RFP Q&A. Financial Modeling Tool. Questions regarding the project scope

Transcription

1 RFP Q&A Financial Modeling Tool Could you provide examples of digital development programs for which you envision this modelling tool to be useful? As there are a great range of programs, it would be useful if you had any such examples. This modelling tool should be useful to a diverse range of digital development programs, irrespective of sector (health, financial services, agriculture, etc.). Because the context and peculiarities of each digital development program may vary in their journey towards long term financial sustainability, it is expected that only a template or shell be created that will have valuable criterion/consideration, which can be relevant to all programs. It is expected that individual digital development programs then adapt and customize this template or shell to the specific peculiarities of their individual digital development program. Examples of digital development programs in which this tool might be useful (following adaptation of the template/shell) includes Mobile Kilkari (digital health see bkash (digital financial services see and Esoko (digital agriculture see e.g. the Tulaa product). While the above examples are provided, please note the tool should be applicable and relevant to digital development programs in various stages of maturity (including launch phase, as well as past years 4-5). It should also be able to be used at any time in the lifecycle of the digital development program. Questions regarding the project scope Objectives How would you define "financial requirements" of digital development programs? Are we just looking at investments? What are the key elements to take into account? Yes, you are just looking at investments. Financial requirements means looking at the financial implications of the specific IT investments being considered, relative to the overall value generated for the program (e.g. this might include revenue generation opportunities for the digital program, as the tool should offer different revenue scenarios for consideration). How do you measure the impact of a project: is it more financial (i.e. business case for various projects) or societal? If we are talking about societal issues, what KPIs/indicators would you refer to measure impact? We are measuring the impact of a project as more financial (i.e. business case for various projects), which in turn should lead to positive societal implications (e.g. more digital development programs could reach longer term financial sustainability, which then allows more poor customers in developing July 2017 RFP Q&A 1

2 countries to reap the benefits of various digital services). Firms must keep in mind the longer-term perspective of societal impact, and offer explanation in their proposal on how the improved business case for various projects through the firm s development of this tool, will also lead to greater societal impact. In terms of future use of the tool by DIAL, do you plan to sell/lease access to the tool to your partners or will it be free access? This is especially critical for the description of the envisioned value created This is a global public good that DIAL would like to create, which could benefit a wide range of digital development programs. It will be free access. DIAL will not sell or lease access to the tool to digital development programs. Audience of the tool: Is there any type of players that are more specifically targeted among NGOs, governments and private companies? Do you consider different type of impacts for each audience, and should this be built-into the tool? No type of player is more specifically targeted among NGOs, governments and private companies. However, they all need to have a digital development product/service/program. As a result, they all consider specific IT investments as it relates to digital. Type of projects: Are we considering IT investments only or are we looking at ICT in general? We are looking at the most common, vital and significant investments a digital development program will need to make. This is often their IT investments (and related support). Considerations for IT investments must be included in the model and IT investment considerations must be prioritized. Beyond telecom investments are you considering other type of investments / areas? See answer above. We are looking at the most common, vital and significant investments that would be applicable and relevant across digital development programs. The firm is only expected to create a shell, so the tool does not have to provide an exhaustive list for all ICT in general. The shell should reflect the key and most relevant investments a digital development program must consider. Do you target specific geographies? If not, do you require adapting the model to each geography? We are not targeting specific geographies. However, as it is expected that only a shell or template be created by the firm that will then be further adapted and customized by a particular digital development program operating in particular geographies the tool should have built in functionality that can consider geography during this later stage. Can DIAL please share the typical types of or envisioned revenue" sources/streams considered by target user communities. Do you consider project funding sources as revenue in true accounting fashion? Can you share examples of these? DIAL considers envisioned revenue sources/streams as any incoming funds secured by the digital development program. Project funding sources, to the extent that it is income that has been received by the digital development program (financial inflow), would be considered revenue as per this definition (definition of revenue as used exclusively for the purposes of this project). Public sector programs often consider revenue a benefit (e.g. it is not a cost or expense to them). What are the envisioned gender issues, if any, currently being evaluated? July 2017 RFP Q&A 2

