hence the OECD’s information dissemination as a whole, for both internal and external audiences. The OECD’s public image, as well as OECD service level to the public, libraries, governments, institutions, will be impacted by these projects.
Therefore, the principal objectives of the contract are: Allow PAC/PS staff to concentrate on these project tasks Participate to some extent in these projects Ensure the full continuity of service to the Organization’s various clients
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Optimize client support services Resolve incidents relating to the publishing systems and applications or provide escalation management Optimize maintenance tracking and documentation Improve existing maintenance best practices
2.2. Context This section provides some context of the contract, covering location, working hours, user population and the current scope of the applications to be covered by the contract.
2.2.1. Personnel As an indication only (exact specification will be worked out during the contract negotiation): given the amount of work expected as well as our previous experience we expect to contract a 1,5 Full-time equivalent.
2.2.2. Location The service could be performed offsite, but the past has shown that a part-time presence at OECD PAC/PS offices, located in Boulogne-Billancourt, near Paris, France, has been very beneficial for the quick resolution of problems and for much improved planning and collaboration. Tenderers should be prepared for their staff to be present in OECD offices at least two days per week. Ideally, tenderers should have (or will open) an office in the Paris area.
2.2.3. Working hours The proposal must include a five-day week from Monday to Friday with an eight-hour working day (from 9.30am to 6.30pm, with a one-hour lunch break). Continuous service is to be maintained throughout the year, with the only exceptions being the end-of-year holidays when the OECD offices are closed and official OECD bank holidays. These days will be communicated by the OECD on an annual basis.
2.2.4. Users Most requests for assistance are received from the around 90 staff members of the Publishing division (PAC/PUB). Theoretically, all 3000 OECD staff can be considered users of the supported applications, although experience has shown that only a small number will require assistance.
2.3. Scope
2.3.1. Applications and systems The following is a non-exhaustive list of applications, databases and systems which are inside the service perimeter: a central bibliographic database application (“Kappa”)
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several applications used for exporting data to third parties (“Export channels”) two production planning tools (“Prote” and “FAB”) tools for the creation of production statistics pre-sales management application an application to manage the rights for publications and derivative works (translations, extracts, etc) (“Rights”) editorial, marketing and production tools tool-chains that generate HTML and EPUB-based publications from XML an application to generate statistical tables for publication in several output formats, based on data extracted from the OECD data warehouse (“PubStat Table Output Generator”) an application to generate dynamic web charts, based on the PubStat Table Output Generator (“ActiveCharts”) a MarkLogic-based application created for another Directorate (“EOI Tax Portal”) other similar applications or components thereof as necessary
Notes: Off-the-shelf page layout applications such as FrameMaker, InDesign etc. are not part of the perimeter The intellectual property rights for all applications are with the Organisation and they can therefore be modified by the tenderer’s staff if instructed to do so by authorized OECD personnel
The minimum skills required in order to maintain these applications are described in section 4 below.
2.3.2. Miscellaneous Furthermore, occasional network, hardware setup, migration and administration tasks will also fall into the perimeter of the expected service.
The OECD reserves the right to adjust the service perimeter in accordance with the service provider.
2.3.3. Typical distribution of incidents In 2013, an average of 65 incidents per month has been observed. This number is expected to grow in the future and to eventually stabilize. We do not expect more than a maximum of 100 issue reports per month, depending on the service perimeter (number of applications as well as the number of users). Request volume shown by activities (estimates, based on recent statistics): o 60% user support OECD publishing systems maintenance, support and development services Ref 100000730 Page 13 of 28
o 20% development/implementation of new features o 5% anomalies o 15% other tasks Priorities are typically distributed as shown: o 2% low o 85% normal o 13% high and urgent For information, these priorities will be further defined in the applicable SLA: o Normal: Response to the issue within 3 hours o High: Response to the issue within 2 hours and resolution within 8 hours o Urgent: Response to the issue within 1 hour and resolution within 4 hours
2.4. Service perimeter The service involves the day-to-day management of the Publishing applications currently in production as detailed in section 2.4.1 below and the resolution of any arising issues, independently of, or in collaboration with PAC/PS staff. The service also includes the participation in reasonably-sized development projects either to correct anomalies or to enhance the publishing systems (see subsection 2.4.3 below). As laid out in subsection 2.4.2 below, it further comprises providing first and second-level assistance to users of publishing applications as well as more in-depth support for users via the provided online tracking system.
