procurement procedure easo/2015/322 contract notice: oj ... · learning management system...

Framework Contract EASO/2015/322

Procurement procedure EASO/2015/322 Contract notice: OJ 2015/S 157-287584

Terms of Reference (ToR)

Learning Management System

Open procurement procedure to conclude a Framework Contract for the

“Provisioning, maintenance, support, development and implementation of a Learning Management System environment and delivery of related services”

Procurement procedure EASO/2015/322

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CONTENTS

1. TERMS OF REFERENCE ........................................................................................................... 4

1.1. SUMMARY .......................................................................................................................................................... 4 1.2. REQUIREMENTS FOR SERVICES ................................................................................................................................ 5

Requirements for the LMS environment ........................................................................................................ 6 1.2.1.Supported Use Cases and Usability ................................................................................................................................. 6 Functional Requirements ................................................................................................................................................ 9

Authentication and Authorisation Management ...................................................................................................... 10 Enrolment Management ........................................................................................................................................... 11 Learning Content Authoring Tooling ......................................................................................................................... 11 Exams, Quizzes and Surveys ...................................................................................................................................... 12 Training Session Management .................................................................................................................................. 13 Scheduling ................................................................................................................................................................. 13 Training Session Execution ........................................................................................................................................ 14 Group, Communication and Collaboration Management ......................................................................................... 14 Tracking ..................................................................................................................................................................... 15 Reporting and Analysis .............................................................................................................................................. 15 Certification Management and Skills Development .................................................................................................. 16

Non-Functional Requirements ...................................................................................................................................... 16 Compliance & Legal ................................................................................................................................................... 17 Maintainability & Accessibility .................................................................................................................................. 18 Interface Design and Internationalization ................................................................................................................. 18 Scalability ................................................................................................................................................................... 18 Technology Compatibility .......................................................................................................................................... 19 Documentation .......................................................................................................................................................... 19 Security ...................................................................................................................................................................... 20

Service Requirements ................................................................................................................................................... 20 Second line support assistance .................................................................................................................................. 20 Service organization .................................................................................................................................................. 20 Installation and maintenance of LMS environment .................................................................................................. 21 Acceptance environment requirement ..................................................................................................................... 21

Requirements for Content Authoring ........................................................................................................... 22 1.2.2.Role: Project Manager for Content Authoring ........................................................................................................... 23 Role: Web Designer/Developer ................................................................................................................................. 23 Role: Illustrator .......................................................................................................................................................... 24

Requirements of the initial setup ................................................................................................................. 24 1.2.3.Kick-off meeting ............................................................................................................................................................ 24 Initial Setup Technical Deployment .............................................................................................................................. 24

Requirements for the Learning Content Migration ...................................................................................... 25 1.2.4. Requirements for Initial Training .................................................................................................................. 25 1.2.5. Requirements for Consultancy ..................................................................................................................... 26 1.2.6.

Role: Project Manager for Consultancy Services ....................................................................................................... 26 Role: Business Analyst ............................................................................................................................................... 27 Role: Developer ......................................................................................................................................................... 28 Role: Quality and Test Expert .................................................................................................................................... 29

2. THE CONTRACT ................................................................................................................... 31

2.1. STARTING DATE OF THE CONTRACT AND DURATION OF THE TASKS ................................................................................ 31 2.2. PLACE OF PERFORMANCE .................................................................................................................................... 31 2.3. IMPLEMENTATION OF THE CONTRACT ..................................................................................................................... 31 2.4. ESTIMATE OF THE MAXIMUM THRESHOLD ............................................................................................................... 31 2.5. TERMS OF PAYMENT ........................................................................................................................................... 32 2.6. LIABILITY .......................................................................................................................................................... 32 2.7. DATA PROTECTION ............................................................................................................................................ 33

3. THE TENDER ........................................................................................................................ 34

3.1. PARTICIPATION IN TENDERING PROCEDURE AND SUBMISSION OF THE TENDER ................................................................ 34 3.2. OPENING OF THE TENDERS .................................................................................................................................. 34 3.3. CONTACT BETWEEN THE TENDERER AND EASO ....................................................................................................... 35


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3.4. PREPARATION OF THE TENDER .............................................................................................................................. 35 General (see also Invitation to tender) ......................................................................................................... 35 3.4.1. Section One: Administrative proposal .......................................................................................................... 35 3.4.2.

Eligibility documentation .............................................................................................................................................. 35 Exclusion criteria documentation ................................................................................................................................. 37 Selection criteria documentation .................................................................................................................................. 37

General ...................................................................................................................................................................... 37 Evidence for selection criterion: ................................................................................................................................ 37 Evidence of the technical and professional capacity of the tenderer(s).................................................................... 38

Section Two: Technical proposal .................................................................................................................. 39 3.4.3.Technical conformity documentation ........................................................................................................................... 39

Section Three: Financial proposal ................................................................................................................. 39 3.4.4.Financial conformity documentation ............................................................................................................................ 39

3.5. THE ASSESSMENT PROCEDURE ............................................................................................................................. 40 3.5.1. EVALUATION STEPS ............................................................................................................................................ 40 3.6. AWARD OF CONTRACT ........................................................................................................................................ 42

Information to tenderers .............................................................................................................................. 42 3.6.1. Standstill period ............................................................................................................................................ 42 3.6.2. No obligation to award the contract ............................................................................................................ 43 3.6.3. Evidence by Tenderer ................................................................................................................................... 43 3.6.4.

4. GLOSSARY ........................................................................................................................... 44

5. INDICATIVE TIMELINE .......................................................................................................... 45

6. ANNEXES TO THE TERMS OF REFERENCE .............................................................................. 45


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1. TERMS OF REFERENCE

1.1. SUMMARY

The European Asylum Support Office (EASO) is a new operational regulatory agency set up in Malta with a mandate to strengthen Member States' practical cooperation on asylum, support Member States whose asylum systems are under particular pressure and enhance the implementation of the Common European Asylum System (CEAS).

Regulation 439/2010 of the European Parliament and the Council of 19 May 2010, establishing a European Asylum Support Office (hereinafter referred to as the "EASO Regulation") foresees in Article 6 (2) that EASO shall manage and develop a European asylum curriculum taking into account the Union's existing cooperation in that field. The EASO Training Curriculum includes several training modules relying on a “blended learning” scenario.

We define the module as a component of the curriculum, training as the use of one module and session as the organisation of training with specific instructors and trainees in a defined period.

More background information about the European Asylum Support Office may be found on the website https://easo.europa.eu

The European asylum curriculum is supported by an e-learning platform and for which relies on two installations of the Learning Management System (LMS) Dokeos: Dokeos 1.8.6 and Dokeos 2.0.

With this Framework Contract, EASO seeks to replace the current system with a comprehensive solution that adequately supports its objectives of managing and developing a European asylum curriculum. Aside from the Learning Management System, initial setup, migration and continued support services, EASO equally seeks to procure complementary services such as Content Authoring, Training and Consultancy services related to Learning Management via this framework contract.

EASO expects to provide strategic direction and leadership while the successful tenderers will be expected to contribute to and underpin EASO’s objectives. EASO is seeking a forward looking, reliable and technically skilled Contractor that acts as single point of contact and who, under the leadership and management of EASO, provides efficient support for EASO’s LMS and related services. The Contractor should underpin the EASO’s ability to reach its objectives with effectiveness, efficiency and security.

The services in scope of this Framework Contract are limited to the services required for the proper functioning and evolution of the LMS environment for EASO to provide asylum support. Consideration will be given to (private) cloud-based SaaS solutions that can fulfil the requirements with no or minimal customisation and meet European legislative requirements for Data Protection.

Summary of scope and modalities of this Framework Contract

Awarding Authority The European Asylum Support Office (hereafter referred to as “EASO”)

Purpose Provisioning, maintenance, support, development and implementation of a Learning Management System environment and delivery of related services at EASO

Lots This call for tender is not divided into lots and is targeted at multi-service providers in the Learning Management domain or market

Framework Contract EASO will sign a Framework Contract with the most cost-effective (offers the best value for money) tenderer. A draft Framework Contract can be found in Annex 2

Submission of offers Tenderers must submit offers covering all the services defined in the Terms of Reference.

httpshttp://easo.europa.eu/


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Duration of the framework

48 Months

Start date of the Framework Contract

December 2015 - January 2016

Main places of delivery Mostly remotely from the Tenderer’s premises and occasionally on EASO premises in Valetta, Malta.

Variants Not permitted

Joint offers (Consortia) Permitted

Subcontracting Permitted

1.2. REQUIREMENTS FOR SERVICES

In this tender EASO is requesting a proposal for the following services (in order of importance):

1. LMS environment: Continuous service of fixed price and fixed duration on a per active user basis covering the provisioning of a Learning Management System1, Content Authoring Tooling, maintenance and support services.

2. Content authoring: Discrete service on a quoted time and means for developing new e-learning modules (using LMS tools and web development tools) and uploading these onto the LMS environment.

3. Initial setup and kick-off meeting: One-off discrete service of fixed duration and fixed price to setup and deploy the new LMS environment based on EASO requirements. The fixed price is not subject to any adjustment and the tenderer takes full responsibility for all cost escalations.

4. Learning Content Migration: One-off discrete service of fixed duration and fixed price to migrate (transfer and convert) e-learning content from the current Dokeos system to the new system. The fixed price is not subject to any adjustment and the tenderer takes full responsibility for all cost escalations.

5. Initial Training: Discrete service of fixed duration and fixed price to provide administrator trainings covering the initial configuration and usage of the LMS environment.

6. Consultancy services: Discrete service on a quoted time and means to support EASO in the delivery of agreed deliverables for which the workload can be estimated with reasonable accuracy:

Business analysis and specification

Value added services such as Quality Control or Security Auditing

Change Management and Business Process Reengineering

Ad hoc specific developments

Each of the above services will be the subject of a Specific Terms of Reference (SToR) followed by an order form (OF) or the Specific contract (SC). Specific deliverables and, as the case may be, means of

1 The foreseen LMS environment is (private) cloud-based SaaS


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tracking performance and quality will be defined in the Specific Terms of Reference or the Order form/Specific Contract concluded with the Contractor for that assignment.

