Deadline Date: Thursday 21 November 2024
Requirement: IKM Tools L2 Support
Location: Braine-l'Alleud, BE
Full Time On-Site: Yes
Time On-Site: 100%
Period of Performance: 2025: 02 nd of January 2025 to 31 st of December 2025
• 2026 Option: 1st January 2026 until 31st December 2026
• 2027 Option: 1st January 2027 until 31st December 2027
• 2028 Option: 1st January 2028 until 31st December 2028
Required Security Clearance: NATO SECRET
PART 1 – BIDDING INSTRUCTIONS
A) Technical Proposal
Bidders shall submit a proposal clearly providing the following information:
a. The proposed approach to address the required scope of work and the defined deliverables with sufficient details to allow assessment for feasibility of the proposal.
b. To evaluate the qualifications and experience for this this contract, please provide evidence of successfully delivering of two SharePoint/IKM Tools projects within the last three years. Each evidence should demonstrate proof of performance and be comparable in size and scope to the requirements of this role.
c. CV of the assigned resource for the project.
2. Award
Contract shall be awarded under the AAS Framework Contract – CO-115786- AAS+ - Market Place 1.
1 PURPOSE
The purpose of this Statement of Work (SOW) is to provide an outline of deliverables and performance expectations for the services to be rendered by the Contractor(s). This document will serve as the basis for Contractor bidding and selection. Contractors are expected to submit proposals based on their ability to meet the outlined deliverables within the specified timelines.
2 INTRODUCTION
Within the NATO Digital Workplace Centre (NDWC), the Content Platforms Services (CPS) Group provides a range of content centric services enabling secure collaboration. Core functionalities include creating, sharing, managing, organizing and preserving digital content to deliver enterprise-wide content lifecycle management, information access and governance. Common services available include document and records management, content publishing, business process management, data capture and indexing, categorization, content search, version control, analytics and artificial intelligence applied to content collaboration. Content Platform Services also provides Subject Matter Expertise for advice, guidance, business analysis, design, configuration, development and implementation of new and existing Content Platform Solutions and for a broad range of Content Management activities.
Through various projects new capabilities are released in the form of SharePoint customizations (farm solutions, add-ins and client side solutions on versions 2013, 2019 through to online). After release we often find that improvements are required to make those customizations fully fit-for-purpose. This can relate to code quality, code vulnerabilities, feature stability, feature usage and documentation.
These capabilities include EDMS, PITT, NIP ,TT+ (collectively referred to as IKM tools) and include customizations to SharePoint which follow common development practices combining page elements, lists and SharePoint services (such as metadata, search and profile services)
3 OBJECTIVES
The deliverables from the Statement of Work refer to tangible or intangible outputs of the service delivery strategy.
4 SCOPE OF WORK, ASSOCIATED DELIVERABLES AND PAYMENT MILESTONES
The improvement and bug fixing work of the CPS team is done in Agile Scrum sprints of three weeks.
The contractor shall ensure participation in a total of 15 sprint cycles annually for the duration of the contract, considering proration for partial calendar years.
As part of the sprint cycle, preparation of, and participation in sprint planning and refinement, sprint reviews and sprint retrospectives with the wider team is expected. The contractor is expected to reflect work done on respective Kanban Boards and within respective Agile Scrum templates in support of the respective Product Goals and Agile approach. It is assumed that these duties are fulfilled within 16 hours per sprint cycle.
Each planning session the contractor is expected to contribute, prioritize and refine user stories, with respective acceptance criteria, within the respective backlogs of the mentioned capabilities.
Every sprint cycle the contactor should be a part of the Sprint team and contribute to the completion of the effort of 30 story points, according the Fibonacci scoring.
The contractor should maintain the IKM Tools instances and troubleshoot issues of the IKM Tools instances as Level 2 support incumbent, across the NATO networks on regularly basis and showcase if required the work achieved. It is expected that the contractor is be an active part of the L2 support, with the goal of rectifying issues, documenting guidelines, or improving the service with the amount of 20 improvements, or incident / change request resolution monthly within the ITSM ticketing system.