2.4.1. Day-to-day management of the publishing systems This service is instrumental to ensure the smooth running of the applications and services and includes: Daily control that nightly batch applications run correctly Occasionally, be on-call after normal working hours to ensure certain batch operations have run correctly (especially before high-profile publication launches such as PISA) Use of machine-generated information to check upon the state of the different applications (logs, system-generated emails, trace dumps, etc.) Maintain statistics of the running of the applications (listing of failures and their frequency) Correct bugs and other anomalies encountered during the execution of the previous tasks Propose and execute measures to avoid failures in the future Escalate problems to PAC/PS staff if not resolvable by service provider Communicate with PAC/PS staff regarding the state of production applications Create and maintain documentation Any other task that may be deemed useful for the continuity of service
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2.4.2. User assistance provided by the maintenance and support team The service provider’s staff is the “single point of contact” for all user requests and incidents related to the publishing systems listed in section 2.3.1Error! Reference source not found.. User support is handled exclusively via an existing online issue tracking system (Redmine). No mail or telephone calls are accepted, with some very rare exceptions. Support staff must handle the following activities, among other things: Receive system-generated mails for requests entered through the tracking system Analyse the necessary actions to resolve the issue If necessary discuss prioritisation of actions with operations supervisor If necessary escalate issue to the appropriate person/service Liaise with IT service when necessary Interact with other parties to resolve issue Resolve issues to the satisfaction of the user Capitalise on experience with previous issues Over time build a knowledge base that is based on repeated issues Produce statistics and other documents to track performance Provide clear and comprehensible communication to non-technical end users
Support requests may be submitted by users in both official OECD languages, English and French. Staff must be able to correspond in both languages, at least in writing, but occasionally also orally. It is considered polite to reply in the language used by the requestor.
2.4.3. Participation in developments to enhance applications Approximately 30% of the time will be dedicated to development activities. They have to be closely coordinated with and be initiated by PAC/PS staff as well as to be validated by the PAC/PS manager. The following is a non-exhaustive list of possible tasks: Analyse expression of needs by users Prepare functional specifications Prepare technical specifications Prepare test scenarios and plans Develop following technical specifications Execute tests Validate external and internal developments Put validated developments into production Create user documentation Create technical documentation Keep the knowledge base (wiki) up-to-date
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2.4.4. Miscellaneous tasks Apart from the aforementioned activities, it may also be necessary to: Assist the local IT officer in managing the different user and privileges related requests through sending and following up on requests to the Organisation's helpdesk and Account administration Update hardware and software used by the PAC/PS team (both local and in the cloud)
The OECD will supply the following technical facilities on its premises: Standard IT hardware and software (PC, printer, Windows 7, MS office 2010, etc.) A virtual image of a development environment as well as the necessary access information if service is to be executed from an off-site location Telephone service An incident and request management and tracking tool (Redmine) which will be used to track issues as well as the subcontractor’s adherence to the SLAs laid out elsewhere in this document A wiki for documentation (based on Redmine). 3. OBLIGATIONS OF THE TENDERER
3.1. General The service provider’s staff will be responsible for treatment of incidents from beginning to end, in close collaboration with the PAC/PS team. Requests that cannot be resolved by the tenderer's personnel are to be submitted to the operations supervisor for a decision.
Tenderers should specify their certification in terms of service provision (ISO, ITIL, ITSM, etc.).
The provider and its personnel are to serve as an adviser to the OECD and must demonstrate the appropriate skills, care and diligence in providing the services covered by this contract. The provider will indicate to the OECD any matters that in its view could compromise the proper execution of the contract.
