Wales Audit Office. Configuration and Delivery of Audit Management Software with Support

Transcription

1 Wales Audit Office INVITATION TO TENDER FOR Configuration and Delivery of Audit Management Software with Support REFERENCE NUMBER 5389 PAGE 1

2 TABLE OF DEFINITIONS: Unless the context otherwise requires, the following words and expressions used within this Invitation to Tender shall have the following meanings: TERM Authority Invitation to Tender or ITT OJEU Contract Notice or OJEU Contract Conditions of Tender "EIR" FoIA Provider Tender, Response, Tender Response, Tendered Response or ITT Response Tenderers Audit Terms Audit Programme Audit Project Audit Task Audited Body or Audited and Inspected Body Audit Matters Arising Audit Task Status Business Stream Labels/tags Central Library MEANING Means the Auditor General for Wales Means this Invitation to Tender documentation and all related documents published by the Authority and made available to Tenderers Means the advertisement issued in the Official Journal of the European Union Means the draft Terms and Conditions of contract contained in section 11 of this ITT Means the terms and conditions set out in this ITT relating to the submission of a Tender Mean the Environmental Information Regulations 2004 together with any guidance and/or codes of practice issued by the Information Commissioner or relevant Government department in relation to such regulations Means the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and any subordinate legislation made under such Act from time to time together with any guidance and/or codes of practice issued by the Information Commissioner or relevant Government department in relation to such legislation Means the organisation awarded a contract following the procurement process Means the Tenderers formal offer in response to this ITT Means the organisations or persons responding to this document Meaning A set of audit projects that make up a programme of work. A programme of work may be at an audited body or bodies, by type of projects or by year e.g. Audit of Accounts or Local Government Measure, etc A set of related audit tasks which may or may not result in a specific output A specific audit activity e.g. test, survey, interview, etc An organisation that the Wales Audit Office audits Areas to be flagged and followed up on in the future e.g. risks Gives the status of an audit task e.g. not yet assigned, review Organisational makeup of the Authority, flexible - currently performance audit, financial audit and corporate enablers Metadata (unique descriptors) used to identfy and search for items Central repository of standard audit tasks, tools, templates, and PAGE 2

3 Lead schedules Enterprise Resource Functionality Issues analysis and Drawing Conclusions which can be allocated to audited and insptected bodies Provide a breakdown of the figures being audited in an account area (or a group of audit tasks) Management tools to integrate functions across the organisation to help the organisation manage resources and information Used to describe the audit process phases and tasks of review of the audit issues and to reach conclusions about the review Table of Abbreviations ABBREVIATION ITT KPI AGW WAO OJEU AIB MEANS Invitation to Tender Key Performance Indicator Auditor General for Wales Wales Audit Office Official Journal of the European Union Audited and Inspected Body PAGE 3

4 Table of Contents Section 1: Overview of the Authority and background information 7 1 Introduction 7 2 The Authority 7 3 Procurement objectives 8 4 Improvement objectives 9 5 Wales Audit Office work and audit management systems 10 6 Audit management systems 10 7 Working patterns 10 8 Enterprise resource management 11 Section 2: Instructions to Tenderers and Tender Process 12 9 Instructions to Tenderers Confidentiality Freedom of Information Timescales Authority Contact Details Preparation of Tender Submission of Tenders Disclaimers Collusive Behaviour Acceptance of Tenders Queries related to Tender Amendments to Tender documents Proposed amendments to the contract by the Tenderer Right to reject/disqualify Right to Cancel, clarify or vary the process 20 PAGE 4

5 24 Customer References Tender process Evaluation Criteria of Tenders for Contract Award Evaluation process Contract award Notification of award Debriefing 23 Section 3: Specification of Requirements Project scope Design and delivery of an effective audit management system Software platform Initial setup and configuration Interface with existing systems Management information reports Disaster recovery and business continuity Data and information security System user and administrator training Testing On-going services Responsibilities of both parties 29 Section 4: Business and Technical Requirements 31 Section 5: Cost Schedule 51 Section 6: Documents and information to be submitted 64 Section 7: Commercial questionnaire 65 Section 8: Statement relating to good standing 71 Section 9: References 73 PAGE 5