Answers to this call for tenders must cover all the tender requirements indicated in the following sections; failure to cover all sections will result in exclusion.

All quantities and sizing mentioned in this document regarding the call for tenders and EASO including users, key indicators relevant to the Learning Management System environment and other components are indicative of the current situation and may vary throughout the duration of the contract.

Requirements for the LMS environment 1.2.1.

This section details the use cases, functional, non-functional and service requirements for a new LMS environment.

Supported Use Cases and Usability Requirements will be assessed based on a demo-environment that should be set up by the Contractor. The environment should provide clear guidance for the Use Cases to be conducted by the EASO evaluation committee;

Functional and Non-Functional Requirements will be assessed based on the extent to which they can be met with the proposed solution along the following categories: Standard, Bespoke Development, Not supported;

Service Requirements will be assessed based on the proposed SLA by the Contractor.

Supported Use Cases and Usability

The table below provides an overview of the main use cases/activities, the LMS must facilitate. The Contractor should provide access to a demo environment that demonstrates these use cases:

ID Use Case/Activities

UC1 The LMS shall allow any user to:

Fill-in credentials to log-on

Access to lost password functionality (based on e-mails)

Go through an E-mail address checking procedure at first log-in.

Go through a compulsory one-time acceptance of terms and conditions after log-in (at the first log-in or when T&C have been renewed)

Access welcome screen(s)

Customise LMS home screen

Access overview pane of possible actions

Access his/her own profile2 and the possibility to edit it (change attributes, accept changes, verify e-mail addresses, language of interface)

UC2 The LMS shall allow a Trainee to:

View training list for which he/she is registered (possibility to browse, sort, and filter)

Access repository of obtained certificates

2 The administrator, through the admiration interface, should be able to select available fields and which ones will

be editable


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View/Export training agenda

View recent activity, including o Assessment results o Completed trainings o Last log-in o Time spent in trainings

Start/Continue/Complete training o Access a training (enter specific learning path) o Browse module content o Take exam o Download training documents o Upload training documents o Take and keep personal notes online

Use communication and collaboration tools: o View/post a message in a training forum o Access instant messaging tool

UC3 The LMS shall allow an Instructor to:

View/Export instructor agenda

Set viewing/editing permissions on training material and LMS tools in the training

View and manage trainings o Assessment tools (the ability to give a score and/or a comment) for all trainees'

assignments online View, comment & score uploaded training documents Add comments for other trainee's online activity

o Assessment tool for external activities Adding score and comment for external activity (outside the LMS) for

each trainee (e.g. an activity during the face-to-face seminar) o Quizzes/Exam Results

View quiz/exam results Review results of automatically scored quizzes/exams Comment on results (provide individual feedback) for a general

quiz/exam and for individual questions Score trainees progress

o Manage certificate Edit and send/deliver certificate of training attendance Edit and send/deliver module completion certificate

o Monitoring/Reporting View details of trainee View progress, time spent on training Customise an analysis report View and download reports

o Use Communication and collaboration tools Moderate forums (post, delete, amend messages) View forum messages Make forum announcements

o Module elements Hide/Unhide elements

o Training planning Change timeline Set/update deadlines Send the deadlines documents/information to the training participants Create, edit activities on training agenda


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List trainees participating in a training o User Group management tools

Create user groups Manage users groups permissions Select available tools for each group Moderate activities related to available tools (e.g. moderate discussions

in a group forum) Follow activities related to available tools

o Release/publish documents (release general feedback)

UC4 The LMS shall allow an Author to:

Create/Edit content o Upload web content (which include any kind of static web content ) o Create SCORM-like3 learning paths

Set up collaboration and communication tools

Use content authoring tools for additional online activities (e.g. quizzes/exams)

UC5 The LMS shall allow an Administrator4 to:

Edit settings o Configure homepages o Configure display settings, display styles, language settings o Edit standard messages from the LMS (e.g. general conditions, email

notifications)

Manage user registration o Set up new users o Manage all users o Monitor active users o Manage user privileges o Manage user profile settings

Manage modules and training sessions

Access logs of user and system activities with tracing options

Enrol users in training sessions

Create groups and sub-groups of trainees ("classes") and register "classes" at once to trainings

Create/Edit module environment o Template/Skeleton in authoring environments

Send notification for specific group/target audience (through emails and/or messages on the home page)

Delete training environments

Use monitoring tool

UC6 The LMS shall allow Users and Sessions Manager to:

Manage user registration o Set up new users o Monitor active users

3 Organise uploaded web content, assignment and quizzes produced with the LMS tools in sequential steps.

4 The administrator has the ability to cumulate the right of all profiles.


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o Manage user privileges o Manage user profile settings

Access logs of user and system activities

Access logs with tracing options

Register users in training sessions

Create groups and sub-groups of trainees ("classes") and register "classes" at once to trainings

The following is a list of usability criteria for the LMS environment.

ID Usability Criteria

US1 Ability to provide detailed and meaningful error-messages to end-users

US2 Consistency of the user interface across various modules of the LMS environment (e.g. lay-out, terminology, look-and-feel, style sheets, …)

US3 Fault tolerance; the user can easily undo an action or Request for confirmations on sensible actions as deleting elements

US4 Fit-for-purpose; the user can execute the must have functionalities with a minimum number of actions

US5 Feedback; the LMS continuously provides contextual information to the user including explanations when an expected action could not be completed.

US6 Intuitive and recognisable, state-of-the-art user interface that is built around a common set of design principles

US7 Simplicity; attained through reduction of the number visual and functional elements available in a single screen to the minimum requirement for the tasks at hand

US8 Flexibility; users can use various interaction commands (e.g. click, drag and drop, keyboard, spoken,…) to complete tasks and adjust the interface to meet their specific preferences (text font size, colours, language, …)

US9 Attractiveness; the user interface should appeal a positive mind-set of the end-users with sounds, visuals and language targeted at the end-user audience

US10 Controllability; the interface meets the “select-then-operate” principle to ensure the users plays an active role in using the system. This implies that the user first decides on what he/she wants to operate on (e.g. training, profile, …) before specific actions related to that object become available

Functional Requirements

The functional requirements expected by EASO for these services are described in the following sections and make use of the following classification terminology.

Requirement

Category Description

Knock Out A requirement that is vital importance for EASO and would make the solution not workable. Therefore, if the Tender does not meet this requirement it is immediately excluded from further evaluation during the award phase

Must have A requirement that needs to be fulfilled by the LMS. Deviation from this key requirement would significantly deteriorate the value of the proposed solution for EASO

Should have A requirement that should be fulfilled by the LMS. However, a workaround solution is acceptable


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Requirement


Could have A requirement that is considered interesting for the LMS and seen as a nice-to-have

The Tenderer should provide a grading (see table below) to indicate how the proposed solution conforms to the functional requirements set forth. Based on the grading (Standard, Bespoke Development, Not Supported) a grading multiplication will be applied on the points assigned to each category (except for knock-outs) resulting in a score for each requirement. These scores will be totalled and rebalanced to percentage totals for each group functional requirements that in turn will be weighted according to the relative importance of each group as defined in the qualitative award criteria in section 3.4.3.

Solution

Conformance Description

Standard The requirement is supported out-of-the-box, with standard plugins, or via standard configuration by the proposed solution

Bespoke Development

The requirement will be met with bespoke development

Not Supported The requirement cannot be met

The tables below provides an overview of the main functional requirements, the LMS must, should or could facilitate.

For any requirement categorised as "Knock-out", the Tenderer has to provide a “Standard” or “Bespoke Development" solution otherwise the technical proposal will be eliminated during the award procedure.

A requirement from the categories “Knock-out” and “Must have” that the Tenderer indicated to provide as “Bespoke Development”, shall be implemented before the Initial Training (see point 5 for the timeline).

A requirement from the categories “Should have” and “Could have” that the Tenderer indicated to provide as “Bespoke Development”, shall be implemented before the end of July 2016 (see point 5 for the timeline).

The cost of all “Bespoke Developments” shall be included in the price offer for the LMS environment (see 3.4.4.).

Authentication and Authorisation Management

ID Requirement Category

AA1 Ability to create and edit user profile

Edit personal information o Name o Location o Multiple e-mail addresses

Edit/recover password

Administrators can set permissions to edit/lock user information

Knock-out

AA2 Ability to define and add several custom fields in User Profile Must have

AA3 The LMS distinguishes between multiple roles:

Trainee

Knock-out


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Instructor

Author

Administrator

(Sessions and Users) Manager

AA4 Custom roles and permissions can be defined and modified by an administrator

e.g. demo access with read only access

e.g. Tutor (that can monitor trainees' progress in a training and give feedbacks)

Should have

AA5 Ability for administrator to limit the permissions of Sessions and Users Manager to a defined group of users/ trainings

Could have

AA6 Ability to perform an advanced search for users, based on all information fields of users’ profiles

Must have

AA7 Integration with external authentication services (e.g. LDAP, Active Directory etc.)

Must have

AA8 Ability to import batches of users and register them in the LMS environment automatically (e.g. csv/xml files import)

Knock out

AA9 Handle customizable prerequisites during registration:

Custom welcome screen

Mandatory acceptance of general conditions

E-mail address validation

Knock-out

Enrolment Management


EM1 Register users in different generic roles (Admin/Manager/Instructor/Trainee/Cumulative)

Knock-out

EM2 Register user with different roles (instructor/trainee) to trainings Knock-out

EM3 Customization of the e-mail templates for notifications Must have

EM4 Logging of e-mail notifications (access to emails sent by the LMS) Must have

EM5 Send pre-event reminder notifications Must have

EM6 Permit self-enrolment Could have

EM7 Permit batch enrolment in trainings by administrators (e.g. csv/xml files import)

Knock-out

EM8 Scheduling periods where trainees are enrolled in training Must have

EM9 Automated notifications via e-mail to instructors and trainees when registering for trainings

Must have

Learning Content Authoring Tooling


LC1 Ability to create a training module Knock-out

LC2 Edit and create various fields of module information (customized by LMS administrator):

Name and Identifier

Version

Language

Contact Person

Must have


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Custom additional fields

LC3 Learning content creation tools included/compatible with the LMS Must have

LC4 Upload and use interactive and multimedia web content created using third party applications (e.g. Microsoft PowerPoint, Adobe Dreamweaver, etc.)