3.2. Confidentiality Tenderers must describe the means whereby they plan to maintain the respect of strict confidentiality rules regarding OECD data and, more generally, information among the personnel serving the OECD. All personnel employed by the service provider to provide services in the framework of this contract must sign a confidentiality agreement.
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3.3. Service Level Agreements (SLAs) The OECD insists on a high quality of user support services, and the tenderer must be able to guarantee this level of quality through the use of Service Level Agreements. Therefore, tenderers shall submit along with their proposals detailed SLAs relevant to the services described herein.
Note: SLAs will be calculated but not applied during the probationary period. The SLAs will be reviewed and possibly modified every year on the contract’s anniversary date.
The OECD makes it a rule to achieve a high level of user satisfaction. Accordingly, it conducts a regular satisfaction survey on a random sample of users of the provider's services. The satisfaction level determined in these surveys should not be less than 80%. If this were the case, this will have to be taken into account when re-evaluating the SLAs at the contract’s anniversary date.
The following is a list of the indicators currently used: I1 – Time to acknowledge a support ticket I2 – Time to resolve a support ticket I3 – Ratio of open support tickets at the end of a month I4 – Ratio of reopening closed and validated support tickets
Note: This list is an indication only and will be amended, completed and discussed with the selected company and finalized in the contract.
3.4. Response framework This section details the items of documentation that must be submitted by the tenderer using the following structure, to make evaluation of the different bids easier: . Technical memorandum to assess the technical validity of each offer. It must contain: o Methodology for providing service, including: . Implementation of the four phases (see section 3.7 below) . Perception of issues and objectives . Procedures, methods and tools proposed . Commitment to achieve the required quality of service o Individual skills and organisation of team, including: . Organisation and execution plan for the service . Number of staff resources dedicated to the project, management structure, etc. . Suitability of personnel and profiles . Certifications and licenses o Suitability of the management approach, including (see section 3.6 below) . Quality assurance
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. Management and communications with OECD . Ownership o Suitability of the reversibility approach, including: . Contractual suitability . Quality approach for keeping reversibility operational . Approach for the return process . Service Level Agreement . Financial proposal
3.5. Implementation of the different phases The following subsection describes the overall approach that the tenderer must adopt in providing the service.
Implementation will take place in four phases: 1. The takeover phase the length of which will be agreed upon with the provider (for information, the current contract provides a six-week reversibility phase) constitutes the takeover of the existing environment from the previous service provider, installation of tools and preparation of operating modes and management procedures (service agreement, instructions and procedures, quality indicators, committees). During this phase, the existing provider will transfer information to the new team and accompany them where necessary. 2. The probationary phase, the length of which will be proposed by the provider, to be used for adjusting and refining the various quality indicators and associated thresholds for the system for measuring performance, during which the Service Improvement Plan will also be defined. During this phase, the provider will be responsible for all assistance activities and interventions and resolution of incidents in accordance with existing procedures. At the end of this phase, the provider will be engaged under a commitment to achieve results. If the level of service quality is not achieved at the end of the probationary phase, the OECD may invoke the reversibility phase. 3. The operational phase, which shall run initially for 12 months and may be renewed up to a maximum of 4 times, corresponds to the recurrent management phase, with quality measured through the indicators defined in the service agreement. 4. The reversibility phase, the length of which will be determined by the OECD (minimum 6 weeks), during which the OECD or a third-party designated by the OECD will take over all the assets involved in providing the service. Reversibility may be invoked at the end of the probationary phase, upon expiry of the contract, or if the contract is cancelled.
3.6. Service management and monitoring In this section tenderers shall describe their vision of how the management of the service should be carried out in an efficient and cost-effective manner. Focus should be given to:
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Ways to assure quality and adherence to the SLAs (a Quality Assurance Plan should be annexed to the tender) Management structures that should be established (supervisory committees, their frequency, membership and roles) Reporting, monitoring, audits (use of existing tools; systems and processes to monitor progress and current state of the contract) An improvement plan (analysis of existing problems, anticipation of future potential issues)
3.7. Price of services and penalties In this section the tenderer shall describe the provisions relating to prices and penalties. The provider shall supply global prices for each of the different phases of the contract including cost details (cf Annex A): 1. The takeover phase 2. The probationary phase 3. The operational phase 4. The reversibility phase
Any failure on the part of the provider in meeting its contractual obligations may give rise to penalties. The tenderer shall indicate the amount of the penalties it proposes in case of failure to respect its commitments, and their methods of calculation and payment of penalties.