6 Section 10: Proposed amendments to the Contract 74 Section 11: Standard Terms and Conditions 75 PAGE 6

7 Section 1 Overview of the Authority and Background Information 1. Introduction 1.1. In this Invitation to Tender (ITT) Wales Audit Office is used to refer to the Auditor General for Wales, as the Authority named in OJEU Notice dated 14 January 2014 that is looking for a provider to be appointed for the supply and configuration of audit management software with support. The Wales Audit Office estimates that the value of the supply and provision of services over the contract term to be in the region of 150,000 to 300,000 (pounds sterling) The Authority wishes to establish a four year contract for the supply, configuration and delivery of an audit management solution with support. The Authority is managing this procurement process in accordance with the Public Contracts Regulations 2006 (the Regulations ). This is a services contract being procured under the open procedure Following evaluation of the compliant Tenders and approval of the outcome the Authority intends to appoint a single Provider to enter into a contract. The Provider submitting the most economically advantageous offer in accordance with the criteria set out in Section 2, Paragraph 26 will be awarded a contract While it is the Authority s intention to purchase the majority of its goods and services under this contract from the Provider appointed this does not confer any exclusivity on the appointed Provider. The Authority reserves the right to purchase any goods and services (including those similar to the goods and services covered by this procurement) from any provider outside of this contract. 2. The Authority 2.1. The Wales Audit Office herein also known as the Authority is the public service audit agency for Wales. In April 2014, under the Public Audit (Wales) Act 2013, the new Wales Audit Office, which is a corporate body, becomes responsible for providing resources for the exercise of the Auditor General for Wales functions. This includes responsibility to secure services for the purposes of those functions. On 1 April, the property, rights and liabilities to which the auditor General is currently entitled or subject to under contracts will be transferred to and will vest in the new corporate body Wales Audit Office The Auditor General (AGW) is the statutory external auditor of the Welsh Government, its sponsored and related public bodies and the National Health Service in Wales. The AGW may also inspect and report on further and higher education institutions. The AGW is also responsible for appointing the auditors of local authorities and criminal justice organisations in Wales and for the inspection of many services operating under the current provision of the Wales Programme for Improvement (WPI) and successor schemes. The auditors formally audit the accounts of local authorities and produce value-for-money (VFM) reports to help them to improve their services. These appointed auditors also audit councils' annual improvement plans. PAGE 7

8 2.3. Around 250 Wales Audit Office staff support the Auditor General. Its staff comprise of financial auditors (who examine the accounts of public bodies), performance auditors (who examine how public services are delivered) and corporate staff (in services such as Human Resources (HR) and Finance). The auditors together make up about 70 per cent of the workforce. The Wales Audit Office uses a mixture of internal and external resources; specialist skills as required and contractors to cope with uneven demand. The work is undertaken in offices or client sites across Wales or from home. A small proportion of commissioned work is also undertaken outside the UK and abroad The Wales Audit Office has an overarching strategic aim The people of Wales know whether public money is being managed wisely, and public bodies in Wales understand how to improve outcomes. This aim is underpinned by four key objectives: provide timely assurance on the governance and stewardship of public money and assets; offer useful insight on the extent to which resources are used well in meeting people s needs; clearly identify and promote ways by which the provision of public services may be improved; and be an accountable, well-run and efficient organisation that provides a stimulating and rewarding environment to work Further information on the work of the Wales Audit Office is available on the Wales Audit Office website. 3. Procurement objectives 3.1. The primary objective of this procurement is to source and implement an audit management software system which will enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of operations through the use of technology, and to assist the Authority to meet its strategic objectives. The system, as installed, will provide an integrated and flexible IT audit product that can be used for all of Wales Audit Office s audit work. In doing so, it will provide a common way of planning and organising audit work and evidence, enabling all audit staff across the Wales Audit Office to work collaboratively A secondary desirable (but not mandatory) objective is for the same system to provide enterprise resource management functionality and which will include integrated modules covering: organisational planning; financial planning; resource planning; resource management; managing income generation associated with audit activity; staff resource allocation; staff time-recoding; and PAGE 8

9 expenses recording. 4. Improvement objectives 4.1. The Wales Audit Office has identified the following improvement objectives that the system, once fully implemented, will contribute into. improving the quality of our work: demonstrating that our work meets required professional and internal standards; providing easy access to cumulative audit knowledge through searching and filtering monitoring actions taken in response to recommendations; tracing conclusions and recommendations back to audit evidence. being more efficient: reducing the time taken to document, record, track, retrieve and manage audits and audit evidence to enable faster conclusions; allowing us to more easily respond to Freedom of Information requests; supporting our compliance with the Public Records Act requirements for storing and retaining documents; producing reports to consistent quality more quickly; producing better quality and more timely management information; reducing the number and complexity of the IT systems we use to improve reliability and obtain better value for money; employing effective version control to hold single authoritative copies. using our knowledge and information more effectively to improve public services: targeting our work, increasing internal and external collaboration and sharing knowledge and information; enabling easier identification of systemic weaknesses and good practice within and across audited bodies; reusing existing knowledge so that our work is delivered more consistently. Improving financial and resource management: creating a single repository of information to effectively manage resources and facilitate robust forward planning; facilitating sharing of information between related systems to create powerful management information; reducing lost staff time in re-creating information in different systems. PAGE 9