3 Firms should reflect any gender considerations in their proposals, only where applicable. Given the desire to minimize costs and timeline while developing a tool that covers the range and flexibility, what is DIAL's vision of a minimal viable product to meet the prescribed needs? Firms should offer their best possible product as part of competitive process, within roughly the budget limits offered by DIAL (as referenced in RFP). DIAL is more willing to adapt the timeline in a way the firm best sees fit, and looks forward to reviewing any suggestions in this regard. Does the tool and/or user guide need to be translated to different languages? If so, which? The tool and/or user guide does not need to be translated to different languages for the purposes of this engagement. It should be in English. Is there an envisioned bottom or top line NGO/Government scale this model is intended for? i.e. revenue or FTE count? During this engagement, the firm will need to propose and clearly define scale and the criterion for scale, as leveraged and used within the proposed financial modeling tool to be built by the firm. What specifically is meant by governments and digital development program implementers can adapt and customize (the tool) to their specific digital development program needs. The winning firm is expected to provide a template/shell with criterion and considerations that could be applicable to a wide range of digital development programs; the reason is that there are common factors and considerations faced by all digital development programs when assessing the types of IT investments that should be made and what should be their cost and revenue considerations in ensuring long-term financial sustainability. However, given the wide diversity of digital programs and their own respective peculiarities/contexts, it is anticipated by DIAL that this shell/template the winning firm would produce will certainly offer value, but its value to a digital development program will not be fully maximized. The reason is that we would like specific digital development programs to further build upon this shell/template, so they may be able to fully reflect the peculiarities of their program and the specific contexts in which they operate onto the shell/template. The firm should conduct user tests with a select group of digital development programs as part of Phase 3 and as noted in RFP, in which the digital development program inputs their own customized data onto the decision support tool. Questions regarding collaboration model and access to data As DIAL has specific M&Es for project decision and impact analysis, can you please share the M&E documentation or program evaluation and tracking as well as impact analysis post completion of target initiatives/projects? We cannot share any specific documentation on M&E as it relates to this project at this moment (beyond what is referenced in the RFP). However, the winning firm will be aware of any such M&E metrics prior to launch of the work, and during the firm engagement, as relevant and necessary. Can DIAL please share sample of current financial modeling tools and templates as well as know gaps in capabilities? July 2017 RFP Q&A 3

4 As part of Phase 1 of project (see Scope and Methodology section in RFP), the firm is expected to conduct detailed background research landscaping to identify more samples of current financial modeling tools and ascertain gaps in capabilities (per question above). DIAL did an initial, quick background research landscaping, but this document will only be shared with the winning firm. We are not able to share it now. Can you share the current and/or typical financial modeling decision approach and or manual templates being used today across one or more of your target audience programs/projects? - This will aid in value creation/impact/roi definition. We do not have any such approach or templates to share. The winning firm will be expected to reach out to specific digital development programs (including ones recommended by DIAL) and assess current functionality, strengths and weaknesses of their existing manual templates and decision approach. Through prior engagements, the firm may have come across such tools and approaches; in this regard, please use the existing evidence and knowledge you may have based on your previous experiences, and offer your best judgement for value creation/impact/roi definition. The Problem Statement section notes that there is publicly available background Financial Modeling Tool research which suggests the limited leveraging of financial modelling tools evaluating IT considerations in digital development programs, but there are no references. Could DIAL share these references? DIAL would like to clarify that based on publicly available internet and google search scan, it appears that publicly available research dicussing financial modeling tools evaluating IT considerations in digital development programs are negligible to nonexistent. This may thus suggest that there is limited leveraging of financial modeling tools (in the scope and nature as envisioned in this RFP) within current digital development programs worldwide. Access to data to populate the model: Do you have any kind of database that we will be given access to in order to build our model / hypotheses? You will not be given access to any kind of database in order to build your model/hypothesis. However, all notes/documentation gathered by the firm through this DIAL project will be housed in a shared folder on DIAL systems (e.g. shared dropbox folder). In addition, the tool will be housed and available to download (when complete) from the DIAL website. Will we be able to survey DIAL partners/members to collect inputs and insights to build the model (vs. resort to external expertise)? If yes, do you have a list of partners/members that we will have access to so we can size the potential respondent pool? Yes you will be able to survey DIAL partners/members to collect inputs and insights to build the model, but a comprehensive interview list will need to be developed by the winning firm in coordination with DIAL. In this regard, the firm should also provide partners/members to consider. The firm should resort to external expertise, if they are technical experts in this area and can offer valuable inputs for creation of the tool. The size of the potential respondent tool should be discussed and agreed in advance between DIAL and the winning firm. Benchmarking of the models: Will you provide access to substitute models currently in use? Either already built within your organization or at your partners? July 2017 RFP Q&A 4