The contractor will be a part of migration and on setting up of the demanded IKM Tools applications. It is expected that the contractor is creating PowerShell scripts autonomously and on demand.
As part of the team the contractor will be allocated for designing medium and large enterprise SharePoint environments, in conjunction of the related Operating System and SQL databases to accommodate the IKM Tools instances within training, or production networks.
For tracking and tracing purposes the contractor is requested to create technical and user guides and documentations and doing Quality assurance with the related staff.
For troubleshooting purposes the contractor should have knowledge to support Active Directory Federation Services and Claims provider, related to the IKM Tools.
It is expected to receive technical support in the replication activities of the IKM Tools.
The contractor should be a part in improving and supporting the search engine of the IKM Tools by providing technical guidance.
It is expected that the contractor participates in meetings to present technical solutions to the Section Head, Service Delivery Manager and Group head of the CPS section.
The incumbent should assist the Section Head/Service Delivery Managers/Group head to prepare presentations and demonstrations, related to the CPS sections tasks if demanded.
The contractor should assist the Change Coordinator during the Approved Service Interruptions
process on IKM Tools related interruptions.
Deliverable 01: In collaboration with the Sprint team be involved on the backlog of at least 30 story points
Acceptance Criteria: Proper description and coverage of user stories and acceptance criteria to be efficiently dealt within the sprint session
Due Date: Bi-Monthly from January 2025 to December 2025
Payment: 20% of the total cost for 2025 per approved bi-monthly analysis report. Incentives/penalties as documented in section #8.
Deliverable 02: In collaboration with the Support Team of the IKM Tools should rectify issues, document and create guidelines, or improve the service with the amount of 20 improvements, or incident / change request resolution monthly within the ITSM ticketing system
Acceptance Criteria: Showcase of the properly rectified issues/ involved improvements / created documents and guidelines of the amount of 20 monthly.
Due Date: Monthly from January 2025 to December 2025
Payment: 50% of the total cost for 2025 per approved monthly analysis report. Incentives/penalties as documented in section #8.
Deliverable 03: The contractor should test new updates with the Application tester monthly, in order to ensure validity and integrity of the IKM Tools and underneath. Operating System/SQL instances and SharePoint releases of at least 1 update each month.
Acceptance Criteria: Demonstrate test reports of the updates on the test / staging labs monthly.
Due Date: Monthly from January 2025 to December 2025
Payment: 10% of the total cost for 2025 per approved monthly analysis report. Incentives/penalties as documented in section #8.
Deliverable 04: The contractor should Track ITSM reports and present it to the Section Head and Service Delivery Manager monthly.
Acceptance Criteria: Demonstrate written ITSM reports monthly and propose solutions for re-occurring issues.
Due Date: Monthly from January 2025 to December 2025
Payment: 10% of the total cost for 2025 per approved monthly analysis report. Incentives/penalties as documented in section #8.
Deliverable 05: Attend periodical performance review meeting
Acceptance Criteria: Attendance of periodical performance review meetings and create reports for future analyses.
Due Date: Bi-Monthly from January 2025 to December 2025
Payment: 10% of the total cost for 2025 per approved monthly analysis report. Incentives/penalties as documented in section #8.
The payment shall be dependent upon successful acceptance of the Delivery Acceptance Sheet (DAS) including the EBA Receipt number.
Payment will be provided based on these deliveries as indicated in the table above.
5 SCHEDULE
This contract will be active immediately after signing of the contract by both parties.
The period of performance is as soon as possible, but not later than 02 January 2025 and will end no later than 31 December 2025.
If the annual options are exercised, the period of performance is within 01st of January to 31 st December of the relevant year.
6 CONSTRAINTS
All the documentation delivered under this statement of work shall be based on NCI Agency templates or templates agreed with the NDWC Chief
All project work package material shall be stored on the NCI Agency SharePoint Portals CPS Library.
Each final deliverable will be subject to two rounds of review and revision by NATO assigned person.
For the deliverables, the IKM Tools L2 Support Contractor will need:
The IKM Tools L2 Contractor is required to hold a valid NATO SECRET security clearance provided by national security organization valid at the time of submission of the bid and covering the period of contract, will be required.
