REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS

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1 Corinna Robbins/Mercy Corps REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS E-tendering solution (SaaS) DECEMBER 2016 RFP NO. 3035

2 Contents Contents... 2 General Information... 3 Project Description... 3 Submission Due Date... 3 Scope of Work... 3 Requirements for Submission... 6 Evaluation Criteria... 7 General Terms and Conditions... 9 Timeline Expected Term of Resulting Agreement Contact... Error! Bookmark not defined. MERCY CORPS RFP No. 3035: E-tendering (SaaS) 2

3 General Information Mercy Corps helps people turn the crises they confront into the opportunities they deserve. Driven by local needs, our programs provide communities in the world's toughest places with the tools and support they need to transform their own lives. Our worldwide team in 41 countries is improving the lives of 19 million people. Mercy Corps has been working in Turkey since 2012 providing emergency relief to displaced Syrians inside North Syria. Since 2014, Mercy Corps has also been supporting host and refugee communities that are affected by the Syrian crisis inside Turkey, by providing learning opportunities for youth, protecting vulnerable families, and helping the two communities coexist peacefully. Project Description Mercy Corps current tendering practices are heavily paper based. At times, electronic bids are accepted but they are being received through a Gmail account, which offers a mediocre level of security and protection against fraud. While mitigation measures were put in place, they are not sufficient anymore. With more than 20 tenders a year, some of which worth several millions of dollars, Mercy Corps Turkey - North Syria is now in need of a more professional solution. The Turkish market is mature enough for suppliers to handle this more evolved bidding system. In the midst of heightened procurement scrutiny from donors and high volumes of purchases required for its ongoing programs, Mercy Corps Turkey North Syria is seeking proposals from qualified companies interested in providing an e-tendering solution offered in a Software as a Solution (SaaS) model. The successful Offeror will provide a SaaS solution that will enable Mercy Corps Turkey North Syria to increase the auditability of communication with suppliers, improve the vetting of eligible and responsible suppliers, and facilitate the technical and financial evaluation of bids in a more transparent, accountable and compliant environment. Submission Due Date To be eligible for consideration, a scanned copy of a Offeror s response to this Request for Proposals (hereafter called Proposal ) must be received by Mercy Corps Turkey North Syria Procurement Department on the turkey.etendering.submissions@mercycorps.org address not later than 11.59pm, January 20 th, 2017 (PST time) with RFP No E-tendering (SaaS) Offeror Name as subject title. The response must be submitted in one single electronic archive (*.zip, *.rar, *.7z ) with the Offeror s name, Request for Proposals number, and the due date clearly identified in the filename. The submission document must be password protected. Mercy Corps will ask the password from each Offeror by after the submission deadline, no later than January 6 th Offerors that are unable to provide a password that opens the submission will be deemed not susceptible for award; subsequent submissions of content will not be allowed. Scope of Work Objectives MERCY CORPS RFP No. 3035: E-tendering (SaaS) 3

4 1) Increase the auditability and facilitate the communication with vendors: a) Create a unique space for liaising with suppliers related to tenders; b) Allow information to be disseminated equally and simultaneously to all suppliers. All questions will be tracked so that they are answered in a timely manner. All suppliers will receive the same information at the same time; c) Any addendum to the RFX can be submitted automatically and instantaneously to all interested suppliers with notification; d) Provide a transparent and secure environment which will increase the accountability and auditability of communication with suppliers. 2) Improve the vetting of eligible and responsible vendors: a) Centralize supplier information on an online database; b) Offer the capacity for pre-qualifications of suppliers through profiling, questionnaires, upload of documentation, and other requirements elected by Mercy Corps to reinforce donor compliance; c) Automatic solicitation capacity through the categorization of suppliers. RFQs / Sealed bids can be sent to the right category of suppliers from the supplier information stored online to enhance market reach and response rates. 3) Facilitate the technical and financial analysis: a) Switch out from paper bids necessitating manual data entry for bid analysis to an automated analysis pulling the data entered directly by the suppliers through web forms; b) Facilitate the evaluation process which is done through questionnaires / evaluation forms with weighting and technical grading. The tender committee members grade each component and the final technical grading will be based on the pre-determined weighting; c) Capacity to generate different tender reports which will include all or partial information related to a specific tender. 4) Provide a tender archive and contract database, as well as tracking of awarded contracts: a) Create a space where tender and contract documents are archived and made available for audit purposes. Search capabilities are available; b) Provide a dashboard where all contracts are listed. Information pertaining to the type of goods or services contracted, type of contract, contract award date, contract expiration date, name of supplier are easily available. Deliverables 1) Task: Project Kickoff The purpose of this activity is to facilitate a high-level project kickoff conference call with the Mercy Corps point of contact for up to two hours on a mutually agreed upon time. During this planning session, at a minimum, the following will be done: a) Define the roles and responsibilities of all parties; b) Review of the Scope of Work (objectives, deliverables, critical success factors); c) Review of completion criteria and critical dates; MERCY CORPS RFP No. 3035: E-tendering (SaaS) 4