5 How do you define substitute models? We do not have any substitute models built within DIAL and it is not clear whether DIAL partners have. The research and interview process, as envisioned in the RFP, will help shed insights on what is available along those lines. Will you be appointing the experts for peer reviews? On what basis? The experts committee for peer reviews will be created in coordination with the winning firm. DIAL will make final decisions on which members will be part of the expert committee. Questions on process Timeline questions: With responses due by August 8 th, when should participants expect feedback from DIAL on their submission? The winning respondent will be notified by August 18, 2017 at 7PM EDT, as referenced in the RFP. Due to the high volume of submissions, DIAL will not be able to provide individual feedback for each firm applying on their specific proposal. When is the project expected to start? The start date of the project will be decided in coordination with the winning firm. DIAL will want to ensure the best qualified team of the firm is tasked on this project. Location: Where will the project be based? Are there any requirements/expectations for the team's location? There are no requirements/expectations for the team s location. Based on our understanding of the section Scope of Work and Methodology, we note that in Phase 1 of the project DIAL expects that the consulting firm conducts research interviews with practitioners responsible for enhancing the efficiencies, viability, and impact of a diverse range of digital development programs. We understand that DIAL will select the contacts and take the lead in the organization of these interviews. Could you please confirm whether this is correct? The list of contacts for interviews will be agreed between DIAL and the firm. The firm should offer proposed contacts as well. The firm will organize these interviews, though DIAL may offer an nudge in case the firm does not hear back from certain respondents. The firm should ensure, as much as possible, that the interviews take place and insights are gathered. How many interviews does DIAL envisage during this phase? The firm should propose the number of interviews it would like to take place during this phase, as part of the bidding process. Does DIAL expect these interviews to be undertaken on-site or via (tele)conference? DIAL is open to whether the interviews take place on-site or via teleconference, in Phase 1 of the project. In case on-site interviews are preferred, where does DIAL expect these to take place? See answers to question above. In an advanced stage of phase 1, DIAL expects the consulting firm to conduct various forms of usertesting, including one-on-one testing sessions. This includes various peer review mechanisms to be deployed throughout the development process to gain feedback from targeted experts. These review mechanisms should be organized through virtual workshops. July 2017 RFP Q&A 5