Should have

LC5 Direct integration of various type of sources (PDFs, Videos, etc.) in learning objects ("Mashups")

Should have

LC6 The ability to import/export parts of a module across modules Must have

LC7 Define common parts for several modules that can be edited centrally (e.g. surveys, introductions)

Should have

LC8 Define and re-use Learning Objects Metadata (LOM) Could have

LC9 Import of Sharable Courseware Object Reference Model (SCORM) and/or Tin Can compliant content

Should have

LC10 Revision, tracking and version control at the level of modules Could have

LC11 The content authoring tools deliver content in mark-up and programming languages that can be used on a variety of browsers, operating systems and platforms specified under ‘Technology Compatibility, TP1’

Must have

Exams, Quizzes and Surveys


AM1 Create exams, quizzes and surveys Knock-out

AM2 Create questions pools usable in exams, quizzes and surveys Must have

AM3 Create questions supporting multiple response formats

Multiple choice

True/False

Single answer (single correct checkbox)

Combined answer (multiple correct checkboxes)

Open-ended questions

Knock-out

AM4 Set parameters for exams and quizzes:

Duration

Number of attempts allowed

Feedback strategies (no feedback given before publishing by the instructor, feedback given at the end of the exam showing the right answers, feedback after each question)

Passing scores (minimum thresholds to pass)

Must have

AM5 Support for the following types of questions:

Short Open-ended questions with automatic feedback

Matching lists

Must have

AM6 Support for customisable feedbacks to answers Must have

AM7 Support multiple alternative response formats

Prioritization questions, e.g. o Sliders o Ordering options o Distribute 100% across multiple options (percentage

scoring)

Should have

AM8 Support multiple alternative response formats, e.g.

Automated validation of open text responses using text analysis mechanisms

Could have


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Questions with graphical interfaces (drag and drop, zone selection, etc.)

AM9 Collect and analyse exam, quiz and survey results Must have

AM10 Customise scoring model for exams and exercises by adapting weightings and distribution of the scores for each question

Should have

AM11 Completed exams are automatically scored by the system (except for open questions), the scores and feedback given can be customized by the instructors

Knock-out

AM12 Integrated reporting on completed exams, quizzes, exercises and surveys

Must have

AM13 Trainees can compare their exam results to the correct answers Must have

AM14 Provide functionality for surveys (anonymous)

Author/instructor is able to create, publish and edit surveys

Author/instructor can consult and export results to Microsoft Excel, CSV, XML or similar formats

Author/instructor is able to define the target audience for the survey

Must have

Training Session Management


TM1 Edit and create various fields of training session information (customized by LMS administrator):

Session Identifier

Session type (among types defined by the administrator)

Category (among categories created by the administrator)

Instructors

Organising institution

Additional custom fields

Must have

TM2 The LMS automatically distributes notifications related to learning activities to different users:

instructors

trainees

authors

Must have

TM3 Ability to schedule of training sessions Must have

Scheduling


S1 Agendas for trainees, instructors and administrators, showing training events

Should have

S2 Ability to create an agenda appointment in the LMS Should have

S3 When planning a learning activity, there is the ability to check for conflicts in the agenda (in the LMS) of the trainee (e.g. double booking)

Should have

S4 Ability to export agenda events in common formats (PDF, DOC) including formats for re-importation of agenda events (e.g. ICS)

Must have


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Training Session Execution


TE1 Ability for trainees to use live chat during training Should have

TE2 Ability for trainees to use whiteboard functionalities during training Could have

TE3 Ability for trainees to use screen sharing functionality during the training

Could have

TE4 Support for audio or video conferencing during training Could have

TE5 Ability for trainees to see what they have already completed and resume their work when they re-enter a training

Knock out

TE6 Ability for trainees or instructors to search for a text (string) in trainings

Must have

TE7 Ability for trainees to take notes during trainings and the possibility to download them afterwards

Should have

Group, Communication and Collaboration Management


CC1 Search function querying every field of user's profiles Must have

CC2 User group management based on profile data Must have

CC3 Define scope and use of communication tools for specific user groups Should have

CC4 Provide functionality for Forums:

Author/instructor can start forum discussions

Instructor and Trainee can post messages in formatted text with a WYSIWYG editor

Author/instructor can apply different privileges for trainees to create or just reply to existing threads

Trainee can attach images, documents and define hyperlinks

Knock-out

CC5 Provide functionality for Wikis:

Author/instructor can set up a Wiki

Trainees can add or edit Wiki pages in formatted text

Author/instructor can apply different privileges for trainees to create or edit pages.

Trainees can attach images and define hyperlinks

The Wiki should provide versioning functionality

Should have

CC6 Provide functionality to set-up a Document Repository:

Author/instructor is able set up Document Repositories (with folder structure) for trainees to upload assignments and documents

Author/instructor is able to define viewing parameters (visible by all, only by original uploader) for documents in the repository

Instructor is able to download multiple documents at once

Knock-out

CC7 Provide functionality for automatic notifications (e.g. new Wiki post, newly uploaded document)

Author/instructor is able to enable e-mail for making notifications

Author/instructor is able to define the target audience of the notification

Must have

CC8 Users can send messages to other users (built-in mailing functionality) Should have

CC9 Automatic personalization of notifications/messages with: Could have


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Exam results

Profile data

Tracking data

CC10 Instructor can set announcements to Trainees

Author/instructor is able to define the target audience of the announcement

Must have

Tracking


T1 Instructor can check detailed progress and results of trainees Knock-out

T2 Instructor should be able to receive notifications of tracked learning activities (e.g. document uploaded by trainees, assignment completion, message posted in a forum, etc.)

Knock-out

T3 Track all e-learning activities (completion of exercises, assignments, messages posted in forums, time spent, etc.) by each user

Must have

T4 Track a variety of alternative learning activities:

formal classroom instruction

on-the-job training

Should have

T5 Automatic assignment and progress tracking of learning activities Must have

T6 Training completion and certification tracking Should have

T7 Administrator and instructors can manually edit tracking and completion data for a trainee

Should have

T8 Administrator can access tracking data on Instructors activities during training

Could have

T9 Maintain and report on the attendance of trainees Should have

Reporting and Analysis


RA1 Capability to export reporting and tracking data to Microsoft Excel, CSV, XML or other standard formats

Knock-out

RA2 Reporting capabilities that enable to produce both regular and ad hoc reports of high quality in terms of presentation and print

Must have

RA3 Selection of different reporting scope (all the assessments/one exam, one user/all users/selected users, etc.)

Must have

RA4 Ability to define key figures and characteristics to be used in reports and to apply aggregation functions to key figures

Must have

RA5 Drill-down functionality in interactive reports Must have

RA6 Reports include but are not limited to:

number of trainees per module/ per training/ per year/ per country/ per organising institution/per type of session/ per categories/ per language

number of training sessions per module/ per year/ per country/ per organising institution/ per language/

Job profile of trainees/instructors per training sessions

Must have

RA7 Reports include visual presentations (dashboards, charts, etc.) in the following formats:

Must have


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Pie charts

Bar charts

Line charts

Column charts with trend lines

RA8 Advanced analytics functionality Must have

Certification Management and Skills Development


TD1 Ability for Administrator to access, filter and sort all history data for all users (e.g. participation to trainings, role in trainings, other changes in profile data, etc.)

Must have

TD2 Ability for Administrator to create, edit and design certificates (e.g. attendance certificates, certificates of completion)

Must have

TD3 Administrator/Author defines conditions for obtaining a certificate (e.g. based on assessment tool)

Must have

TD4 Ability for Trainees to access a repository of obtained certificates Should have

TD5 Automatic authentication mechanism of certificates (e.g. using QR code on the certificate & web-link for its verification)

Should have

TD6 Ability to create individual learning programme with completion due dates

Should have

TD7 Ability to define skills and relate them to learning activities Should have

TD8 Ability to conduct skills gap analysis (comparison of difference between current skills and skills required for a training)

Could have

Non-Functional Requirements

The non-functional requirements expected by EASO for these services are described in the following sections and make use of the following classification terminology.

Requirement


Knock Out A requirement that is vital importance for EASO and would make the solution not workable. Therefore, if the Tender does not meet this requirement it is immediately excluded from further evaluation during the award phase

Must have A requirement that needs to be fulfilled by the LMS. Deviation from this key requirement would significantly deteriorate the value of the proposed solution for EASO

Should have A requirement that should be fulfilled by the LMS. However, a workaround solution is acceptable

Could have A requirement that is considered interesting for the LMS and seen as a nice-to-have

The Tenderer should provide a grading to indicate how the proposed solution conforms to the non-functional requirements set forth. Based on the grading (Standard, Bespoke Development, Not Supported) a grading multiplication will be applied on the points assigned to each category (except for knock-outs) resulting in a score for each requirement. These scores will be totalled and rebalanced to


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percentage totals for each group non-functional requirements that in turn will be weighted according to the relative importance of each group as defined in the qualitative award criteria in section 3.4.3.

Solution

Conformance Description

Standard The requirement is supported out-of-the-box, with standard plugins, or via standard configuration by the proposed solution

Bespoke Development

The requirement will be met with bespoke development

Not Supported The requirement cannot be met

The tables below provides an overview of the main non-functional requirements, the LMS must, should or could facilitate.

For any requirement categorised as "Knock-out", the Tenderer has to provide a “Standard” or “Bespoke Development" solution otherwise the technical proposal will be eliminated during the award procedure.

A requirement from the categories “Knock-out” and “Must have” that the Tenderer indicated to provide as “Bespoke Development”, shall be implemented before the Initial Training (see point 5 for the timeline).

A requirement from the categories “Should have” and “Could have” that the Tenderer indicated to provide as “Bespoke Development”, shall be implemented before the end of July 2016 (see point 5 for the timeline).

The cost of all “Bespoke Developments” shall be included in the price offer for the LMS environment (see 3.4.4.).