10 5. Wales Audit Office work and audit management systems 5.1. The Wales Audit Office work covers all devolved public sectors in Wales: the Welsh Government, including sponsored bodies (e.g. the Arts Council), local government, the National Health Service (NHS) and higher and further education. The work involves annual audits of public bodies accounts and studies of particular issues such as waste management. Work programmes and audit tasks are varied and subject to statutory requirements, deadlines and scheduling patterns which differ between financial and performance audit The work across financial and performance audit is predominantly project based and so lends itself to team working and clusters (groups of teams in regional areas and/or by sector). Audit projects and tasks are allocated and resourced by team/cluster taking into account the skills required. Multiple projects can be allocated to an audited body and these include both financial audit and performance audit projects The nature of the way in which projects are undertaken differs between financial audit, performance audit, and to a degree by sector. Financial audit work is more structured with highly regulated standards while performance audit, in some respects, follows a more flexible approach but both types of audit include working to deadlines. 6. Audit Management Systems 6.1. All of Wales Audit Office s work is founded on its ability to collate, analyse, share and report information effectively and IT systems support all aspects of this work. Currently the Wales Audit Office uses a number of different IT systems to support its audit work. The Wales Audit Office has used an audit management software system for its financial audit work since Performance audit work does not use an audit management system, however audit working papers, evidence and reports are stored in SharePoint and/or on shared network drives. Aligning these arrangements will promote sharing information and enable the Wales Audit Office to collaborate more effectively internally, with partner organisations, and wider stakeholders. 7. Working patterns 7.1. The Wales Audit Office operates on a five day per week basis but a number of staff work outside the standard work week and business hours during evenings and weekends. A preference is for any system to be available for access on a 24/7 hour basis. Availability and limitations need to be clearly explained with any additional cost in the tender response. The system must also be capable of being used on an off-line basis without loss of integrity since a number of our client sites are located in remote areas where web and broadband access are limited or very sporadic WAO requires any new system to synchronise and maintain the integrity of the changes between the online database and any documents the user has been working with, offline. This should happen either automatically without user intervention, or in response to a user prompt. PAGE 10

11 8. Enterprise Resource management 8.1. The Wales Audit Office currently uses separate systems to plan, manage and report on its audit activity and we are looking to consolidate or integrate solutions. It is desirable that the audit management solution is able to provide such capability. At present, other systems used include: time recording system for recording time spent working on audit projects, time spent on other activities and non-productive time e.g. holiday leave and training; general ledger financial management system used for invoicing audited bodies, and managing income and expenditure; numerous spread sheets to: plan, manage and monitor staff resources and project delivery; for requesting and recording travel and subsistence claims. in house developed MS Access databases to: to manage report publishing processes, to collate and analyse evidence relating to a specific project, to record staff training and development request and needs. HR system for recording information relating to WAO employees The management and financial information held in these systems is used to support organisational planning, workforce planning, resource management, programme and project management, budget profiling and income generation and management. A system that provides managers with instant access to management information linking information relating to audit work programmes, costs, income and staff resources is needed so that the WAO can be more efficient. The system should be able to provide this information or be designed and configured so that this information can be easily obtained by integrating with other systems such as the HR system and the general ledger. The requirement is for data to be managed and maintained from a single system but be able to be used many times supporting the WAO s aspiration to move towards achieving a single version of the truth" The system must be configurable so that access can be enabled and restricted, linked to defined users role and responsibilities, ideally also linked to Microsoft Active Directory Services. For example, all staff will require access to time-recording but not all will require access to other areas Further information on the functional requirements for the solution is included within Section 3 Specification of Requirements and Section 4 Business and Technical Requirements which all Tenderers must respond to. The following section sets out the Instructions to Tenderers. PAGE 11