5 d) Review of implementation plan and identify the tasks to be completed. Completion criteria: the task will be completed when the Contractor has conducted the remote planning session conference call and when am implementation plan is agreed upon in writing. 2) Task: System Setup and Configuration This activity will see the customization of the Contractor s software to respond to Mercy Corps needs as required. Mercy Corps will ensure that it fulfills its responsibilities to allow the Contractor to perform this activity. The following points, at a minimum, will be addressed: a) Launch of the branded portal base allowing Mercy Corps to get familiar with it; b) Gathering of necessary information to configure the system with custom fields and business rules addressing Mercy Corps needs; c) Localization of the portal. The portal must be available in English, Turkish and Arabic. Completion criteria: the task will be completed when the Contractor has finalized the configuration of the portal so that it is ready for pilot testing. 3) Task: Development of Training Materials, Early Adopters Training, and Pilot Testing A first training should be conducted online by the Contractor to a selected number of Mercy Corps early adopters. They will take part in pilot testing the software for a selected first tender in coordination with the Contractor with the aim to: a) Identify any bugs that need to be addressed or corrections to the localization; b) Propose any further customization to enhance the software s usability or add functionalities that are implementable and acceptable to the Contractor; c) Draw lessons learned to feed back into the implementation plan and the training materials. Completion criteria: the task will be completed when the implementation plan is updated, the Contractor has addressed all issues identified in the software, and the final training materials are transferred to Mercy Corps. 4) Task: Mass Training and Overall Rollout The final version of the software will be rolled out for all Mercy Corps Turkey and International tenders, and gradually for tenders inside Syria for those where it is feasible. Mass trainings for full access users (Procurement Manager, Tender Unit, Contract Unit) and limited access users (Procurement team, Finance team, Program team) will be conducted in-house by Mercy Corps using the Contractor s final training materials. An issues log will be setup in coordination with the Contractor to track required improvements and upgrades. Completion criteria: the task will be completed the final version of the software is live and all full and limited access users have been given access rights. Schedule MERCY CORPS RFP No. 3035: E-tendering (SaaS) 5

6 A tentative schedule is shown in Attachment A and is only indicative. Requirements for Submission Offerors will provide the following information in numbered order in their Proposal: 1) A technical proposal; 2) A financial proposal. Technical Proposal The Technical Proposal will include all items detailed below: Narrative about Offeror s company history and profile (max 1 page) The Offeror shall provide a brief description of its organization and operations. The following should also be provided: a) Local address; b) Phone number; c) Web address ; d) ; e) Legal status; f) Certificate of business registration; g) Ownership (sate; public; private); h) Number of employees; i) Executive Management/Board members; j) Banking information. Offeror technical response to RFP and proposed work plan (max 5 pages) a) The Offeror shall address the Scope of Work objectives and describe how its proposed products/services will meet or exceed the requirements; b) A description of the different modules within the system and how the system offers a secure operational environment. c) A description of the training process and materials for the system; d) The Offeror shall give a description of the proposed plan to meet the requirements of the RFP including overall expected timelines; e) The Offeror shall detail an exit strategy and how the data can be transferred back to Mercy Corps. Experience and qualifications of proposed staff The Offeror shall identify the number, types of staff proposed and associated FTE to be utilized under the Contract. A resume will be provided for each staff planned to be assigned to the project. Offeror s experience and references (max 2 pages) MERCY CORPS RFP No. 3035: E-tendering (SaaS) 6

