Questions & Answers Updated 10 th February Updated

Transcription

1 Invitation to Tender No. EEAS-282-DIVSG3-SER-FWC concerning an open procedure for a Framework contract in supporting the European External Action Service and the General Secretariat of the Council of the European Union in their digital communication and information activities 2011/S Questions & Answers Updated 10 th February Q: For the provision of copy-writing services and localization of content for EU Delegations, are we correct in assuming that it will be sufficient for contractors to have in place a network of language and regional correspondents, each covering several countries, and that you therefore do not expect contractors to have in place a network of local journalists in all countries where the EU currently maintains a delegation? A: Please refer to page 31 of the Tender Specifications. According to the specifications of Profile Nr. 6 there are no limitations as regards the number of journalists for localization of content. Equally there are no specifications as regards the location of the journalist. 2. Q: Tender specifications: Concept paper. On page 65 you state that the concept paper will cover "the general approach, methodologies and technical tools proposed for meeting the... objectives and providing the services required". On page 68 there is no mention of methodologies and tools. (1) what do you mean by "general approach"? (2) Do you expect the concept paper to present all methodologies for all services ? If not, what do you expect? (3) Are there any page length restrictions for the concept paper? A: On point (1): the general approach should cover all elements covered by the concept paper as these are defined in page 65 (7 bullet points under concept paper paragraph) as well as in page 68, Table A (Concept Paper) ; on point (2): the concept paper should cover the approach and methodology for all services required (5.1.1 to ); on point (3) there are no page length restrictions for the concept paper Updated

2 3. Q: We have some questions regarding the call for tender EEAS-282-DIVSG3-SER-FWC. 1. In page 23 of tender specifications are defined a set of 27 profiles which in principles are the needed to perform all services required. In page 60 of the specifications under the chapter Content/structure of bids in bullet 6 it is required the list of members of the team to be set-up. Our question are the following: 1. How many CVs are required to be provided for each of the profiles defined in page 27? Is there a minimum per profile? Or only a sample of the profiles required? A: Tenderers are required to provide the Contracting Authority with at least one CV per profile. In addition the tenderers are required to provide detailed CVs of the project leaders expected to be the contact points for each of the two participating institutions in this call for tender (see page 54, point 7.6 of the Tender Specifications). 2. Looking in the specification is not required neither under the selection criteria phase nor in the award criteria section. Where in the tender should be placed? Could it be considered an element of not satisfaction of selection criteria? If yes, it is only an step in the Selection criteria? A: The fulfilment of the minimum profiles is not a selection criteria nor an award criteria. The minimum profiles as well as all other requirements in the technical specifications must be covered in full by the tenderers. Tenders must provide all the information considered appropriate by the tenderers for their evaluation by the contracting authority. Tenders deviating from the requirements or not covering all requirements shall be excluded on the basis of non-compliance with the tender specifications and will not be evaluated. 3. In case CVs are relevant for the award, can you please confirm under which criterion defined in the award criteria section will be evaluated? A: Not relevant 2. General - Time and Means services: 1. Please can you indicate which services ( ) you envisage to be part of Time and Means? Updated

3 A: Tenderers should treat the prescribed services of the Tender Specifications, which are not explicitly defined under the price schedule for fixed price services, as "Time and Means" Can you indicate also an estimation of the % of times that specific services will be Time and Means? A: The % of times that specific services will be Time and Means is estimated in the indicative volumes over 4years for each profile under the Price Scenarios for Time and Means (Page 9 of Annex A (CORRIGENDUM)). 3. Annex A: Price schedules: On pages 2 and 3 you request unit prices (Price/Day) for profiles. On page 3 the Table indicates Time and Means services. It is not clear wherever the rate given by profile needs to be equal in both tables or not. Does this mean that the Table of page 2 concerns non Time and Means services? If yes, when the (price/day) of page 2 will be used? For which services and methods (fixed price?) A: PLEASE SEE CORRIGENDUM on ANNEX A PUBLISHED ON THE EEAS WEBSITE: ies_en.htm 4. Tender Specifications: Services Please can you provide us with a list of the websites that are most regularly updated? A: The website of the European External Action Service ( in all language versions; the website of the Council of the European Union ( ), almost all websites of the EU's delegations 5. Tender Specifications: Concept Paper and Quality Plan: There seems to be no place to describe the service organization and the way the Tenderer views the service operation in terms of teams. Assuming that the Contracting Authority is Updated

4 interested in that, where do you expect the Tenderer to describe the service organization? A: Please see page 68 of the Tender Specifications, Table A, cells b), c), d), e) and f). In particularly cell b) explicitly refers to "allocation of resources and day-to-day management of the work". 4. Q: Could you disclose the identity of the contractor(s) of the current framework contract(s) or of the legal agreement(s) under which the services foreseen by the terms of reference of the present call have been provided to EAAS? A: The EEAS website and the websites of all EU delegations are maintained via a contract between the European Commission (FPI) with the RETELL Consortium Q: Page 3 of the Invitation Letter reads: Requests for additional information received less than five working days before the final date for submission of tenders will not be processed. Given that working days calendars vary from one Member State to another, could you please put the precise calendar date that corresponds to that deadline? A: The deadline for the submission of requests for additional information by the tenderers is 5 March Q: Could you confirm that you do not expect the tenderers to provide a budget for case study 2? A: Tenderers are expected to present the volumes for each staff profile to be used for this case study, based on time and means, according to the list of staff profiles prescribed in the Tender Specifications. 6. Q: Page 64 of the tenders specifications reads: Evidence of the technical and professional capacity of economic operators must be furnished on the basis of the following documents: [ ] the educational qualifications and professional experiences of the firm's managerial staff and, in particular, those of the person(s) responsible for providing the services. Could you confirm that, in order to pass the selection criteria, the tenderers only need to provide EEAS with: the CVs of the managerial staff of the company (managing director, general manager, finance management, accounts Updated

5 manager) and the CVs of the two senior managers foreseen for the position of project leaders? A: Please see above reply to question Nr Q: Page 64 of the tenders specifications reads: Evidence of the technical and professional capacity of economic operators must be furnished on the basis of the following documents: [ ] a statement of the average annual manpower and the number of staff over the last three years; the average number of staff in the fields related to the contract over the last three years must be at least 108 persons». Could you explain why you have chosen such an odd minimum average? A: The Contracting Authorities are free to decide the minimum capacity levels they wish to prescribe for the tenderers. 8. Q: With regards to the case study one, we understand that bidders are expected to limit their recommendation to 15 pages, which include the analysis of the current website, the possible impact of the migration, the technical migration procedure, a comparison between the existing WCMS and Drupal features, a proposal of additional Drupal modules to be adapted or developed, the "related content module" option, and a recommendation relating the the modernisation of the graphical user interface. We also understand that the migration planning, the budget, and all graphical elements related to the interface (low fidelity wireframes, mock-ups) have to be annexed to these 15 pages, without any size limitation of these annexes. Could you please confirm if our understanding is correct? A: Yes, according to the briefing elements of Case Study 1 their planning and methodologies in no more than 15 A4 pages. The annexes to be attached have no size limitations Updated