12 Section 2 Instructions to Tenderers and Tender Process 9. Instructions to Tenderers 9.1. These instructions are designed to ensure that all Tenderers are given equal and fair consideration. It is important therefore that you provide all the information asked for in the format and order specified. Please contact Laurie Davies at the e-tendering queries address at tender.queries@wao.gov.uk if you have any doubt as to what is required or will have difficulty in providing the information requested. The Authority will use the e-tendering address to communicate with Tenderers All queries that are raised and considered relevant to the tender submission will be posted on the Wales Audit Office website with responses. See also paragraph 10.3 and 19 which provide further information on queries Tenderers should read these instructions before completing the Tender documentation and submission of the Tender Response. Tenderers are advised to acquaint themselves with the extent and nature of the goods and services and contractual obligations. These instructions constitute the Conditions of Tender. Participation in the tender process automatically signals that the Tenderer accepts these Conditions. Included within the ITT are a number of documents intended to ensure all Tenderers submit the required information in the correct format: Section 6 Documents and Information to be Submitted is provided for you to check that you have included the correct information that you should return and complete with the Tender response There are a series of short questionnaires to assist the Authority to assess compliance and review minimum standards prior to commencing formal evaluation and a set of forms to submit in response to the ITT and Specification of Requirements. See also Paragraphs 22 Right to Reject/Disqualify and 27 Evaluation Process which sets out compliance checks and minimum standards Tender Responses which are deemed by the Authority to be compliant and meet minimum standards will proceed to evaluation. These will be evaluated using the selection criteria and weightings detailed in Paragraph 26 Evaluation Criteria of Tenders for Contract Award All material issued in connection with this ITT shall remain the property of the Authority and shall be used only for the purpose of this procurement exercise The Tenderer shall ensure that each and every sub-contractor, consortium member and adviser abides by the terms of these instructions and the Conditions of Tender The Tenderer shall not make contact with any other employee, agent or consultant of the Authority who are in any way connected with this procurement exercise during the period of this procurement exercise, unless instructed otherwise by the Authority Tenderers shall accept and acknowledge that by issuing this ITT the Authority shall not be bound to accept any Tender and reserves the right not to conclude a contract for some or all of the goods and services for which Tenders are invited. PAGE 12

13 9.8. The Authority reserves the right to amend, add to or withdraw all, or any part of this ITT at any time during the procurement exercise. 10. Confidentiality Subject to the exceptions referred to in paragraph 11, the contents of this ITT are being made available by the Authority on condition that: Tenderers shall at all times treat the contents of the ITT and any related documents (together called the Information ) as confidential, save in so far as they are already in the public domain; Tenderers shall not disclose, copy, reproduce, distribute or pass any of the Information to any other person (person, firm, body or association) at any time or allow any of these things to happen; Tenderers shall not use any of the Information for any purpose other than for the purposes of submitting (or deciding whether to submit) a Tender; and Tenderers shall not undertake any publicity activity within any section of the media Tenderers may disclose, distribute or pass any of the Information to the Tenderer s advisers, sub-contractors or to another person provided that either: This is done for the sole purpose of enabling a Tender to be submitted and the person receiving the Information undertakes in writing to keep the Information confidential on the same terms as if that person were the Tenderer; or The Tenderer obtains the prior written consent of the Authority in relation to such disclosure, distribution or passing of Information; or The disclosure is made for the sole purpose of obtaining legal advice from external lawyers in relation to the procurement or to any Framework Agreement arising from it; or The Tenderer is legally required to make such a disclosure The Authority may disclose detailed information and any documents relating to Tenders to its officers, employees, or advisers. The Authority also reserves the right to disseminate information that is materially relevant to the procurement to all Tenderers, even if the information has only been requested by one Tenderer, subject to the duty to protect each Tenderer's commercial confidentiality in relation to its Tender (unless there is a requirement for disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act, as explained in paragraphs 11.1 to 11.3 below). PAGE 13

14 11. Freedom of Information In accordance with the obligations and duties placed upon public authorities by the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (the FoIA ), the Authority may, acting in accordance with the Secretary of State s Code of Practice on the Discharge of the Functions of Public Authorities under Part 1 of the said Act, or the Environment Information Regulations (EIR) be required to disclose information submitted by the Tenderer to the to the Authority In respect of any information submitted by a Tenderer that it considers to be commercially sensitive the Tenderer should: clearly identify such information as commercially sensitive; explain the potential implications of disclosure of such information; and provide an estimate of the period of time during which the Tenderer believes that such information will remain commercially sensitive Where a Tenderer identifies information as commercially sensitive, the Authority will endeavour to maintain confidentiality. Tenderers should note, however, that, even where information is identified as commercially sensitive, the Authority may be required to disclose such information in accordance with the FoIA or the EIR. In particular, the Authority is required to form an independent judgment concerning whether the information is exempt from disclosure under the FoIA or the EIR and whether the public interest favours disclosure or not. Accordingly, the Authority cannot guarantee that any information marked confidential or commercially sensitive will not be disclosed Where a Tenderer receives a request for information under the FoIA or the EIR during the procurement process, this should be immediately passed on to the Authority and the Tenderer should not attempt to answer the request without first consulting with the Authority. PAGE 14

