2024-0318 Infrastructure as Code Specialist / Software Dev (NS) - WED 18 Dec

Deadline Date: Wednesday 18 December 2024

Requirement: Infrastructure as Code specialist / Software Developer

Location: Braine-l’Alleud, BE

Full Time On-Site: Yes

Time On-Site: 100%

Period of Performance: 2025: 03rd of February 2025 to 31st 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

Start date: As soon as possible, but no later than 03rd of February

Required Security Clearance: NATO SECRET

 

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 (maximum 10 pages, A4 size) with sufficient details to allow assessment for feasibility of the proposal.

b. CV of the assigned resource for the project.

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), additionally the RECCEN 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.

• Provisioning of technical assessment and guidance on the creation of a backlog of user stories and their respective acceptance criteria which will address the gap between the current and desired state of the mentioned capabilities.
• Refactoring of code, and thus functionality, of existing SharePoint customizations following quality, vulnerability, stability, usability and security testing of currently deployed capabilities.
• Creation of test cases against new introduced or improved features
• Updated documentation related to newly introduced or improved features

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 and improve the CPS owned Infrastructure and improve tasks by automation for the sake of the IKM Tools and RECCEN instances. In addition the contractor should troubleshoot issues of the IKM Tools and RECCEN 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 L3 code control and improvement support team, with the goal of rectifying issues, quality assurance of code, 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 and RECCEN applications. It is expected that the contractor is creating PowerShell and Java scripts autonomously and on demand.
• For tracking and tracing purposes the contractor is requested to create technical and user guides and documentations and doing Quality assurance and Control 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 and RECCEN and Coding with C#.
• 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 Jan 2025 to December 2025

Payment: 20% of the total cost for 2025 per approved bi-monthly analysis report. Incentives/penalties as documented in section #9.

Deliverable 02: In collaboration with the Support Team of the IKM Tools should rectify issues, document and create guidelines, develop scripts and code 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 #9.

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 #9.

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 #9.

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 #9.

• 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 03rd February 2025 and will end no later than 31 December 2025.

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 a NATO assigned person.

For the deliverables, the CPS Infrastructure as Code and Developer contractor will need:

- Network access to NU PAN, NR, MS, NS

- Microsoft Office platform

- IKM Tools to work on

- NSF Azure DevOps

- Hardware, such as Reach Laptop, NS VDI Client and NU PAN Laptop

The CPS Infrastructure as Code and Developer 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.

- Under some circumstances travel to other locations are required and therefore the contractor can be sent out for short term missions. The travel and per diem costs will be compensated by the NCIA.

- 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 REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS

[See Requirements]

9 NON-PERFORMANCE AND REMEDIES

9.1 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:

9.2 Performance Reviews:

Monthly performance reviews will assess the Contractor’s progress, adherence to timelines, and the quality of deliverables.

9.3 Penalties for Missed Deadlines

In the event that a deliverable is not completed by the specified deadline, the following actions will be taken:

9.3.1 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.

9.3.2 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.

9.3.3 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.

9.4 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:

9.4.1 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.

9.4.2 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.

9.5 Escalation Process

In case of repeated delays or quality issues, the following escalation process will be initiated:

9.5.1 First Warning:

A formal written notice will be issued to the Contractor, outlining the issue and requesting immediate corrective action.

9.5.2 Second Warning:

If the problem persists, a second formal notice will be sent, including details of potential penalties or contract termination.

9.5.3 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

9.6 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:

9.6.1 Failure to Meet Deadlines:

If more than 4 (four) deliverables are delayed beyond the agreed grace period.

9.6.2 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

6 CONSTRAINTS

• The CPS Infrastructure as Code and Developer 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.

8 REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS

For this consultancy, we are looking for an experienced SME who can be productive from the start and who have proven knowledge and experience of SharePoint and Infrastructure as Code, alongside Development skills. The related labour requires the following qualifications:

• A higher secondary education and completed higher vocational train professional certification with a three-year function related experience OR a secondary advanced vocational training leading to a professional qualification or professional post-related experience.
• Knowledge in utilizing Ansible and Terraform, in order to automate implementations.
• Strong C# and PowerShell Knowledge, especially for the SharePoint Object model
• Azure DevOps experiences for Agile methodologies
• Strong written and verbal communication skills with the ability to document and communicate across the teams.
• Ability to work in a team and share knowledge
• Ability to work effectively under pressure.
• Microsoft SharePoint 2013, SharePoint 2016, SharePoint 2019, SharePoint SE deep experience
• Basic Knowledge in SQL servers and Network technologies
• Basic knowledge on Virtual machines technologies.
• Basic Knowledge in ADFS Domain and SharePoint wise.