Compliance & Legal


CL1 All solutions must be compliant with EU General Data Protection Regulation (Directive 95/46/EC) and shall not be hosted in countries outside of the EU28+

Knock-Out

CL2 The Contractor clearly defines LMS solution entitlements and a description of these entitlements. If product names or features are changed, EASO is still entitled to that product or feature as per their original contract terms and conditions

Knock Out

CL3 The Contractor clearly describes in the contract what support entitlements are included (response time, number of permitted contacts, time to repair etc.). The Contractor commits to these for the duration of contract (and also commit to the agreed service levels)

Knock Out

CL4 Users can access the LMS environment from various clients under the same user license (active user licensing)

Knock Out

CL5 Documented procedures for cooperating with local government and law enforcement agencies that might demand from the Contractor, access to the SaaS system

Must have

CL6 Accept contractual language that prohibits the exposure of EASO’s data or system for any reason without its prior approval

Must have

CL7 All content produced in the LMS is owned (copyrighted) by EASO Knock out

CL8 Commit to provide all termination assistance to facilitate an orderly migration of the service off its platform and disclose all the information needed for the client to perform such migration to another provider or back in house (for example provide list of customizations, platform code

Must have


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to assess its portability, data format etc.)

CL9 Upon termination (whatever the cause), the Contractor commits to maintain the EASO’s LMS availability for an agreed period of time (60 days at a minimum, ideally 90 days) to ensure that EASO has enough time to migrate its data off the LMS solution as well as test data integrity once the migration (either back in house or to another solution) is completed

Must have

CL10 In case of a merger/acquisition that can no longer maintain compliance with the CL1 EU only hosting requirement, EASO requires the ability to move the system to a different SaaS company or in-house

Must have

Maintainability & Accessibility


MA1 New versions of the LMS environment should be backward compatible to support custom developments, if any, built for EASO

Must have

MA2 EASO requires the ability to download a full copy of the data in the LMS environment on request

Knock out

MA3 Future development of the LMS by the Contractor should be incorporated in EASO LMS solution upon EASO authorization

Must have

Interface Design and Internationalization


IF1 The LMS environment supports the 24 official EU languages. plus select other languages (e.g. Russian, Turkish) including right-to-left languages (e.g. Arabic)

Must have

IF2 Users should have the possibility to set interface language to at least all 24 official EU languages

Must have

IF3 The LMS environment supports working in different time zones Should have

IF4 Support of universal character sets, such as UTF-8 and/or Unicode, to support:

Input in various languages, spellings and keyboards

Output on varying screen and paper sizes

Knock-out

IF5 Accessibility to support people with disabilities Must have

IF6 The interface in compliance with WAI- WCAG 2.0 Could have

Scalability


SC1 The LMS continues to perform as agreed on the SLA as the number of active users and load conditions increase over time.

Must have


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Low Scenario

Expected Scenario

High Scenario

Concurrent users5

200 300 500

Active users (on 1 month)

750 1500 6000

Registered users 6000 10000 15000

SC2 The Contractor acknowledges and agrees that application computational resources (e.g. disk space, network throughput, CPU cycles), should be scaled to meet the expected performance on a given moment of the LMS lifecycle.

Must have

Technology Compatibility


TP1 The LMS environment provides a browser interface that is compatible with the latest two major versions of:

Microsoft Internet Explorer

Apple Safari

Google Chrome

Mozilla Firefox

Knock-out

TP2 The browser user interface of the LMS environment should work fluently from desktop, tablet and smartphone environments

Must have

TP3 No plugins are required to support for LMS interface and functionalities Must have

TP4 There is a native iOS, Android and Windows app to access the LMS environment

Could have

Documentation


DO1 User manual and reference guide (in electronic format) are provided targeting various user groups, and covering all functionalities of the LMS:

End-users (Trainee/Instructors/Authors/Managers)

Administrators

Knock-out

DO2 System security plans for the LMS environment are provided Should have

DO3 Update notes and new releases notes are provided Must have

5 The notion is understood here as the maximum amount of people logged in at the same time, knowing that they

are automatically logged out after one hour of inactivity


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DO4 Business continuity plan and procedures are provided Should have

DO5 Product roadmap for the LMS technology Should have

DO6 Documented incident response procedures Should have

DO7 Document escalation and resolution process Should have

Security


SE1 Role based access control for Contractor employee access, including audit trail and role compliance visible to EASO

Must have

SE2 Administrative access and actions audit logs referring to manipulation of content, data and user information

Must have

SE3 APIs/open interfaces are secured and encrypted Must have

SE4 Multi-tenant controls for separation of users/data within the service (the logical locks to keep tenant data and access separated while utilizing the same resources - e.g. hardware, storage and authentication)

Must have

SE5 Data encrypted in transit Should have

SE6 Encrypt tenant data at rest (on disk/storage) Should have

SE7 Documented intrusion prevention and detection capabilities Should have

SE8 ISO 2700x compliance Should have

Service Requirements

Service requirement deals with the user support, documentation, administration and operational management of the Learning Management System.

It includes the following activities:

Second line support assistance

User help and coaching concerning the use of LMS environment

Keep user documentation up-to-date

Organisation of an LMS help-desk for EASO administrators

Management of support activities

Reporting of support activities

Conception of user documentation

Service organization

Operational management of the LMS environment in production

Management and coordination of the LMS environment deployments

Coordination of communication with EASO in case of changes or maintenance needs on the LMS environment.


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Installation and maintenance of LMS environment

Installation, maintenance and configuration of application of all components needed for the LMS environment (e.g. databases, web server, user directories, etc.)

EASO expects the Contractor to guarantee the above activities via a support service as part of the proposed solution and included in the fixed price agreed for the LMS environment usage. The proposed Service Level Agreement should minimally meet the following requirements to achieve a satisfactory score. Additional service guarantees included in the proposal may result in a higher score on this area depending on the difference with the requested minimal service requirements.

First level end user support will be organized by EASO internal staff.


SL1 The LMS service availability is above 99% on a 24/7 basis (planned and unplanned)

Knock-Out

SL2 It is required that full availability is re-established within 24 hours after a disaster (RTO)

Knock-Out

SL3 Application backups should be available to EASO and should be performed both at application and database level on a daily basis to ensure no more than 24 hours of data is lost (RPO)

Knock-Out

SL4 For second-level application and technical support, the Contractor provides a mail or ticketing system with a single point of contact that covers:

Incident, Problem and Service Request Management

Managed Application Support and Operations Service

Knock-Out

SL5 Operating Hours is the minimal period where the Contractor is required to provide the second-level application and technical support, regardless of holidays or time zone differences.

Business Days are defined as Monday to Friday, excluding Statutory and other EASO holidays in Valletta, Malta. Statutory or other holidays in Contractor locations have no bearing on this definition.

Operating Hours Definition of Standard Operating Hours

Business hours 8 hours in duration, 0900–1700 CET, Monday-Friday

Knock-Out

Acceptance environment requirement

Access to a User Acceptance Testing (UAT) environment to assess and accept proposed or contracted changes in the LMS.

EASO expects the Contractor to provide user credentials and administrative access to an Acceptance environment that reflects the reality and requirements of the Production environment, in order to assess any changes that might be introduced in the live system.

The Acceptance environment should also accommodate for any use case or functional requirement change that EASO might introduce in the Acceptance environment. The Contractor should have the possibility, upon request from EASO or prior to any significant change (e.g. a new software release), of rolling back any changes introduced by EASO, so that the Acceptance environment reflects the current Production.


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Requirements for Content Authoring 1.2.2.

EASO seeks web-design and LMS services to build the online part of its training modules. The training scenario and text material is created and designed by EASO mainly in Word documents. The Contractor, through specific contracts on the basis of quoted time and means, will be required to fulfil three main kinds of services:

1. Building a new training module (in English): the complete training module will be provided by EASO in a word document, and the service provider will be building this material online. Time frame: (including the production of manuscript files): maximum of 15 workings days.

2. Building a translated training module on the basis of a module existing in English: the translated training module will be provided by EASO in a word document, and the service provider will be building this material online. Time frame: maximum of 10 working days.

3. Updating an existing training module in English or in another language. The updated training module will be provided by EASO in a word document, and the service provider will be updating the current material online. Time frame: between 5 and 15 working days.

4. Testing the new or updated module: Any changes to the current content or any introduction of new content should have the possibility to be assessed and accepted by EASO in the Production environment.

The contractor may be required to work on multiple services as described above at the same time. EASO keeps the right to develop online content and online modules on the LMS-environment by themselves or with the involvement of a third party.

The three main services above involve at least the following tasks:

Produce illustrations, graphical contents or provide generic images as required by EASO. The copyright of specifically produced content will be owned by EASO. The existing illustrations provided towards EASO by the Contractor must be free of rights;

Produce rich web content as required by EASO with interactions in JavaScript, compatible with main Internet Browsers (Internet Explorer, Firefox, Chrome, Safari) without the required use of plugins;

Integrate web content in a LMS module by adding LMS' tools-related content (e.g. forums and quizzes) as required by EASO;

Additional web-design and publishing services around the creation of online modules and related documentation.

On the basis of a manuscript, learning scenario and specific materials provided by EASO experts the Contractor is expected to develop the modules using the Content Authoring Tool or supplementary tools compatible with the LMS under license of the Contractor. A Specific contract/an order form with Specific Terms of Reference (SToR) will be concluded for each module or series of modules to be developed.

Below is a detailed description of responsibilities and requirement for each required profile (Project Manager, Web Designer/Developer, Illustrator) and an indicative link with the detailed services as described above.


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Role: Project Manager for Content Authoring

Responsibilities of the Project Manager

Responsible for the day-to- day management of the project and with the necessary authority to effectively resolve any problems which may arise in the performance of the contract.

Responsible for all the services provided as well as for all the contractual communication and matters such as order forms/specific contracts.

Responsible for the project plan that outlines how and when project’s objectives are to be achieved, including activities, resources, timelines, contingencies, chronological charts, project management roles and responsibilities.

Minimum requirements for the Project Manager

A minimum of 4 years of experience in project management.

A minimum of 3 years of experience in managing projects of creating web sites.

Very good knowledge of spoken and written English (at least C1 level6).

Role: Web Designer/Developer

Responsibilities of the Web Designer/Developer

Provides the specific services described in section 1.2.2 of above.

Works in collaboration with the Illustrator(s) and the other web designer(s)/developer(s).