7 The Offeror shall include information on past experience with similar projects and/or services including the following: a) The number of years the Offeror has provided similar services; b) The number of clients/customers and geographic locations that the Offeror currently serves; c) Prior experience with NGOs / non-profits. If prior experience, must be included in one of the references; d) At least three (3) references from customers who are capable of testifying the Offeror s ability to provide the product/services specified in this RFP. The person of contact, his/her position, and his/her contact details will be provided. References shall be from clients for whom the Offeror has provided product/services within the past three (3) years. Offerors may annex a case study associated to the references if they are available. Financial capability The Offeror must include in its Proposal a commonly-accepted method to prove its fiscal integrity. If available, the Offeror shall include Financial Statements (preferably a P&L statement and a Balance Sheet for the last two (2) years). Legal action summary This summary shall include: a) A statement as to whether there are any outstanding legal actions or potential claims against the Offeror and a brief description of any action; b) A brief description of any settled or closed legal actions or claims against the Offeror over the past three (3) years. Service Level Agreement template The Offeror will provide a template of their standard Service Level Agreement expected to be used to enter into a contract with Mercy Corps. Additional documentation The following documents shall be completed, signed, and included in the Technical Proposal: a) Offeror technical questionnaire Attachment B; Financial Proposal The Financial Proposal shall contain all price information in the format specified in Attachment C. Evaluation Criteria Evaluation Committee MERCY CORPS RFP No. 3035: E-tendering (SaaS) 7

8 Evaluation of Proposals will be performed by a committee established for that purpose based on the evaluation criteria set forth below. The Evaluation Committee will review Proposals, participate in Offerors demos, and provide input to the Operations Manager. Mercy Corps reserves the right to make use of services of individuals outside of the established Evaluation Committee for advice and assistance, as deemed appropriate. Technical Proposal Evaluation Criteria The Offeror will first be evaluated for its technical and organizational capacity merits. Criteria relating to the qualification to meet Mercy Corps needs will receive the highest priority in the evaluation. Criteria relating to the means of meeting the objectives described in the Proposal will be considered secondary. Mercy Corps places a high importance on the need to reach an agreement based upon reliable and factual information. Offerors responding to this RFP must demonstrate their ability to meet Mercy Corps objectives based on known and proven capabilities, and not on their potential future or planned abilities. In the evaluation for Best Value, each individual criterion is weighted prior to the release of this RFP according to how much importance Mercy Corps gives to this criterion. Criteria are weighted on a scale of 1-5, defined as follows: Weighting Significance 1 Not at all important (None) 2 Slightly important (Low) 3 Important (Normal) 4 Fairly important (High) 5 Very important (Critical) During the technical evaluation, the Evaluation Committee will assign points (from 0 to 10) to each criterion according to a pre-determined method of scoring, and defined as follows: Grade Significance 0 Not acceptable 1-4 Meets only some minimum requirements and may not be acceptable 5 Acceptable 6-9 Meets all requirements and exceeds some MERCY CORPS RFP No. 3035: E-tendering (SaaS) 8

9 10 Exceeds all requirements For the purpose of the Request for Proposals, the following Evaluation Criteria will be considered: Technical evaluation criteria Weight Grade Score Offeror s organizational capacity and experience Technical response and work plan Solution demo MAXIMUM POSSIBLE SCORE 120 Financial Proposal Evaluation Criteria Mercy Corps is not bound to accept the lowest priced Proposal submitted. The evaluation will give importance to the Proposal s capacity to offer Best Value, while taking into consideration donor and internal requirements and regulations. Mercy Corps will evaluate the Financial Proposal based on the price information given in Attachment E, and on the appropriateness and flexibility of the pricing arrangements. Award Determination Mercy Corps intention is to select and notify the winning applicant within thirty (30) days of the close of the application period. Notification will be made by . Mercy Corps will also notify those vendors who submitted applications but were not selected. Notification will be made within thirty five (35) days of the submission due date. General Terms and Conditions The following terms and conditions apply to all proposals to provide services to Mercy Corps: 1) Minimum criteria for respondents to this process include, but are not limited to, all the following: a) Certificate of (business) registration; b) Adequate equipment and workshops; c) Sufficient trained managers and workers; d) Good track-record and references from previous clients; e) Legal bank account (for payments made in bank checks or through bank transfers). 2) Vendors may not apply, and will be rejected as ineligible, if they: a) Are not registered companies; b) Are bankrupt or in the process of going bankrupt; c) Were convicted of illegal/corrupt activities, and/or unprofessional conduct; d) Have been guilty of grave professional misconduct (proven by any means which the contracting authorities can justify); MERCY CORPS RFP No. 3035: E-tendering (SaaS) 9