15 12. Timescales Set out below is the proposed procurement timetable. This is intended as a guide and while the Authority does not intend to depart from the timetable it reserves the right to do so at any stage. DATE STAGE 14 January 2014 ITT to be issued by the Authority 20 January 2014 Clarification period opens 17 March 2014 Clarification period closes 14:00 GMT 3 April 2014 Closing date and time for receipt by the Authority of Tenderer Responses to the ITT 4 April 2014 Evaluation of ITT Responses commences 28 April April 2014 Clarification meetings and provider demonstrations 1 May 2014 Evaluation and shortlisting 5 May May May May 2014 Reference Site visits (if required) Final evaluation and selection 20 June 2014 Notification of proposed contract award 4 July 2014 Expiry of standstill period required under Regulation 32 of the Public Contracts Regulations July 2014 Appointment of Provider 14 July 2014 Commencement Date of Contract 13. Authority s Contact Details Unless stated otherwise in these Instructions or in writing from the Authority, all communications from Tenderers (including their sub-contractors, consortium members, consultants and advisers) during the period of this procurement exercise must be directed to the designated Authority contact named in paragraph 9.1 above All communications should be clearly headed Invitation to Tender for Audit Management Software with Support and include the name, contact details and position of the person making the communication. PAGE 15

16 14. Preparation of Tender Tenderers must obtain for themselves at their own responsibility and expense all information necessary for the preparation of Tenders. Tenderers are solely responsible for the costs and expenses incurred in connection with the preparation and submission of their Tender and all other stages of the selection and evaluation process. Under no circumstances will the Authority be liable for any costs or expenses borne by Tenderers, sub-contractors, suppliers or advisers in this process Tenderers are required to complete and provide all information required by the Authority in accordance with the Conditions of Tender and the Invitation to Tender. Failure to comply with the Conditions and the Invitation to Tender may lead the Authority to reject a Tender Response The Authority relies on Tenderers' own analysis and review of information provided. Consequently, Tenderers are solely responsible for obtaining the information which they consider is necessary in order to make decisions regarding the content of their Tenders and to undertake any investigations they consider necessary in order to verify any information provided to them during the procurement process Tenderers must form their own opinions, making such investigations and taking such advice (including professional advice) as is appropriate, regarding the goods and services and their Tenders, without reliance upon any opinion or other information provided by the Authority or their advisers and representatives. Tenderers should notify the Authority promptly of any perceived ambiguity, inconsistency or omission in this ITT, any of its associated documents and/or any other information issued to them during the procurement process. 15. Submission of Tenders The Tender must be submitted to Tenders@wao.gov.uk no later than 14:00 GMT on 3 April 2014 ( the Deadline ). Tenders may be submitted at any time before the closing date. Tenders received before this deadline will be retained unopened until after the closing time and date. Tenders should be clearly labelled in the subject area of the noting ITT Tender for Audit Management Software with Support but do not include the name of the organisation/person submitting the Tender within the subject line The Tenderer is responsible for making their own internal checks whether a file was received by the Authority In exceptional circumstances, if the supplier is unable to send the electronic tender due to e.g. very large file size, then they should do either of the following: send several s all clearly labelled e.g. ITT Tender for Audit Management Software file 1 of 3 in accordance with clause 15.1; PAGE 16

17 send a single with a secure link and repository to retrieve Tender files that must not expire within one week after the Deadline The Authority does not accept responsibility for the premature opening or mishandling of Tenders that are not submitted in accordance with these instructions Any Tender received after the Deadline may be rejected unless the Tenderer can provide evidence that the Tender was capable of being received by the due date and time Tenderers may modify or withdraw their Tender prior to the Deadline by giving notice to the Authority by to tenders@wao.gov.uk The Authority may at its own absolute discretion extend the closing date and the time for receipt of Tenders specified in paragraph Any extension is granted to all Tenderers The Tender and any documents accompanying must be in the English or Welsh language Price and any financial data provided must be submitted in or converted into pounds sterling and stated exclusive of VAT Tenderers should not include in the Tender any extraneous information which has not been specifically requested in the ITT including, for example, any sales literature, standard terms of trading, etc. Paragraph 21 sets out arrangements for proposed amendments to the contract by the Tenderer. 16. Disclaimers While the information in this ITT and supporting documents has been prepared in good faith, it does not purport to be comprehensive nor has it been independently verified Neither the Authority, nor its advisors, directors, officers, members, partners, employees, other staff or agents: makes any representation or warranty (express or implied) as to the accuracy, reasonableness or completeness of the ITT; or accept any responsibility for the information contained in the ITT or for their fairness, accuracy or completeness of that information nor shall any of them be liable for any loss or damage (other than in respect of fraudulent misrepresentation) arising as a result of reliance on such information or any subsequent communication Any persons considering making a decision to enter into contractual relationships with the Authority following receipt of the ITT should seek their own professional financial and legal advice Any contract concluded as a result of this ITT shall be governed by the law of England and Wales. PAGE 17