Provides specific services as requested.

Minimum requirements for the Web Designer/Developer

A minimum of 3 years of experience in web development and web graphical design.

A minimum 2 years of experience in rich content web-oriented technologies.

Proficient minimum 1 year of experience in using desktop publishing and graphic editor software.

Good knowledge of spoken and written English (at least B27 level).

6 For an explanation of the levels please see the Europass model CV at this link:

http://europass.cedefop.europa.eu/en/documents/curriculum-vitae/templates-instructions 7 For an explanation of the levels please see the Europass model CV at this link:

http://europass.cedefop.europa.eu/en/documents/curriculum-vitae/templates-instructions




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Role: Illustrator

The illustrator is mainly in charge of finding or creating images and of designing specific documents (Microsoft Word or PowerPoint Files)

Responsibilities of the Illustrator

Works in collaboration with Web Designers/developers

Provides the specific services described in section 1.2.2 of above

Provides specific services if requested Minimum requirements for Illustrator

A minimum of 3 years of experience in the field of creating Illustrative elements including 2 years of experience

Experience with desktop publishing and graphic editor software

Good knowledge of spoken and written English (at least B2 level)

Requirements of the initial setup 1.2.3.

The scope of the services includes the deployment of the new LMS environment and the setup of maintenance and support structures.

It includes the following activities:

Kick-off meeting

The kick-off will involve at least the following activities:

The Contractor shall attend a 2 days kick-off meeting in EASO premises.

The Contractor will provide the LMS set up for EASO

The Contractor will provide the LMS (as it is set up for EASO) documentation for administrator and various roles of users.

The Contractor will suggest how existing modules on Dokeos platforms could be adapted to the new LMS with similar functionalities to reach an agreement with EASO on the migration strategies.

The Contractor will discuss with EASO “Bespoke Development” on EASO requirements, additional adaptations or improvements related to the tools provided by the new LMS.

Communication tools and strategies will be set up between the Contractor and EASO to support the requirements stated in SL4 and SL5

EASO will provide the necessary technical equipment for the meeting.

Initial Setup Technical Deployment

The initial setup will involve at least the following activities carried out by the Contractor:

Management and coordination of LMS deployment

Configuration of the URL according to EASO’s requirements with proper SSL certificate


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Configuration of application graphical layouts and contents to meet EASO style

Installation and configuration of application modules

Installation and configuration of reports

Installation and administration of web sites or portals

Requirements for the Learning Content Migration 1.2.4.

This includes at least the following activities carried out by the Contractor:

Describe and agree with EASO on necessary modifications to adapt existing modules to the new system.

Migrate the existing modules from EASO LMS (Dokeos 1.8 and Dokeos 2.0) to the new system (maximum 100 training modules are to be transferred).

o Phase 1: Migrate at least 15 modules in English until beginning of April 2016 for EASO to organize a test session.

o Phase 2a: Tune modifications according to the results of the test phase provided by EASO before the end of May 2016

o Phase 2b: Complete the content migration of 40 additional modules by the end of August 2016.

o Phase 3: Complete the content migration of the remaining modules (maximum 45) by the end of December 2016.

EASO will provide full access to the content of the modules and related Dokeos databases content.

For more information about modules to be transferred, see Annex 3.

Requirements for Initial Training 1.2.5.

At the end of the migration of the first modules that may be used in test phase (See indicative timeline in the point 5), EASO requires its administrators and/or other persons identified by EASO to be trained in the system’s configuration and functionalities. Training will be conducted for a group of maximum 10 selected persons to work with the new system.

The Contractor needs to provide fixed pricing per day (8 hours) for on-site training. Expenses related to travel, subsistence and other related expenses shall not be reimbursed separately and need to be considered in the fixed price.

The Contractor should take the following conditions into account when preparing the price offer (please see the section 3.4.4):

Evaluation of training requirements taking into account EASO’ requirements identified in the kick-off meeting.

Design of the training programme

Preparation of training material

Provision of the training

EASO will provide the necessary technical equipment for the initial training.


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Requirements for Consultancy 1.2.6.

The service is executed by the Contractor’s staff, at EASO’s premises and/or at the Contractor’s premises, on the basis of Quoted Time and Means orders concerning the Learning Management System.

These ad hoc consultancy services covers the provision of services for EASO in the area of Business Analysis, Requirements Analysis, Development, Testing, Quality or other Specific Studies in relation to current or planned Learning Management initiatives with an impact on IT activities.

Below is a detailed description of responsibilities and requirement for each required profile (Project Manager, Business Analyst, Developer and Tester) and an indicative link with the detailed services as described below.

Role: Project Manager for Consultancy Services

Responsibilities of the Project Manager

Tasks to be performed by this profile:

Responsible for the day-to- day management of the project and with the necessary authority to effectively resolve any problems which may arise in the performance of the contract.

Responsible for all the services provided as well as for all the contractual communication and matters such as order forms/specific contracts.

Responsible for the project plan that outlines how and when project’s objectives are to be achieved, including activities, resources, timelines, contingencies, chronological charts, project management roles and responsibilities.

Manage the development and implementation of information systems to meet identified business needs, acquiring and utilizing the necessary resources and skills, within agreed parameters of cost, timescales, and quality;

Give proposals for project strategies, planning, definition of tasks and deliverables, review of project deliverables, quality control, risk analysis and management, status reports, problem reporting and management systems follow up and organization;

Guide the team in charge of project activities and review their deliverables;

Participate in functional working groups and progress meetings;

Estimate costs, timescales and resource requirements for the successful completion of each project to agreed terms of reference;

Prepare and maintain project and quality plans and tracks activities against the plan, provide regular and accurate reports;

Monitor costs, timescales and resources used, and take action where these deviate from agreed tolerances. Ensure that delivered systems are implemented within these criteria;

Manage the change control procedure gaining agreement for revisions to the project from project sponsors;

Provide effective leadership for the project team ensuring that


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team members are motivated and constantly developing their skills and experience.

The Project Manager requires having the skills:

Project Management;

Usage of project management tools or willingness to use the project management tool as specified by EASO;

Proof of good technical knowledge on the projects aspects;

Experience in drafting reports;

Experience in delivering presentations;

Good communication skills;

experience in performing tasks in an international/multicultural environment, experience in team working, understanding the needs, objectives and constraints of those in other disciplines and functions;

Minimum requirements for the Project Manager

University degree with minimum 3 years of experience in IS development with minimum 2 years of experience in Project Management of Information System Development. The PM should have minimum 1 year of experience in a project management tool.

Very good knowledge of spoken and written English (at least C1 level8).

Role: Business Analyst

Responsibilities of the Business Analyst


Analysis of user requirements and design of new information systems;

Production of use case models, software architecture documents, design and analysis models, implementation models.

Data analysis, data modelling;

Follow up of the developments;

Technical Interface between the project leader and the





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developers;

Participation in technical working groups, progress meetings and meetings with the users;

Assistance in testing, the technical documentation, the technical training, the deployment, the evaluation and the reporting.

Provides specific services as requested.

Minimum requirements for the Business Analyst

University degree with minimum 3 years of experience in IS analysis and development, including experience with UML or case tools and experience with relational databases.

The BA requires having the following knowledge and skills:

Proof of experience in performing tasks in an international/multicultural environment;

In-depth knowledge of development methodologies (e.g., RUP) and modelling (e.g., UML).

Good knowledge of spoken and written English (at least C1 9 level).

Role: Developer

Responsibilities of the Developer


Programming/maintenance of applications;

Installation and configuration of applications;

Migration and updates of applications;

Creation/maintenance of databases.

Minimum requirements for Developer

University degree with minimum 3 years of experience in IS development or non-university degree with minimum 6 years of experience in IS development. The Developer should have at least 3 years of programming experience and experience with relational databases.

This profile requires having the following knowledge and skills:

Proof of experience in development in LMS environment provided; Proof of experience in performing tasks in an

international/multicultural environment; Good knowledge of spoken and written English (at least B2 level )





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Role: Quality and Test Expert

Responsibilities of the Quality and Test Expert


Definition of test plans and test cases;

Construction of test scenarios and scripts;

Test coordination and execution;

Testing of applications;

Reporting of test results. Minimum requirements for Quality and Test Expert

University degree with minimum 3 years of experience in IS testing and quality assurance or non-university degree with minimum 6 years of experience in IS testing and quality assurance.

The Tester requires having following knowledge and skills:

Proof of experience in performing tasks in an international/multicultural environment;

Proven knowledge of testing technologies and tools;

Good knowledge of spoken and written English (at least B2 level )

The provisioning of the consultancy services includes, but is not limited to the following activities:

Business Analysis

Business analysts will be responsible for assisting business users and IT with the following tasks:

High-level analysis

Requirement gathering

Development of business cases

Transfer of best practice to EASO

Detailed analysis and documentation of target processes and system functions

Provide input to the selection of solutions to the business case

Provide input to translation of the requirements to the development and coding of the business case solution

Requirement analysis

Analysis of business and functional requirements

Design of information systems

Data flow analysis

Maintenance, support and development services

Functional and technical analysis

Minor software developments


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Application testing and documentation

Coordination of the resolution of issues with the IT team

Quality and Testing

Testing consultants should assist the maintenance and projects teams in testing activities. This could take place following the testing methodology of the Contractor. The Contractor will be responsible for some or all of the following activities:

Design and documentation of test cases, test scenarios, test scripts

Cross-reference of test scripts with business requirements

Definition of test plans

Testing coordination

Assistance with the execution of tests

Follow-up of test plans

Documentation of test results

Quality plans

Functional and quality tests

Quality assessments

Elaboration and implementation of Service level agreements


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2. THE CONTRACT

EASO envisages awarding a framework service contract for the provisioning of a Learning Management System environment and delivery of related services.

The Framework Contract involves no direct commitment and, in particular, does not constitute orders per se. Instead, it lays down the legal, financial, technical and administrative provisions governing the relationship between EASO and the Service Provider during their period of validity. Actual orders will be placed after the Framework Contract is signed and in force, through “order forms” and/or “specific contracts” concluded in performance of the Framework Contract. The draft Framework Contract specifies the basic conditions applicable to any assignment placed under its terms. Signature of the Framework Contract does not place EASO under any obligation to place an assignment. The Framework Contract does not preclude EASO from assigning tasks in the areas set out above to other Service Providers or from having these tasks carried out by EASO staff.