10 e) Have not fulfilled obligations related to payment of social security and taxes; f) Are guilty of serious misinterpretation in supplying information; g) Are in situations of conflict or potential conflict of interest with Mercy Corps; h) Were declared at serious fault of implementation owing to a breach of their contractual obligations; i) Are on any list of sanctioned parties issued by the United States Government. 3) Mercy Corps expressly reserves the following rights: a) To reject any and/or all irregularities in the proposals submitted; b) To reject any or all proposals or portions thereof; c) To base awards with due regard to quality of services, experience, compliance with specifications, and other such factors as may be necessary in the circumstances; d) To make the award to any Offeror or combination of vendors whose proposal(s), in the opinion of Mercy Corps, is in the best interest of the Mercy Corps. 4) The RFP must be signed by an authorized individual of the company empowered to act in that capacity before a contract will be negotiated. 5) Any proposal or modification received after the hour and date specified will not be considered. 6) Each Offeror may make one application only. Multiple and/or alternate Proposals will not be accepted. 7) Each application shall be valid for the period of ninety (90) days from its date of submission. 8) Mercy Corps will not be responsible for or pay for any expenses or losses which may be incurred by any Offeror in the preparation of his Proposal. 9) It is Mercy Corps intention to obtain products/services, as specified in this RFP, through a Contract between the successful Offeror and Mercy Corps. 10) Mercy Corps intends to make a single award as a result of this RFP. 11) Offerors must be able to provide all products/services and meet all of the requirements requested in this solicitation. 12) All data, records, and reports provided by Mercy Corps to the successful Offeror or generated in connection with the Services by the successful Offeror and relating to Mercy Corps or the suppliers of the Mercy Corp shall be treated by the successful Offeror as the exclusive property of Mercy Corps. 13) Payment will be made in advance on a semi-annual basis within 30 days of submission of the invoice. 14) Mercy Corps may terminate the agreement upon written notice due to circumstances outside of the contractual parties control such as force majeure, war activity in the project area that forces the suspension of all activities for the foreseeable future, or unforeseen governmental interference that make it impossible for Mercy Corps to continue to operate in Turkey. In MERCY CORPS RFP No. 3035: E-tendering (SaaS) 10

11 such an event, Mercy Corps shall promptly inform the successful Offeror and obtain a refund for the portion of time for which the subscription has been cancelled. 15) Certification Regarding Terrorism, Acts of Corruption, and Potential Bribery: It is Mercy Corps policy to comply with the laws and regulations of the United States Government, the European Union, and the United Nations concerning the ineligibility of vendors, contractors, and suppliers of services for reasons of fraud, corruption or terrorist activity. These laws and regulations prohibit Mercy Corps from doing business with or providing support to any persons or entities that have been found to be engaged in, or provide support for, any such activities. It is also absolutely forbidden for any vendor and/or contractor of Mercy Corps to make payments of any kind, either monetary or material, to any employee of Mercy Corps. Timeline 1) Questions regarding this RFP must be submitted in writing to turkey.etendering.questions@mercycorps.org not later than 11.59pm, January 6 th, 2017 (PST time). Please identify in the subject line the Request for Proposals number and title. All questions and answers that are not clearly specific only to the requestor will be compiled and disseminated to all Offerors not later than 11.59pm, January 11 th, 2017 (PST time). 2) Proposals must be received by the Procurement Department not later than 11.59pm, January 20 th, 2017 (PST time). 3) Demos of Offeror s solution may be evaluated by the Tender Committee if necessary, they may be held online the week of January 30 th, These demos may be up to 1h long and will follow the demo script. No Q&A will be held after the demo, as the Tender Committee will rely on the technical proposals to address any questions they may have. A date and time and the demo script will be shared with each Offeror one week prior to the demo. 4) The estimated time of contract execution is mid February Expected Term of Resulting Agreement The initial contract period will tentatively be from February 2017 through February 2018, unless sooner terminated as provided elsewhere in the Agreement. The contract shall be renewed for 5 (five) additional one year terms, unless either party gives notice of non-renewal not less than 30 (thirty) days prior to the expiration of any one year term. MERCY CORPS RFP No. 3035: E-tendering (SaaS) 11

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