18 17. Collusive Behaviour Any Tenderer shall (without prejudice to any other civil remedies available to the Authority and without prejudice to any criminal liability which such conduct by a Tenderer may attract) be disqualified, if the Tenderer: fixes or adjusts the amount of its Tender by or in accordance with any agreement or arrangement with any other party; or communicates to any party other than the Authority the amount or approximate amount of its proposed Tender or information which would enable the amount or approximate amount to be calculated (except where such disclosure is made in confidence in order to obtain quotations necessary for the preparation of the Tender or insurance or any necessary security); or enters into any agreement or arrangement with any other party that such other party shall refrain from submitting a Tender; or enters into any agreement or arrangement with any other party as to the amount of any Tender submitted; or offers or agrees to pay or give or does pay or give any sum or sums of money, inducement or valuable consideration directly or indirectly to any party for doing or having done or causing or having caused to be done in relation to any other Tender or proposed Tender, any act or omission. 18. Acceptance of tenders The Authority does not bind itself to accept the lowest or any tender, and in addition, reserves the right to accept part only of a tender. No tender shall be deemed to have been accepted unless such acceptance shall have been notified to the Tenderer in writing. 19. Queries Relating to Tender The Authority will endeavour to answer all questions as quickly as possible, but cannot guarantee a minimum response time. The Authority has designated a specific window of time to deal with clarification requests from Tenderers Clarification requests can be submitted via only to tender.queries@wao.gov.uk from 20 January No further requests for clarification will be accepted after 17 March In order to ensure equality of treatment of Tenderers, the Authority intends to publish the questions and clarifications raised by Tenderers together with the Authority s responses (but not the source of the questions) on a regular basis. The information will be posted on the Wales Audit Office website Tenderers should indicate if a query is of a commercially sensitive nature where disclosure of such query and the answer would or would be likely to prejudice its PAGE 18

19 commercial interests. However, if the Authority at its sole discretion does not either; consider the query to be of a commercially confidential nature or one which all Tenderers would potentially benefit from seeing both the query and Authority s response, the Authority will: invite the Tenderer submitting the query to either allow rewording of the query to enable the query along with the Authority s response to be circulated to all Tenderers; or request the Tenderer, if it still considers the query to be of a commercially confidential nature, to withdraw the query The Authority reserves the right not to respond to a request for clarification or to circulate such a request where it considers that the answer to that request would or would be likely to prejudice its commercial interests. 20. Amendments to Tender Documents At any time prior to the deadline for the receipt of Tenders, the Authority may modify the ITT by amendment. Any such amendment will be numbered and dated and issued by the Authority to all prospective Tenderers by 18 March 2014 on its website. In order to give prospective Tenderers reasonable time in which to take the amendment into account in preparing their Tenders, the Authority may, at its discretion, extend the Deadline for receipt of Tenders. 21. Proposed Amendments to the contract by the Tenderer As the Authority is using the open procedure as detailed in the Public Contracts Regulations 2006 it is prevented from undertaking negotiation of the Tender. However, amendments by Tenderers and/or the Authority to clarify its terms are permitted The Authority will consider proposed amendments strictly on their merits and within the limits imposed by the Regulations Any proposed amendments to the contract must be detailed separately on the Proposed Amendments form included at Section 10, and returned with the Tenderer s ITT Response. 22. Right to Reject/Disqualify In certain circumstances as a public sector body, the Authority is required by law to exclude organisations from participating in a tender. This includes when the organisation, any directors or partners who have powers of representation, decision or control have been convicted of offences related to the following: conspiracy within the meaning of section 1 or a1 of the Criminal Law Act 1977 or article 9 or 9A of the Criminal attempts and Conspiracy (Northern Ireland); corruption within the meaning of section 1 of the Public Bodies Corrupt Practices Act 1889 or section 1 of the Prevention of Corruption Act 1906; PAGE 19