All content related to modules developed as part of this Framework Contract is owned (copyrighted) by EASO.

EASO reserves the right to audit the Contractor and request access to Third Party audit reports.

In case the Contractor owns the source code of the LMS provided a specific ESCROW agreement has to be established to ensure transfer of source code if the Contractor can or will no longer provide the services set forth in the Framework Contract or can no longer maintain compliance with the EU only hosting requirement.

The Framework Contract does not preclude the Contracting Authority from assigning tasks in the areas set out above to other Contractors.

2.1. STARTING DATE OF THE CONTRACT AND DURATION OF THE TASKS

The contract shall enter into force on the date on which it is signed by the last contracting party, EASO.

The contract is expected to be signed in Q4 2015. Following orders can be placed after the Framework Contract is signed, through “order forms” and/or “specific contracts”. Thus the execution of the tasks may not start before the framework contract is signed and the order form and/or specific contract have been signed by both parties.

The duration of the tasks shall be 48 months.

2.2. PLACE OF PERFORMANCE

The place of performance of the tasks shall be mostly on the tenderer’s premises and occasionally on the EASO premises, or possibly other place indicated in the specific request.

2.3. IMPLEMENTATION OF THE CONTRACT

Each service will be the subject of a Specific Terms of Reference (SToR) followed by an order form (OF)/Specific Contract (SC). Specific deliverables and, as the case may be, means of tracking performance and quality will be defined in the Specific Terms of Reference or the Specific Contract/Order form concluded with the Contractor for that assignment.

2.4. ESTIMATE OF THE MAXIMUM THRESHOLD

The total maximum threshold of the framework contract is estimated EUR 1.600.000,- for a maximum period of 4 (four) years.


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These figures are indicative and represent the maximum possible expenditure. EASO reserves the right to increase the estimated value of the framework contract, in accordance with Article 85 of the EASO Financial Regulation and Article 134(1)(f) of the RAP10, by using a negotiated procedure without prior publication of a contract notice with the successful tenderer for new services or works consisting in the repetition of similar services or works entrusted to the economic operator awarded the initial contract by EASO.

2.5. TERMS OF PAYMENT

Payments shall be made in accordance with Articles I.4 & II.15 of the framework service contract (Annex 2) and respective specific contracts/order forms.

The payment scheme is foreseen to be different for the different services in scope of the Framework Contract. Indicatively:

1. LMS environment: quarterly (every 3 months) payment after delivery of the service 2. Content authoring: payments defined by specific contracts when the requested services

delivered 3. Initial Training: Single payment after successful delivery of the service. 4. Learning Content migration: 1st interim payment of 25 % on completion of Phase 1, 2nd

interim payment of 50 % on completion of Phase 2, last payment of 25% at the full completion of Phase 3 (See point 1.2.4).

5. Initial setup: 1 interim payment of 50 % based on a realized progress of 50% in the migration activities. Final payment after delivery of the service.

6. Consultancy: Single payment after successful delivery of the service.

Further details of the payment scheme will be defined in the Request for services and the Specific Contract/Order form concluded with the Contractor for that specific assignment.

2.6. LIABILITY

Joint Offers

Partners in a joint offer assume joint and several liability towards EASO for the performance of the contract as a whole.

Statements saying, for instance:

that one of the partners of the joint offer will be responsible for part of the contract and another one for the rest, or

that more than one contract shall be signed if the joint offer is successful

are thus incompatible with the principle of joint and several liability. EASO will disregard any such statement contained in a joint offer, and reserves the right to reject such offers without further evaluation on the grounds that they do not comply with the terms of reference.

10

COMMISSION DELEGATED REGULATION (EU) No 1268/2012 of 29 October 2012 on the rules of application of Regulation

(EU, Euratom) No 966/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council on the financial rules applicable to the general budget of the Union.


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Subcontracting

Certain tasks provided for in the contract may be entrusted to subcontractors, but the Contractor retains full liability towards EASO for performance of the contract as a whole. Accordingly:

EASO will treat all contractual matters (e.g. payment) exclusively with the Contractor, whether or not the tasks are performed by a subcontractor;

under no circumstances can the Contractor avoid liability towards EASO on the grounds that the subcontractor is at fault.

During execution of the framework contract, the Contractor will need EASO’s express authorisation to replace a subcontractor with another and/or to subcontract tasks for which subcontracting was not envisaged in the original offer.

Tenderers must inform the subcontractor(s) and include in their sub-contracting documents that Article II.18 of the contract may be applied to subcontractors.

Once the contract has been signed, Article II.7 of the above-mentioned contract shall govern the subcontracting.

2.7. DATA PROTECTION

Any response to the invitation to tender will require the recording and further processing of personal data (name, address, CV, for example). This data will be processed in accordance with the requirements of Regulation (EC) 45/2001 and its successors on the protection of individuals with regard to the processing of personal data by Community institutions and bodies and on the free movement of such data. Except if mentioned otherwise, replies to questions and personal data are necessary for the purpose of assessing a tender according to the terms of reference of the invitation to tender and will only be processed by EASO’s Data Controller for this purpose. A tenderer may, upon request, obtain the communication of personal data and rectify any inaccurate or incomplete personal data. Any queries concerning the processing of personal data shall be addressed to by EASO’s Data Controller. As regards to the processing of personal data, a tenderer has the right to recourse at any time to the European Data Protection Supervisor.


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3. THE TENDER

3.1. PARTICIPATION IN TENDERING PROCEDURE AND SUBMISSION OF THE TENDER

Participation in Tendering procedures is open on equal terms to all natural and legal persons from any one of the EU Member States. Being launched by an EU Agency, this procurement procedure is not opened to the countries parties to the Government Procurement Agreement - GPA.

Tenders must be submitted in accordance with the specific requirements of the Invitation to Tender and, without fail, within the deadline laid down therein.

Late submission will lead to the exclusion of the tender from the procedure. Offers sent by e-mail or by fax will also be non-admissible. Tenderers must ensure that their bids are packed in such a way as to prevent any accidental opening during mailing.

The tender must remain valid for a period of 9 months following the closing date for submission of the tenders.

This invitation to tender is intended to be competitive. Any attempt by a tenderer to obtain confidential information, enter into unlawful agreements, collude or make arrangements with competitors, canvass or solicit EASO staff or influence the evaluation committee or its individual members in any way during the tendering process will render his/her tender invalid.

Submission of a tender implies acceptance of all the terms and conditions set out in this ToR, including Standard Submission Forms and annexes, and waives all other terms of business.

Submission of a tender binds the Tenderer to whom the contract is awarded during the performance of the contract. Once EASO has accepted the tender, it shall become the property of EASO and shall be treated confidentially.

EASO shall not reimburse expenses incurred in preparing and submitting tenders. No compensation may be claimed by tenderers whose tender has not been accepted, including when EASO decides not to award the contract.

The Protocol on the Privileges and Immunities of the European Union shall apply to this invitation to tender.

3.2. OPENING OF THE TENDERS

Tenders are opened by a committee appointed by EASO Authorizing Officer under guarantee of impartiality and confidentiality.

The main aim of the opening session is to check whether received offers are compliant with the following formal requirements:

not submitted later than the submission deadline;

the envelope containing the offer is sealed;

the offer is signed;

the offer contains technical and financial proposal;

the offer is submitted in number of copies required

Tenders will be opened at 14:00 on 05/10/2015 at the following location:

European Asylum Support Office (EASO) MTC Block A, Winemakers Wharf, Grand Harbour Valletta, MRS 1917, Malta


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One authorised representative of each tenderer may attend the opening of the bids as observer. Companies wishing to attend are requested to notify their intention at least 2 working days in advance by a letter of notification to the following e-mail address: [email protected]

3.3. CONTACT BETWEEN THE TENDERER AND EASO

In principle, no contact is permitted between EASO and the tenderers during the contract award procedure. However, contacts may exceptionally be permitted – these cases are specified in the Invitation to tender.

Such requests for further information may be made only in writing with the subject indication, « EASO/2015/322» to the following e-mail address: [email protected]

Provided it has been requested in good time, such additional information will be made accessible simultaneously to all tenderers on the website http://easo.europa.eu.

EASO is not bound to reply to requests for additional information made less than five working days before the deadline for receipt of tenders.

EASO will inform interested parties of the existence of an error, a lack of precision, an omission or any other type of defect in the documents relating to the invitation to tender by supplying information on the website.

During assessment procedure, EASO may require clarification in connection with a tender, or if obvious clerical errors in the tender must be corrected. In any event, such contact must not lead to any amendment of the terms of the tender.

All tenderers are kindly requested to visit the above-mentioned website frequently prior to submitting bids.

3.4. PREPARATION OF THE TENDER

General (see also Invitation to tender) 3.4.1.

Tenders must be clear and concise, with continuous page numbering, and assembled in a coherent fashion (e.g. bound or stapled, etc.); written in one of the official languages of the European Union (preferably English); include all the information and documents requested by EASO in order to assess the tender; signed by an authorised agent (preferably in blue ink). Please see the standard submission forms (SSF) in Annex 1.

All tenders must contain all the information and all the supporting documents required by these terms of reference. In the absence of the required information or documents, EASO may disqualify the bid. EASO reserves the right, however, to request additional evidence in relation to the bid submitted for evaluation or verification purposes within a time-limit stipulated in its request.

Section One: Administrative proposal 3.4.2.

Eligibility documentation

Any tenderer is asked to prove that he is authorised to perform the contract under the national law as evidenced by inclusion in a trade or professional register, or a sworn declaration or certificate, membership of a specific organisation, express authorisation or entry in the VAT register.

To identify himself the tenderer must fill in the following documents in Standard Submission Form (SSF):

Identification Form (SSF 1);

http://easo.europa.eu/


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Legal Entity Form11 is to be signed by a representative of the tenderer authorised to sign contracts with third parties;

Financial identification12 form shall be duly filled in and signed by an authorised representative of the tenderer and his/her banker.