4. STAFF PROFILE AND EXPERTISE The tenderer shall submit proposals to supply the profile and expertise detailed below as well as any other profiles that the tenderer will be committing to the project, such as management and supervision profiles.
4.1. Senior Support Engineer/Developer University or college degree, preferably in computer science or a related discipline. Bilingual English/French. Minimum of 5 years of experience in application programming and software support, with a proven knowledge of document production systems. Also necessary is an in- depth knowledge of the Windows operating system as well as networking technologies.
The support engineer must be able to: . Provide high-quality solutions with a strong service-oriented approach; . Correspond via email (and exceptionally by telephone) in French and English (as needed); . Log and dispatch incidents using the provided tools; . Take ownership of issues and follow through to completion and resolution; . Keep clients informed of all developments regarding their requests; OECD publishing systems maintenance, support and development services Ref 100000730 Page 19 of 28
. Diagnose and troubleshoot issues via email and remote access software; . Work as necessary with the Organisation’s publishing systems team and/or IT support personnel to resolve more intricate issues; . Share and transfer knowledge to clients and colleagues; . Use and maintain the provided incident management tool to log problems and prepare statistical data and reports; . Analyse data in incident management tool to identify trends and propose solutions; . Maintain and improve administrative procedures related to the handling of requests for technical support; . Maintain and write technical notes for the knowledge base (in English or in French); . Participate in projects initiated by the Organisation's Publishing Systems team as required.
The following competencies are expected:
Level 1 (frequently required) Windows 7 SQL / TSQL (Microsoft SQL Server) ASP (VBScript) COM+ (VB6) .NET WebForm (C#) .NET MVC (C#) Ant build files XSL Transformation Subversion (user and admin competencies) Git (user and admin compentencies) XQuery / MarkLogic
Level 2 (regularly but less often required) .NET Console Application tools (C#) Windows 2003/2008/2012 – third-party tools and applications installed on PAC/PS servers (IIS, VisualSVN server, Redmine, MySQL, etc.) Linux Ubuntu – support and maintenance of externally hosted PAC/PS servers SSH, FTP, proxies, Wireshark and other networking protocols and tools Technology watch relating to currently used tools and how they could be improved Technology watch regarding performance challenges due to constantly increasing data volumes that need to be managed
Level 3 (sometimes required) LDAP/Active Directory Perl scripting OECD publishing systems maintenance, support and development services Ref 100000730 Page 20 of 28
PowerShell scripting Ruby (Redmine maintenance) PHP scripting Java Javascript, CSS, HTML .NET WPF (C#)
The tenderer should provide sample curriculum vitae for the skill profile and should indicate the advance notice required to supply or replace a professional for each of the areas of development expertise. The costs of these services must be exclusive of taxes but inclusive of travel and other incidental expenditures.
4.2. Other profiles Tenderers shall specify any other profiles deemed necessary in order to carry out the work described in this document. Of particular interest are management and supervisorial roles, in charge of managing the indicators and the human ressources inter alia. 5. MINIMUM INFORMATION REQUIRED The tenderer must provide the following information in its proposal: The date the tenderer entered the consulting and IT services market; An indication if consulting and IT services are the main activity of the tenderer. If there are other activities, specify them; A description of the strategies employed by the tenderer to ensure the continued quality of service (e.g. recruitment and training strategies, account management strategies).
The tenderer must complete and return the attached tables (Annexes A and B) indicating: The Advance Notice Period, in days, required for the supply or replacement of an expert with the required profile; The daily charge range in Euros (net of taxes) for each profile in each area of expertise, based on an 8-hour working day; Discount rate and conditions applicable, according to the duration of the engagement; Prices quoted must include everything necessary for the full execution of the contract (transport, insurance, start-up where necessary, guarantees, etc.). The number of experts employed by the tenderer for each professional profile in each area.
