EUROPEAN EXTERNAL ACTION SERVICE DEPARTMENT RESOURCES ADMINISTRATION AND FINANCE Directorate Finance and Corporate Support Information Technology Brussels, 16/12/2014 EEAS.MDRA.3/YDE EEAS-386-DIVA3-SER-FWC ISDLC SEVENTH LOT OF QUESTIONS/ANSWERS Questions/answers: Question 116: Service Requirements DAM profile Finally, as an exception to the profile education general rules, the Daily Activity Assistant (DAM) and the Technical Writer (TEW) profiles require the same level of education degrees (depending on the category requested) but the domain in which it has been obtained can be different from pure IT or equivalent Can this exception rule be extended to other profiles if the professional experience is equivalent to a confirmed or senior profile? For example for Technical Trainer (TET), interface Designer (IND)? Answer to question 116: No. See also previous answers to similar questions. Question 117: Service Requirements ICT Degrees If a candidate has an education degree equivalent to an ICT degree, do we have to consider him as an ICT Master/Bachelor degree or as a non ICT degree in the CV front page document? Answer to question 117: We already answered to this kind of question, please refer to the previous answers given and published together with all documents related to this tendering procedure at the following URL: http://eeas.europa.eu/business-tenders/.
Question 118: Framework Agreement (Clause I.3.4. re. price revision) Can you please explain why under this FWC 100% of each price is subject to indexation whereas in previous EU frame agreements under Union/Belgian law, this was, in compliance with Belgian law, limited to 80% of the price. Such 100% indexation may be null and void under Belgian law, to our understanding. Thank you to clarify. Answer to question 118: 100% indexation is a common practice and according to our information it's not in contradiction with Belgian law. Question 119: Reference Form In the reference form p2, it is requested to provide the Part of Value in Quoted Time and Means (QTM). On the line below, it is indicated i.e. so-called Proximity or extra-muros services. Can you please explain which value is expected here: Part of Value in Quoted Time and Means (QTM) or part of value in Proximity/extra-muros QTM? Answer to question 119: It is the part of value in Quoted Time and Means. Question 120: ANNEX VIII - FINANCIAL AND ECONOMIC CAPACITY In in the table there are 2 files, one Total Balance Sheet and the other About PROFIT & LOSS. We understand that these 2 files are titles and that they haven t to be fulfilled. Can you please confirm our understanding? Answer to question 120: Correct. Question 121: 5.7. Escrow rider / page 34 Is the Escrow clause applicable for this framework contract? As all software development activities and documentation is provided in the relevant tools, where EEAS as access to, why is an additional escrow needed? If so, does EEAS cover the cost of the Escrow? Answer to question 121: The escrow clause is not applicable for this framework contract but special care will be given in case of Proximity Time and Means services to guarantee that all source code and documentation are indeed available to EEAS. Question 122: Tender Specifications - References Can the value of the contract, due to confidentiality of this value, be expressed: a) In man-days or b) By using a threshold (for example: > 1M) Answer to question 122:
The value of the referenced contracts must be given providing exact figure in million euros per year. All information submitted in the context of this tendering procedure will be treated with the required level of confidentiality. Question 123: Tender Specifications - CVs Is the bidder authorized to submit anonymised CVs by only mentioning the first name (without mentioning the last name). Will these cv s be accepted by the evaluation? Answer to question 123: Please read answer to question n 114 of the sixth lot of questions/answers published together with all documents related to this tendering procedure at the following URL: http://eeas.europa.eu/business-tenders/. Question 124: Tender Specifications - References Reference is made to Tender Specifications, page 31 of 52 where it is mentioned that at least 2 contracts provided as evidence must be a contract where more than 60% of the value concerns services provided in Time & Means mode. We understand that apart from these 2 contracts, references concerning services provided in Fixed Price mode are also eligible. a) Could you please confirm our understanding? b) If our understanding is correct, are we also correct in understanding that for Fixed Price contracts we should add an additional bullet in the Reference Form under section Type of contract service provided: (check the appropriate) for Fixed Price services? Answer to question 124-a): Yes, but to be eligible, at least 2 references must refer to contracts where more than 60% of the value concerns services provided in Time & Means mode Answer to question 124-b): No, please specify these Fixed Price contracts values on the second page at the bullet Part of value in another service type. Question 125: Tender Specifications - CVs Following your answers to questions 59 and 100: a) can the CV of personnel with a bachelor degree and more than 5 years of professional experience be included at the time of submission of tenders (for example the CV of a bachelor with 25 years of professional experience)? b) If you answer to question (a.) is positive, in which category of profile would such a candidate be classified during contract execution? Answer to question 125-a):
Yes, as written in answer to question 59, seniority of profiles does not apply at the time of submission of tenders. Answer to question 125-b): But, the example given in your question does not fulfil Service Requirements at the time of execution of the contract. Question 126: Tender Specifications - CVs With reference to your answer to Question 12 and seemingly in line with your answer to Question 38, we believe that point 6 of the guidelines for the completion of the CV is relevant to the standard DESIS CV form, but not for this reduced form (i.e. where no individual project pages need to be submitted). We believe that it is almost impossible to provide all the information listed in the guidelines in one Arial 12 summary page. Could you please confirm that the summary page needs to include a descriptive summary of key relevant expertise of the whole professional career of the candidate (deriving from project experience), but without a strict breakdown into specific projects? Answer to question 126: Correct Question 127: Tender Specifications - CVs It is unclear why experience with a mock-up tool like Balsamiq is a strict/mandatory requirement for Business Requirement Analysts (BRA). Could you confirm that experience with Balsamiq is desirable but not mandatory for the CVs that will be submitted in the current tendering phase for the BRA profile? Answer to question 127: See answer to question n 23 of the first lot of questions/answers published together with all documents related to this tendering procedure at the following URL: http://eeas.europa.eu/business-tenders/. Question 128: Tender Specifications CVs page 3 of 4 CV ICT Training Page Certification table of CV: certificate obtained means certification or any certificate (e.g. of attendance)? Answer to question 128: Certificate obtained column of the CV template refers to an official document granted to the student, and usually obtained after a successful examination at the end of a training program.
Question 129: Tender Specifications PTM services It is our understanding from the RFP text that proximity services are defined only with relation to the EEAS premises in Brussels and not the EU Delegation premises around the world. Could you please confirm that our understanding is correct? Answer to question 129: Correct. [Signed] Philippe RUYS Head of Division