English Language Proficiency is required to conduct the given tasks.
The duty location will be Braine-L'Alleud, Belgium
The contractor will be required to work normally on site. Working from Home can be allowed, based on the requirements and duties.
Working Hours:
Working hours are 8 hours a day, 5 days a week, from 8.30 AM to 12.30 PM and from 13.30 PM to 17.30 PM
Due to the nature of this work, working hours may vary and therefore, flexibility is required.
Travel:
Under certain circumstances, travel to other locations may be required, and the contractor could be sent on short-term assignments.
Travel arrangements will be the responsibility of the contractor and the expenses will be reimbursed in accordance with Article 5.5 of AAS Framework Contract and within the limits of the NCIA Travel Directive.
7 PRACTICAL ARRANGEMENTS
The contractor shall work under NCI Agency AAS contract for the NCI Agency in Braine L’alleud,
Belgium. The incumbent will work under the direction and guidance of the NDWC CPS Section Head or their designated representative.
8 NON-PERFORMANCE AND REMEDIES
8.1 Regular reviews
Regular reviews will be conducted to ensure the Contractor is on track to meet deadlines and deliverables. If performance issues are identified, the following measures will be taken:
8.2 Performance Reviews:
Monthly performance reviews will assess the Contractor’s progress, adherence to timelines, and the quality of deliverables.
8.3 Penalties for Missed Deadlines
In the event that a deliverable is not completed by the specified deadline, the following actions will be taken:
8.3.1 Initial delay:
If the Contractor fails to meet a deadline, a grace period of 5 (five) days will be granted, during which the Contractor must submit the delayed deliverable.
Action: After the grace period, the Contractor will be required to submit a revised timeline and plan of action for completion.
8.3.2 Extended delay:
If the delay exceeds 5 (five) days beyond the original or revised due date, the company reserves the right to impose a penalty. This penalty could take the form of suspension of payment for that milestone until the deliverable is completed.
8.3.3 Incentive for Early of High-Quality Completion:
To motivate timely and high-quality performance, the following incentives can be considered:
Early Completion Bonus: If the Contractor delivers a specified milestone or deliverable 5 (five) days ahead of schedule and meets quality standards, they may receive an additional bonus of 2% for that deliverable.
8.4 Quality assurance and Rework
If a deliverable does not meet the agreed-upon quality standards or fails to pass the acceptance criteria, the following actions will be taken:
8.4.1 First Rejection:
The Contractor will have 5 (five) business days to revise the deliverable and bring it up to the required standards at no additional cost to the company.
Action: Revisions will be reviewed within 2 (two) business days upon resubmission. If acceptable, the deliverable will be approved.
8.4.2 Subsequent Rejection:
If the deliverable still does not meet quality standards after the first revision, the company may choose to:
Request additional revisions.
Deduct 2% from the agreed payment for that deliverable.
Terminate the contract for non-performance as outlined in Section Termination Clause.
8.5 Escalation Process
In case of repeated delays or quality issues, the following escalation process will be initiated:
8.5.1 First Warning:
A formal written notice will be issued to the Contractor, outlining the issue and requesting immediate corrective action.
8.5.2 Second Warning:
If the problem persists, a second formal notice will be sent, including details of potential penalties or contract termination.
8.5.3 Final Action:
After two warnings, if the Contractor fails to deliver on time or to the agreed-upon quality, the company reserves the right to:
Terminate the contract.
Seek compensation for any damages
8.6 Termination for Non-Performance
If the Contractor consistently fails to meet deadlines or deliverables after formal warnings, the NCIA reserves the right to terminate the contract.
Termination may occur under the following conditions:
8.6.1 Failure to Meet Deadlines:
If more than 4 (four) deliverables are delayed beyond the agreed grace period.
8.6.2 Failure to Meet Quality Standards:
If more than 3 (three) deliverables fail to meet the agreed-upon quality standards after revisions.
In case of termination, the Contractor will only be compensated for the deliverables that have been completed and accepted. Any incomplete or rejected deliverables will not be compensated, and additional penalties may apply.
Requirements