20 the offence of bribery, where the offence relates to active corruption or bribery within the meaning of section 1 or 6 of the Bribery Act 2010; fraud, where the offence relates to fraud affecting the EU Communities financial interests, including offence of cheating the revenue, conspiracy to defraud, fraud or theft, fraudulent trading, fraudulent evasion, offence in connection with taxation in the EU Communities, destroying, defacing or concealing documents; fraud or theft within the meaning of section 2-4 of the Fraud Act 2006; money laundering within the meaning of section 340(11) of the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002; and an offence in connection with proceeds of criminal conduct, drug trafficking, or any other offence within the meaning of Article 45 (1) of Directive 2004/18/EC The Authority also reserves the right to reject or disqualify a Tenderer where: the Tenderer fails to comply fully with the requirements of this Invitation to Tender or is guilty of a serious misrepresentation in supplying any information required in this document; or expression of interest; and/or the Tenderer is guilty of serious misrepresentation in relation to its Tender; expression of interest; and/or the Tender process; and/or there is a change in identity, control, financial standing or other factor impacting on the selection and/or evaluation process affecting the Tenderer. 23. Right to Cancel, Clarify or Vary the Process The Authority reserves the right to: amend the terms and conditions of the Invitation to Tender process, cancel the evaluation process at any stage; and/or require the Tenderer to clarify its Tender in writing and/or provide additional information. 24. Customer References After the receipt of Tenders, the Authority may visit at least one customer reference site of the Tenderer and may seek written references from any other designated customers which are not visited. 25. Tender process The Tender process will be conducted to ensure that Tenders are evaluated fairly to ascertain the most economically advantageous Tender. Account will also be taken of any factors which may impact on the Tenderers suitability that emerge from the tendering process The Tenderer submitting the most economically advantageous offer with regard to the evaluation criteria at the conclusion of the evaluation, will be awarded a contract. PAGE 20

21 26. Evaluation Criteria of Tenders for contract award Tenderers Response to the questions contained in Section 3 Specification of Requirements, Section 4 Business and Technical Requirements, along with pricing information and any other information requested in questionnaires and specifically related to the evaluation of Tenders and requested by the Authority in this ITT will be evaluated against the high level criteria in the Evaluation Criteria for Selection table below. Table 3: Evaluation Criteria for selection Criteria Evaluation method Weighting Meeting business requirements Capacity and flexibility of the solution to fulfil Authority requirements Capability and capacity Reliability and service Technical and professional ability Comparison of response evidence against the specification of requirements in terms of ability to meet the, and Useful, business and technical needs. Comparison of responses to specific questions that relate to the specification against the specification. Evidence of technical and support resources and expertise to deliver through written submissions and site visits. Evidence of strong project management through response to specification of requirements sections on implementation plan, start-up and build, testing and training. Evidence of strong track record in delivering similar system solutions demonstrated through previous experience examples and relevant reference customers Evidence of strong post-project and maintenance support. Evidence of robust security and quality assurance arrangements in place; data protection and effective business continuity plans; evidence of ability to interface with other systems Overall cost Responses will be scored based on cost of the initial software procurement and implementation together with software maintenance and ongoing technical, functional and account management support for the duration of the contract, inclusive of any associated upgrade costs (excluding hosting costs and which will be measured separately) 30 PAGE 21

22 27. Evaluation Process The evaluation process will feature some, if not all, the following phases: Phase 1 Compliance Checks Receipt and Opening ITT Responses will be logged as received and opened after the closing Deadline. Any ITT Response that is received after the deadline may be rejected and not considered for evaluation. Compliance Check and Minimum Standards Tenderers should confirm prior to submission that they have provided a Response including, where applicable, any evidence requested against each of the requirements, as directed, in the Specification of Requirements, the Business and Technical Requirements, the Commercial Response Requirements and Documents and Information to be Submitted. Those Tenders that are deemed compliant, received by the date and time specified, and are not subject to rejection/disqualification as raised under clause 22 will proceed to Phase 2. Minimum standards include - security accredited to industry standards; - evidenced as financially stable with a development plan for their product and service; and - referenced by end users Phase 2 Independent Evaluation of Tender Responses Qualitative/Technical Evaluation Quantitative/Commercial Evaluation Phase 3 - Moderation of Scores Moderation and merging of qualitative and quantitative evaluation scores/rankings to produce preliminary ranking Phase 4 Structured Bidder Presentations/Clarification Meetings Phase 5 Customer References Structured Customer Reference Site Visits Taking up of written customer references Final moderation meeting to moderate and merge scores gathered from Customer Reference Site Visits and/or written reference to produce final ranking Evaluation Report and Recommendation Approvals. PAGE 22