The contract will be established for an initial period of one year, renewable 2 to 4 times, depending on the financial conditions proposed by the contractor.
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Read and approved
[Date]
[City, Country]
Signature by a person having the authority to represent the tenderer (+ stamp)
6. ANNEX A (To be completed and returned with your offer)
OUTSOURCING OF PUBLISHING SYSTEMS MAINTENANCE AND USER ASSISTANCE Duration Number of staff employed Costs / placed by tenderer
Takeover phase Probationary phase Operational phase Reversibility phase
7. ANNEX B (To be completed and returned with your offer)
OUTSOURCING OF PUBLISHING SYSTEMS MAINTENANCE AND USER ASSISTANCE Expertise Level of Advance Daily charge Discount Number of experience notice rate (in rate experts period euros) and employed (days) conditions / placed by tenderer
Senior (min. 5 years of support experience engineer in the area)
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Add more profiles if appropriate, according to 4.2 above.
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PART III: MINIMUM GENERAL CONDITIONS FOR OECD CONTRACTS
The following nonexclusive articles of the General Conditions of the anticipated Contract as well as the document entitled “Terms of Reference” shall become an integral part of the Contract to be signed between the OECD and the Contractor. These minimum general conditions are not exclusive and additional conditions can be added in the final Contract. In the event of any contradiction between the provisions of the anticipated Contract and those of any of its Annexes, including the present and completed General Conditions, the provisions of the Contract shall prevail.
3.1 Services The services supplied under the Contract (hereinafter “The Work”) shall conform to the standards mentioned in the Terms of Reference. It is expressly agreed that the Contractor shall perform the Work in accordance with all Standards or, where no such standards have yet been formulated, the authoritative standards of the profession will be the applicable norms.
3.2 Prices Prices charged by the Contractor under the Contract shall not vary from the prices quoted by the Contractor in its Tender, with the exception of any price adjustment authorised in the Contract or in the Organisation’s request for Tender validity extension, if need be.
3.3 Duration The present contract is established for an initial period of one year as from the date of signature of the last signatory. At the conclusion of this period it may be renewed by tacit renewal for periods of the same duration, with a maximum of four renewals, except termination by the one or other one of the parties, before the end of annual period, by registered letter with recorded delivery, subject to respecting an advance notice of three months.
3.4 Payments and Taxes Payment will be made in Euros. The Organisation is exempt from taxation, including from sales tax and value added tax (V.A.T.). Therefore, the Contractor shall not charge any such tax to the Organisation.
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3.5 Access to the Premises If the Service requires at any time the presence of the Contractor and/or of the Contractor’s employees, agents or representatives on the premises of the Organisation, they shall observe all applicable rules of the Organisation, in particular security rules, which the Organisation may enforce by taking any measures that it considers necessary.
3.6 Force majeure Neither Party shall be liable or be deemed to be in breach of the Contract as a result of any delay in performing, or any failure to perform its obligations, if such delay or failure is caused by force majeure. Force majeure may only be invoked when an event is, at the same time, unforeseeable, unavoidable and beyond the control of the party invoking it. Such events may include, but are not restricted to, civil unrest, wars, revolutions, fires and floods, but under no circumstances shall include public transport strikes or strikes by Contractor’s personnel. The party invoking it shall notify the other Party of its existence as soon as possible, use reasonable endeavours to mitigate its effects and recommence performing the Contract as soon as the force majeure ends.
3.7 Authority The Contractor hereby declares having all rights and full authority to enter into this Contract and to be in possession of all licenses, permits and property rights, in particular intellectual property rights, necessary for the performance of this Contract.
3.8 Liability The Contractor shall be solely liable for and shall indemnify, defend and hold the Organisation and its personnel harmless from and against any and all claims, losses, damages, costs or liabilities of any nature whatsoever, including those of third parties and Contractor’s personnel, arising directly or indirectly out of or in connection with Contractor’s performance or breach of this Contract.