The above forms must be accompanied by the evidence as indicated at the bottom of each form (for private entities: proof of registration, VAT registration, etc.; for individuals: copy of passport, proof of registration/VAT if applicable; for public entities: official document on establishment, etc.).

If the tenderer is not required or permitted to enrol in such a register for reasons of his statute or legal status, an explanation should be provided. Any change in the status, for example its acquisition by or merger with another company must be immediately notified to EASO in writing. If the conditions for performance of the contract are no longer guaranteed as a result of these changes, EASO reserves the right to terminate the contract.

Both joint offers and subcontracting are allowed in response to this call for tenders. Offers may even combine both approaches. In any case, the tender documents must specify very clearly by means of the appropriate forms, detailed in SSF 2 to 5, whether each company involved in the tender is acting as a partner in a joint offer or as a subcontractor (this also applies where the various companies involved belong to the same group, or even where one is the parent company of the others).

Joint Offers

In case of a joint offer, only the coordinator must return the financial identification form.

In case of a tenderer submitting a joint offer who has already set up a consortium or similar entity for conducting the project in case a contract will be awarded, the tenderer should mention this fact in the tender, together with any other relevant information in this connection.

In case of tenderers submitting a joint offer who have not yet set up a consortium or similar entity, the tenderers should be aware that, in case the tenderers are awarded the contract, EASO may require the tenderer to give a formal status to this collaboration before the contract is signed. This can take the form of:

an entity with legal personality recognized by a Member State; or

an entity without legal personality but offering sufficient protection of EASO’s contractual interests (depending on the Member State concerned, this may be, for example, a consortium or a temporary association).

In case of tenderers submitting a joint offer, the tenderers are asked to fill in and duly sign one of the attached Powers of Attorney (SSF 2, 3), depending on the set up that has been chosen by the tenderers.

Subcontracting

If the tenderer envisages subcontracting, the tender must include:

a document (SSF 4) clearly stating the roles, activities and responsibilities of the proposed subcontractor(s), and the reasons why subcontracting is envisaged;

11

This form is available at: http://ec.europa.eu/budget/contracts_grants/info_contracts/legal_entities/legal_entities_en.cfm 12

The form is available at: http://ec.europa.eu/budget/contracts_grants/info_contracts/financial_id/financial_id_en.cfm.

http://ec.europa.eu/budget/contracts_grants/info_contracts/legal_entities/legal_entities_en.cfm

http://ec.europa.eu/budget/contracts_grants/info_contracts/financial_id/financial_id_en.cfm


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a letter of intent (SSF 5) by each proposed subcontractor stating its intention to collaborate with the tender if the tenderer wins the contract and their willingness to accept the tasks and the terms and conditions set out above, in particular article II.18 of the draft service contract.

Subcontractors are only obliged to provide the legal entity form without the evidence, and are not required to present the financial identification form.

Exclusion criteria documentation

Tenderers or their representatives shall provide a Declaration on their honour (SSF 8), duly signed and dated in which they:

state whether or not they are in one or more of the situations referred to in Articles 106 and 107 of the Financial Regulation and detailed in the form;

Where the bid constitutes a joint offer or sub-contracting is envisaged, each entity must provide the form. The same applies regarding the requirement to present evidence of compliance with the exclusion criteria.

By returning the above-mentioned form, duly signed, tenderers confirm their awareness of all requirements of the Declaration on their honour (SSF 8).

Selection criteria documentation

General

This part of the tender concerns the criteria and evidence relating to the technical and professional capacity and economic and financial capacity of the tenderer(s) involved in the bid, it should also contain any other document that the tenderer(s) wish(es) to include by way of clarification.

An economic operator may rely on the capacities of other entities, regardless of the legal nature of the links which it has with them. In that case, evidence must be provided that it will have at its disposal the resources necessary for performance of the contract, for example by producing a clear undertaking on the part of those entities to place those resources at its disposal.

In case of joint offer or sub-contracting, the tenderer(s) must stipulate the role, qualifications and experience of each service provider and, where relevant, the monitoring arrangements that exist between them.

Evidence of the economic and financial capacity of the tenderer(s)

This proof is to be provided by submitting the completed Financial and Economic Capacity Overview (SSF 11), as well as a copy of the tenderer’s annual accounts (balance sheet, profit and loss account,) of the last three years, signed by the accountants.

Evidence for selection criterion:

1. Average annual turnover exceeding EUR 1.000.000 for the past three years (2012, 2013 and 2014 or 2011 – 12, 2012 – 13, and 2013 – 14).

2. A statement that no single client represents more than 30% of annual turnover over each of the last financial year for which final audited figures are available. In the case of joint offers, the consortium should provide a statement that no single client represents more than 30% of the group’s consolidated turnover. The statement is considered as given by signing of the Financial and Economic Capacity Overview Form (SSF 11).


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3. If tenderers rely on the capacities of their parent or other affiliated company, a written undertaking on the part of those entities confirming that they will place the resources necessary for performance of the contract at the tenderers’ disposal.

If, for some exceptional reason which EASO considers justified, a tenderer is unable to provide one or other of the above documents, he or she may prove his or her economic and financial capacity by any other document which EASO considers appropriate. In any case, EASO must at least be notified of the exceptional reason and its justification in the tender. EASO reserves the right to request any other document enabling it to verify the tenderer's economic and financial capacity.

All tenderers must provide proof of their economic and financial capacity. If several service providers are involved in the bid, each of them, in principle, must have and show that they have the necessary economic and financial capacity to perform the tasks assigned to them in the tender.

Evidence of the technical and professional capacity of the tenderer(s)

The selection criteria will be assessed in particular with regard to their capacity and experience.

By submitting a tender, each legal entity involved therein accepts the possibility of a check being carried out by EASO on its technical capacities and, if necessary, on its research facilities and quality control measures.

Evidence of the technical and professional capacity must be furnished on the basis of the following documents:

Evidence for selection criteria Technical capacity

1. At least four relevant and verifiable references of assignments carried out within the last 3years (including on-going projects): a. Two in the domain of Learning Management System with a minimum of 2,500

registered users covering the use cases described in section 1.2.1 including client declaration and signature. The reference is regarding an actual assignment or a finalized assignment not older than 3 years.

b. Two in the domain of Content Authoring covering the services described in section 1.2.3 including client declaration and signature. The reference is regarding an actual assignment or a finalized assignment not older than 3 years.

Tenderers should use the Project Reference Form provided and fill in the template item by item for each reference assignment (SSF 13). For the above description, a maximum of 4 pages is allowed.

2. For content authoring: 1 CV for a project manager, 2 CV for Web Designers/Developers and 1 CV for an Illustrator demonstrating the compliance with requirements described in the point 1.2.2.. For consultancy: 1 CV for a project manager, 1 CV for a Business Analyst, 1 CV for a Developer and 1 CV for a Test and Quality Expert demonstrating the compliance with requirements described in the point 1.2.6.

The tenderer shall include into the offer an adequate proof of possessing the necessary authorisation to perform the activities requested in the tender (e.g. Proof of Membership of the Contractor in a professional association, licences specific to the performance of the contract so as to assure EASO that the tenderer is ready to begin activities in accordance with the relevant legislation)


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Section Two: Technical proposal 3.4.3.

Technical conformity documentation

Please note that, to grant equal treatment of all tenders, it is not possible to modify offers after their submission in relation to the technical and financial proposals. As a consequence, incompleteness in this section can only result in negative impact for the evaluation of award criteria.

The terms of reference and the tender of the successful tenderer shall become integral parts of the contract and will constitute annexes to the contract.

Tenderers should elaborate on all points addressed by the terms of reference in order to score as many points as possible. The mere repetition of mandatory requirements set out in these terms of reference, without going into details on how to actually achieve them or without giving any added value, will only result in a low score. The technical proposal shall address the qualitative award criteria below.

Please provide information as requested in SSF 10 – Technical proposal.

These scores will be rebalanced to percentage totals for each group of requirements that in turn will be weighted according to the relative importance of each group as defined in the qualitative award criteria defined the table below.

Section Three: Financial proposal 3.4.4.

Financial conformity documentation

Tenderers must use the financial proposal form (SSF 9 with 2 excel files) to formulate their financial proposal and submit it according to the instructions formulated there in.

The tenderers attention is drawn to the following points:

Prices must be expressed in euros;

Prices should be quoted free of all duties, taxes and other charges, i.e. also free of VAT, as the Communities are exempt from such charges in the EU under Articles 3 and 4 of the Protocol on the Privileges and Immunities of the European Communities of 8 April 1965 (OJEC L 152 of 13 July 1967). Exemption is granted to EASO by the governments of the Member States, either through refunds upon presentation of documentary evidence or by direct exemption. For those countries where national legislation provides an exemption by means of a reimbursement, the amount of VAT is to be shown separately. In case of doubts about the applicable VAT system, it is the tenderers responsibility to contact his national authorities to clarify the way in which the European Community is exempt from VAT;

Prices shall not be conditional and be directly applicable by following the technical specifications;

Prices shall be fixed and not subject to revision during the first year of the duration of the Framework Contract, see the Article I.3.2 of the draft framework contract.

Expenses related to travel; subsistence and shipment expenses and other expenses shall not be reimbursed separately;

Tenderers must complete the Price list (excel table), Weighting table will be automatically populated.

The reference price for the award of the contract shall consist in the total weighted price TCO (Total Cost of Ownership) according to the financial Weighting table.


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3.5. THE ASSESSMENT PROCEDURE

The evaluation procedure is confidential and deliberations are held in closed sessions of the evaluation committee whose conclusions are collectives. The members of Evaluation committee are bound to secrecy.

3.5.1. EVALUATION STEPS

Stage 1 - Application of eligibility and exclusion criteria to tenderer

The aim is to check whether tenderers are eligible to take part in the tendering procedure.

The eligibility of the tenderer will be evaluated on the basis of the documents submitted as indicated in Section 3.4.2.

If a member of a consortium is subject to exclusion, the rest of the consortium will be excluded. If a subcontractor is subject to exclusion, the tender shall be excluded.

Here to be noted that exclusion criteria from participation and exclusion criteria from award are valid through the whole duration of the award procedure.

Stage 2 - Application of selection criteria to tenderer

The aim is to check the technical and professional capacity and economic and financial capacity of each tenderer, who has passed the exclusion stage, to perform the contract.