6 We understand that DIAL will select the contacts and take the lead in the organization of these workshops. Could you please confirm whether this is correct? The list of contacts for interviews will be agreed between DIAL and the firm. The firm should offer proposed contacts as well. The firm will organize these interviews, though DIAL may offer an nudge in case the firm does not hear back from certain respondents. The firm should ensure, as much as possible, that the interviews take place and insights are gathered. How many workshops would DIAL require during this phase? The number of workshops required, and the scope and nature of it, should be proposed by the firm as part of the bidding process. We understand that these workshops will be undertaken remotely. Could you please confirm whether this is correct? DIAL is open to whether the workshops are undertaken remotely or physically. Firms should offer suggestions as part of the firm bidding process. As mentioned in RFP in Scope and Methodology section, bidders are welcome to share any suggestions/modifications to the proposed scope and methodology. DIAL is also expecting the consulting firm to conduct user testing sessions with a subset of the tool s target audience to better understand feasibility considerations before a decision is made to build the tool first version. The RFP clarifies that DIAL will work jointly with the consulting firm to identify a subset of other external customer groups in designing the tool throughout. This could involve interviewing 5-10 representative customers. Does DIAL expect these testing sessions to be undertaken on-site or via (tele)conference? DIAL is open to whether the testing sessions are undertaken on-site or via teleconference. Firms should offer suggestions as part of the bidding process. In case that on-site testing sessions are preferred, where does DIAL expect these to take place? See answer above. We understand that DIAL will select the contacts and take the lead in the organization of these sessions. Could you please confirm whether this is correct? The list of contacts will be agreed between DIAL and the firm. The firm should offer proposed contacts as well. The firm will organize these interviews, though DIAL may offer an nudge in case the firm does not hear back from certain respondents. The firm should ensure, as much as possible, that the interviews take place and insights are gathered. In case travelling is required for any of the assignments mentioned above (interviews, workshops and user-testing sessions), how many days DIAL thinks we should foresee for these trips? Firms should offer their suggestion as part of the bidding process for DIAL review and consideration. In the section Assumptions of the RFP, DIAL defines the model specifications. The financial model should include both revenue and cost assumptions. It should be designed to help users run different scenarios to understand the viability of their IT investments. The tool will appropriately account for most or all the costs, revenue sources and risks associated with full-scale implementation of digital development programs. Based on our experience, the model specifications seem to more aligned with those of a business plan for a software company. Could you please confirm whether our understanding is correct? July 2017 RFP Q&A 6

7 Firms should offer their suggestions and understanding as part of the bidding process. As noted in the RFP, The financial model should include both revenue and costing assumptions. Its closest analogue is a financial model that a commercial software company might use prior to entering a new market to estimate potential profitability. It should be designed to help users run different scenarios to understand the viability of their IT investments, for example where they will hit break-even as well as how different revenue scenarios based on different pricing schema (e.g., subsidy, consumer payment) might affect their long-term viability. Could you please also clarify whether DIAL expects the tool to have a "whole nation" scope or rather "sector by sector", initiative by initiative, "IT investment by IT investment", etc? The tool should assist and add value to practitioners of digital development programs, which may be deployed across the world. The tool will prioritize IT investments. The tool will support practitioners in scaling their digital development programs and helping ensure their long term financial sustainability. Would DIAL prefer this to be hosted UI (i.e. Governed workflow with a collaboration tool) for the tool or the entire tool to be packaged for use offline (i.e. Workbook style)? Alternatively, offer an offline data entry mechanism (i.e. Microsoft Excel template) to be used as input to the online tool? DIAL is open to suggestions from bidders on the best and most effective form. Please explain why you recommend a particular way for hosting and why you think it will be most valuable. However, kindly note the IP of the finished product will be 100% owned by DIAL (as will be stipulated in contract with winning bidder). In addition, interested users should become aware of the final product through DIAL s website, and there should be capability to link to the final product from the DIAL website and/or hosted 100% within DIAL website itself. Much of the RFP content talks about pre-development decision making. Do you envision a tool which would allow for inflight project inputs and post project results to develop long term, realistic monitoring, decision (course correction), and Impact analysis based on actual performance - what is DIAL's position on project performance monitoring and reporting? We do not envision such a sophisticated tool. DIAL s project performance monitoring and reporting will be largely based on whether the requested deliverables are deemed by DIAL (and relevant identified technical experts) as high quality e.g. thoughtful, analytical, and adding unique and new value to the digital development community - and whether the deliverables have been shared roughly along the overall project timeline. Is there a roll out/implementation plan to a current group of NGOs/governments DIAL works with after phase 3 that we need to prepare and train DIAL employees for? What is the vision for ongoing support and maintenance for the tool? For the purposes of this RFP, there is no need to include ongoing support and maintenance of the tool. Also for the purposes of this RFP, there is no need to prepare and train DIAL employees for a roll out/implementation plan after Phase 3. Are there a few NGOs that have been identified as drivers for this model's use/need already or as the primary stakeholders for the initial phases? No there has not been. This will be identified in coordination with the winning firm as part of Phase 1 in Scope and Methodology section of RFP. Are all the variables, parameters, and metrics for DIAL project decision support identified/known? If this is not fully defined, the effort may require an extended feasibility analysis ahead of going into solution design and build. July 2017 RFP Q&A 7