It is the responsibility of the Contractor to possess adequate insurances to cover such risks, including any risks related to the execution of the Contract.
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3.9 Representatives Neither the Contractor nor any of Contractor’s employees, agents or representatives: shall in any capacity be considered as members of the staff, employees or representatives of the Organisation; shall have any power to commit the Organisation in respect of any obligation or expenditure whatsoever; shall have any claim to any advantage, payment, reimbursement, exemption or service not stipulated in this Contract. In particular and without limitation, it is understood that neither the Contractor, nor any of Contractor’s employees, agents or representatives may in any manner claim the benefit of the privileges and immunities enjoyed by the Organisation or by its personnel; shall disclose or use, in whole or in part, for any purpose whatsoever, other than that specified in the present Contract, information or documents communicated to them, or which come to their knowledge in the course of the performance of this Contract, including, but not limited to, the results of the Work under the Contract. The Contractor shall ensure that the Contractor’s employees, agents and representatives are expressly bound by and respect the provisions of the present clause.
3.10 Designation of a Coordinator The Contractor shall appoint a coordinator within its personnel, to be approved by the OECD. The coordinator shall actively cooperate with the Organisation’s representatives. Throughout the duration of the Contract, the coordinator will consult the Organisation as often as necessary and will attend meetings, if need be. The OECD reserves its right to ask for the replacement of this coordinator if deemed necessary.
3.11 Intellectual Property The copyright and any other intellectual property rights arising from the Work carried out in performance of this Contract, including the intermediate and final results thereof, shall vest in the Organisation as the Work is created, or be assigned to the Organisation, as the case may be under any applicable legal theory. The Contractor undertakes not to use the Work for any purpose whatsoever that is not directly necessary to the performance of the Contract, except with the prior written consent of the Organisation. The Contractor shall ensure that the Contractor’s employees, agents and representatives are expressly bound by and respect the provisions of the present clause 11. OECD publishing systems maintenance, support and development services Ref 100000730 Page 26 of 28
3.12 Transfer of Rights or Obligations The Contractor shall not transfer to any third party any rights or obligations under this Contract, in whole or in part, or subcontract any part of the Work, except with the prior written consent of the Organisation.
3.13 Termination for Breach Without prejudice to any other remedy for breach of Contract the Organisation may claim, the Organisation reserves the right to terminate the Contract without any prior notice or indemnity: In the event of failure by the Contractor to comply with any of its obligations under the Contract; and/or If the Contractor, in the judgment of the Organisation, has engaged in corrupt or fraudulent practices in competing for or in executing the Contract.
3.14 Termination for Convenience The Organisation may, by written notice sent through registered mail with recorded delivery to the Contractor, terminate the Contract, in whole or in part, at any time for its convenience. The notice shall specify that termination is for the Organisation's convenience, the extent to which Work of the Contractor under the Contract is terminated, and the date upon which such termination becomes effective. The Work that is complete on receipt of notice by the Contractor shall be accepted by the Organisation, at the Contract terms and prices. For the remaining, the Organisation may elect: To have any portion completed at the Contract terms and prices; and/or; To cancel the remainder and pay to the Contractor the amount corresponding to the completed work.
3.15 Arbitration Clause Any dispute arising out of the interpretation or implementation of this Contract, which cannot be settled by mutual agreement, shall be referred for decision to an arbitrator chosen by agreement between the Organisation and the Contractor or, failing such agreement on the choice of the arbitrator within three months of the request for arbitration, to an arbitrator appointed by the First President of the Court of Appeal of Paris at the request of either Party. The decision of the arbitrator shall be final and not subject to appeal. The arbitration shall take place in Paris, France.
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I declare having read the terms of the present Minimum General Conditions for OECD Contracts for OECD Contracts and agree to comply with said terms should (please insert here the name of your entity)…………………………………………..……………….be selected to carry out the Contract. Done at: Date: Signature:
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