23 28. Contract award The Authority will inform all Tenderers in writing of any intention to award a contract. Following a minimum standstill period of 10 calendar days, subject to there being no substantive challenge to that intention, a contract will be formally awarded to the successful Tenderer All unsuccessful Tenderers will be provided with an unsuccessful letter in writing via at the start of the standstill period notifying them of the outcome of the evaluation exercise. This will include details of: the award criteria; the score of the Tenderer; the name of the successful Tenderer and why that Tenderer was successful; the score for the successful Tenderer Unsuccessful Tenderers will be able to seek a debrief in accordance with paragraph Notification of Award The Authority will notify the successful Tenderer of the intention to award a contract in writing and following the required standstill period will publish an Award Notice in the Official Journal of the European Union in accordance with the Public Contracts Regulations 2006 within 48 days of the award of the contract. 30. Debriefing Following the conclusion of the procurement, all unsuccessful Tenderers will be afforded the opportunity of a debriefing. Unsuccessful Tenderers should notify the Authority in writing that they wish to be debriefed. The Authority will formally debrief the unsuccessful Tenderer within 15 days of receiving such a request Where an unsuccessful Tenderer requests, in writing and no later than midnight on the second working day after being informed of the conclusion of the contract, the reasons why that Tenderer was unsuccessful, the Authority will provide details of the characteristics and relative advantages of the successful Tender. PAGE 23

24 Section 3 Specification of Requirements 31. Project scope The Authority is inviting tenders, for an audit management system with enterprise resource functionality to support the project objectives and improvement objectives set out in Section 1. Key aspects of the project covered with this procurement include: system provision; support to design, configure and setup of the audit management software to meet the business needs; setup of interfaces; support to create routine reports to meet management information requirements; training and communication e.g. timely information regarding software issues and developments; and on-going maintenance and support including technical, functional and account management support The Specification of Requirements sections below sets out the requirements of the Provider in fulfilling obligations under the contract. These requirements will, in part, form the conditions of contract together with the Terms and Conditions set out in Section 11 along with the Providers response and any clarification amendments made The service will be provided by a reputable Provider defined as security accredited to industry standards; evidenced as financially stable with a development plan for their product and service; and referenced by end users The supplier must respond to each section within the Specification in the appropriate fields and complete each of the associated forms in the manner as instructed. The responses will be used to assess the Tender as part of the technical and commercial evaluation. 32. Design and delivery of an effective audit management system The selected supplier will provide implementation consultancy and project management, including challenging existing requirements/processes, providing effective solutions where appropriate The supplier will provide a named project manager and/or account manager details of on-going day-to-day support for delivery of the service. The project manager will be PAGE 24

25 the nominated contact to liaise with the Wales Audit Office Project Manager to deliver the following: initial system setup and customisation of a test, training and a live system; Imports if required from existing systems and associated spread sheets, for all appropriate data fields to be confirmed; assistance with communication to staff and managers regarding new provision and practices in terms of cascade training and guidance; and testing systems prior to roll out and training to Wales Audit Office staff Please briefly describe the project management methodology that you would use, including tasks and deliverables covering implementation and transition services. This should include an overview of the implementation plan to include start-up and build process through transition e.g. go-live plan, governance, communication, data cleansing and migration, testing arrangements, training proposal, issue resolution and parallel run plan (if applicable) including timelines. (maximum 1000 words) 33. Software platform The supplier will deliver the software platform and will provide software maintenance and support throughout the period that it is in use i.e. updates provided as they are released, in return for a fixed annual maintenance charge The supplier should outline, as far as possible, other software required to support the solution e.g. Microsoft SQL Server, Internet Explorer, etc. and in consideration of interface with other systems. Our existing corporate systems run on Microsoft Windows Servicer / SQL Server of Ubuntu Linus / MySQL Please state the software platform(s) and version (if relevant) proposed to deliver this service for all solutions included and offered within your tender e.g. Solution 1 fully managed, supplier hosted and managed solution Solution 2 semi managed, client hosted supplier managed solution Solution 3 semi managed, supplier hosted client managed solution Solution 4 - customer hosted, (in-house) client management solution PAGE 25

26 33.4. Please state the standard software update or upgrade arrangements with development/implementation schedule, and describe what maintenance services are offered as part of the on-going support highlighting any that incur additional costs Please briefly outline the availability of the solution(s) proposed, specifying the hours that system is available to use and any unavailability for scheduled routine maintenance and/or backup Please outline escrow agreements and arrangements (if this applies). 34. Initial set-up and configuration The supplier will deliver the software installation and configure this according to Wales Audit Office requirements in liaison with the Wales Audit Office Project Manager and ICT Team as required Section 4 includes the detailed business and technical requirements covering the specific features, functionality, and reporting required. The following sections provide background information on some, but not all, of these requirements. The supplier is able to respond to each question in Section 3 below to supplement the requirements response in Section 4, the paragraph sections must be cross-referenced within the tables in Section Interface with existing systems The supplier must demonstrate the system is able to effectively interface with other WAO systems and include sufficient brief information covering processes for: Importing data from existing systems, and Exporting data (on any field within database) to standard MS products or reports Please describe how you will ensure the system will effectively interface with other WAO systems as above noting also any alternative interface solutions available. PAGE 26