8 No not all the variables, parameters and metrics for DIAL project decision support are identified/known. Is the desire to have a governance workflow built into the to-be tool? Without knowing how you are specifically defining governance workflow, our answer is that DIAL has no desire to have an official/formalized governance workflow to be built into the to-be tool. However, relevant technical experts will review and offer their comments/edits/reactions to help inform the model s development as noted in RFP. Review of the timeline and budget in the RFP document seems to indicate there may be e time/budget risk to support proper transition. Has consideration be made for proper tool deployment (training, transition, initial support)? o Will there be an in house support and training individual of the model after Phase 3 that we need to integrate into all phases of model development to ensure continuity after development? The DIAL project manager will be most involved in this project, and will be the only person in DIAL in which there is an expectation that he/she will be trained. However, we expect no special training for this person and no specific firm time allocation exclusively for this purpose. He/she may be trained to some extent by simply being closely involved in the project management as well as the technical reviews of the multiple deliverables. Considerations for solution platform options based on the indicated budget may be limited. Is there is existing SharePoint or other collaboration environment at DIAL? Please offer your recommendations based on what is possible within the indicated budget. DIAL will have a shared Dropbox folder hosted on the DIAL networks, in which all notes/documentation/deliverables from this project will be stored. DIAL can also provide audioconference facilities. On page 12, it states that all contracts are subject to review by UN Foundations BSBR team and DIAL s Grants Manager. Given that a Grants Manager will be involved in the contract, and will outline terms and conditions, scope, budget, and applicable flow-down terms, can you please clarify if this is a grant or a contract? This is a contract. DIAL plans to outsource research to a firm for specific services rendered for a specific period of time. The IP of the finished product will be 100% owned by DIAL. Given that DIAL works with many organizations ranging from foundations to the US government, when responding to RFPs, do you have any limitations or restrictions on overhead rates? DIAL does not have any limitations or restrictions on overhead rates. The solicitation notes that Phases 2 and 3 are dependent upon success and recommendations in Phase 1. Phase 1 recommendations will ultimately shape the parameters and scope of the tool to be developed (and as stated on p.7 part of the feasibility report is to determine how much it will cost to do the tool well ), yet the bidder is asked to provide a budget for phases 2 and 3. Can DIAL provide guidance on how to budget for these phases when they are dependent on Phase 1? Are there a set of assumptions that we can make? July 2017 RFP Q&A 8

9 DIAL will have one decision point after Phase 1 and one decision point after Phase 2, in which DIAL may decide to terminate engagement of the firm if it deems the decision support tool, in the way envisioned, will not be technically possible given work completed to date, or sufficient ROI will not be realized. Having said this, DIAL suggests that the proposed budgeting for Phase 2 and Phase 3 be done with the assumption that DIAL will not terminate engagement following Phase 1. In addition, that Phase 1 results suggest the decision support tool, in the way envisioned as detailed in RFP, will indeed be technically possible and sufficient ROI will be realized. What type of award does DIAL anticipate awarding for this activity? For example, will this be a fixedprice, cost-reimbursable or T&M contract? This will be a fixed-price contract. July 2017 RFP Q&A 9