The capacity of the tenderer will be evaluated on the basis of the documents submitted as indicated in Section 3.4.2 Selection criteria.

Stage 3 – Application of award criteria to tender

Only the tenders of those tenderers, who met the requirement of the eligibility, exclusion and selection criteria, will be further evaluated. The aim is to establish a ranking list in order of merit.

The contract will be awarded under the most cost-effective (offers the best value for money) procedure.

The following award criteria will be applied:

price award criterion (price of the tender measured as a ratio compared to the lowest tender), (30%)

and

quality in terms of technical quality of the offer (70%) assessed on the basis on the below criteria.

1. Qualitative award criteria:

The selected tender is assessed according to the above qualitative award criteria and the weighting applicable to each criterion.


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Qualitative award criteria and sub criteria Maximum quality scoring

AW1 LMS environment

If one of the “knock-out’ requirement is not met on a standard or bespoke development basis, the tenderer is excluded from further evaluation

60

AW1.1 Functional Requirements 21

AW1.2 Non-Functional Requirements

(Compliance & Legal, Maintainability & Accessibility, Interface, Design and Internationalisation, Scalability, Technology Compatibility, Documentation)

9

AW1.3 Demo Environment

(Supported Use Cases, Usability)

24

AW1.4 Service Level Agreement

(Conformance with Expected Service Levels, Additional Service Levels provided by Tenderer)

6

AW2 Content Authoring 20

AW2.1 Proposed project organisation of the team of web designer/developer and Illustrator including availability of the team, project plan, validation process, knowledge management, time management, risk management, change management, access to the Contractor’s project management system/tool

8

AW2.2 Proposed Quality management including quality criteria, methods, responsibilities, project documents, standards and policies

4

AW2.3 Quality of the delivery 8

AW3 Initial Setup

Approach and procedures (from order intake to acceptance), Proposed project organisation, Proposed roadmap and timeline

5

AW4 Learning Content Migration

Approach and procedures, proposed roadmap and timeline

6

AW5 Initial Training

Training approach (proposed organisation of the initial training)

5

AW6 Consultancy Consultancy approach (e.g. organisation of the team: Project Manager, Business Analyst, Developer, Quality and Test Expert)

4

Total number of points for criteria 1-6 100


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Tenders scoring less than 70% in the overall points total AND less than 60% in the points awarded for a single criterion (AW1, AW2, AW3, AW4, AW6) will be excluded from the rest of the assessment procedure

Tenders should elaborate on all points addressed by these terms of reference in order to score as many points as possible. The mere repetition of mandatory requirements set out in these terms of reference, without going into details or without giving any added value, will only result in a very low score. In addition, if certain essential points of these terms of reference are not expressively covered by the tender, EASO may decide to give a zero mark for the relevant qualitative award criteria.

2. Price award Criterion

For the purpose of the evaluation only the SSF 9 Financial Proposal and its “Weighting table” will be used.

The price award criterion will be assessed as ratio of TCO (Total Cost of Ownership) of the tender compared to TCO of lowest tender

3. Awarding:

The contract will be awarded to the tender which is the most cost-effective (offers the best value for money) is reaching the highest score according to the following formula:

Formula

Score for Tender X = TCO Cheapest Tender TCO of Tender X

x Weight Price (30%)

+ Total quality score of Tender X 100%

x Weight Quality (70%)

The contract will then be awarded to the tender with the highest score.

3.6. AWARD OF CONTRACT

Information to tenderers 3.6.1.

EASO will inform tenderers of decisions reached concerning the award of the contract, including the grounds for any decision not to award a contract or to cancel the procedure (see point 12 of the Invitation to tender).

Upon respective written requests made by the tenderers, EASO will inform all rejected tenderers of the reasons for their rejection, and all tenderers who submitted an admissible tender, of the characteristics and relative advantages of the tender selected for the contract award and the name of the successful tenderer.

However, certain information may be withheld where its release would impede law enforcement or otherwise be contrary to the public interest, or would prejudice the legitimate commercial interests of economic operators, public or private, or might prejudice fair competition between them.

Standstill period 3.6.2.

EASO shall not sign the framework contract with the successful tenderer until a standstill period of 14 calendar days has elapsed, running from the day after the simultaneous dispatch of the notification letters to the tenderers informing them of the award decision.

Where a fax or electronic means are used for the dispatch of the notification letters, the standstill period shall be 10 calendar days.


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No obligation to award the contract 3.6.3.

The tendering procedure shall not involve the Contracting Authority in any obligation to award the contract. EASO may, before the contract is signed, either abandon the procurement procedure or cancel the award procedure without the tenderers being entitled to claim any compensation.

In the event of cancellation of the tender procedure, tenderers will be notified. In no event shall the Institute be liable for any damages in any way connected with the cancellation.

Evidence by Tenderer 3.6.4.

During the standstill period, EASO will request the tenderer proposed for award to provide the evidence on exclusion criteria defined in art.143 RAP and Articles 106 and 107 of the Financial Regulation. If this evidence was not provided or proved to be unsatisfactory, EASO reserves the right to cancel the award procedure or to change the award decision to the benefit of the next best ranked tenderer on condition that he satisfies with the provision of the evidence on exclusion.

The tenderer to whom the contract is to be awarded shall provide, within the 15 days following the receipt of the letter informing him of the proposed award of the contract and preceding the signature of the contract, the following evidence confirming the declaration of honour:

1. EASO shall accept as satisfactory evidence that the tenderer to whom the contract is to be awarded is not in one of the situations described in point (a), (b) or (e) of Article 106 of the Financial Regulation, a recent extract from the judicial record or, failing that, an equivalent document recently issued by a judicial or administrative authority in the country of origin or provenance showing that those requirements are satisfied;

2. EASO shall accept, as satisfactory evidence that the tenderer is not in the situation described in point (d) of Article 106 of the Financial Regulation, a recent certificate issued by the competent authority of the State.

3. Where the document or certificate referred to in paragraph 1 and 2 is not issued in the country concerned and for the other cases of exclusion referred to in Article 106 of the Financial Regulation, it may be replaced by a sworn or, failing that, a solemn statement made by the interested party before a judicial or administrative authority, a notary or a qualified professional body in his country of origin or provenance.

4. Depending on the national legislation of the country in which the tenderer is established, the documents referred to in paragraphs 1, 2, and 3 shall relate to legal persons and/or natural persons including, where necessary, company directors or any person with power of representation, decision-making or control in relation to the tenderer or tenderer. This would be the case when the national legislation concerned gives juridical responsibility of the acts committed by a legal entity (moral persons) to their legal representatives. The tenderer shall provide information on the ownership or on the management, control and power of representation of the legal entity whenever necessary for the proper understanding of the evidence submitted or whenever EASO requests it.

5. Where they have doubts as to whether tenderers are in one of the situations of exclusion, EASO may itself apply to the competent authorities referred to in paragraph 3 to obtain any information they consider necessary about that situation.

6. EASO may waive the obligation of a tenderer to submit the documentary evidence referred to in paragraphs 1 and 2 if such evidence has already been submitted to it for the purposes of another procurement procedure and provided that the issuing date of the documents does not exceed one year and that they are still valid. In such a case, the tenderer shall declare on his honour that the documentary evidence has already been provided to EASO in a previous procurement procedure and confirm that no changes in his situation have occurred. He shall indicate in its tender all the references necessary to allow EASO services to check this evidence.


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4. GLOSSARY

Term Definition

Trainee An individual undergoing training

Instructor An individual providing training

(Sessions and Users) Manager

An individual responsible for administering user accounts of trainees, and instructors

Author An individual developing training modules

Administrator An individual responsible for administering the general settings and configurations of the learning management system

Forum An online discussion place where ideas and views on training related topics can be exchanged and conversations can be held in the form of posted messages

Wiki A website or database developed collaboratively by the community of LMS users allowed to add and edit content

Document Repository

An information system used to track, manage and store documents

Module A series of lectures or lessons component of the EASO Training Curriculum

Exam A formal set of questions for an assessment of a trainee’s knowledge and proficiency on a specific subject matter

Quiz A set of questions for self-assessment of a trainee’s progress on a specific subject matter

Survey An investigation of the opinions or experience of a group of people, based on a series of questions

Assignment Exercise given to trainees for which they have to upload documents or create and edit online documents

Question Pool A group of questions on common themes, from which can be drawn to create surveys, exams or exercises

Notification The action of notifying someone or something of an event generated by the learning management system

Announcement Message created and edited by users to users accessed on a specific area of the LMS

Report An overview, after analysis by an administrator, author or instructor, of a particular LMS metric, especially in the form of a (digital) document produced from within the learning management system

Learning Activities

Any activity of an individual organised with the intention to improve his/her knowledge, skills and competence and that typically involves the transfer of information in a broader sense

Training The use of one Module within specific period, specific instructors and participants

Training Session The delivery of training by an instructor for a group of trainees

Learning Path A sequence of learning activities, taken by a trainee through a range of sessions, which allows him/her to build knowledge progressively

Module Elements

Pieces of information and contents that are part of a Module

Registered User Is an individual authorized by EASO to use the LMS, regardless of whether the individual is actively using the LMS at any given time

Active User Is an individual that logs in at least once to the LMS during one calendar month

Concurrent Users

Number of users logged in the LMS in a given moment


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5. INDICATIVE TIMELINE

Indicative timeline for the first nine months of the Framework Contract

Timeline When

Sign-off the Framework Contract (FWC) Dec 2015 - Jan 2016

First specific contracts (LMS Environment, Initial Setup, Learning Content Migration)

Jan 2016

…

Kick-Off (meeting) Early Feb 2016

…

End of Migration of first courses in English Early April

Initial Training Mid April 2016

EASO's test phase May – June 2016

Discussion on Migration tuning End of June 2016

End of Migration phase End of August 2016

Go-Live (production phase) Early September 2016

…

End of the FWC Dec 2019 - Jan 2020

6. ANNEXES TO THE TERMS OF REFERENCE

List of all referenced annexes:

Annex 1 - Standard Submission Forms

Annex 2 - Draft Framework Contract

Annex 3 – Learning Content Migration

Annex 4 – Demonstration exercise for Content Authoring


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