Section one: Contracting authority
one.1) Name and addresses
Department for the Environment Food and Rural Affairs
17 Nobel House
London
SW1P 3JR
dgc.E-Commercial.Systems.Project.Team@defra.gov.uk
Telephone
+44 2072385921
Country
United Kingdom
NUTS code
UK - United Kingdom
Internet address(es)
Main address
https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/department-for-environment-food-rural-affairs
one.3) Communication
Additional information can be obtained from the above-mentioned address
one.4) Type of the contracting authority
Ministry or any other national or federal authority
one.5) Main activity
Other activity
Food and Rural Affairs
Section two: Object
two.1) Scope of the procurement
two.1.1) Title
E-Commercial Systems
Reference number
Project_32952
two.1.2) Main CPV code
- 48490000 - Procurement software package
two.1.3) Type of contract
Supplies
two.1.4) Short description
Please note that in addition to the below, we have a separate RFI document available to suppliers. This can be requested by contacting the following email address: dgc.E-Commercial.Systems.Project.Team@defra.gov.uk
Please also note that the deadline for responses to the RFI is 24 May 2021, and we therefore advise interested suppliers to make contact as soon as possible in order to access this.
The Authority is potentially seeking a supplier to provide an e-commercial system to Defra, the Environment Agency (EA), Natural England (NE), Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA), Marine Management Organisation (MMO) and Rural Payments Agency (RPA) (“the Core Defra Group”) and Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (CFAS), Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (KEW), Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB). The remaining organisations within the wider Defra group (“Defra Group”) will be potential service recipients and may be added to the contract at a later date via change control.
The potential E-Commercial systems should cover the following scope of services:
• Plan, prepare, run and manage procurements and grants in full compliance with PCR 2015 and all other relevant public procurement legislation;
• Sourcing project repository, project planning, pipeline management and reporting, route to market specific workflows;
• Sourcing, tender creation and management, tender issue, tender evaluation;
• Creation and publication of relevant notices;
• Contract award, e-auctions, dynamic purchasing;
• Contract management repository, contract management workflows and notifications;
• Contract and supplier management and document and data management and reporting; and
• Spend Analytics (e.g. reporting spend on contracts).
Additional related non-core components include:
• Procurement Workflows, Process Guidance and Document Template Management
• Category Management
• Category Management Workflows, Process Guidance and Document Template
• Demand Management
• Resource Planning
• Contract Management
• Contract Management Workflows, Process Guidance and Document Template
• Contract and Supplier KPI Measurement and Reporting
• Strategic Supplier Relationship Management
Additional optional components:
• Business Case Management
The challenges we face that we are looking to improve include:
• User Experience (including field entry, transaction time and document uploading, saving and searching functionality)
• Process workflows and templates
• Multiple document storage repositories
• Supplier data mastering
• Supplier information capture and management
• Interfaces to P2P and other systems
• Visibility of spend on contracts
• Ever-changing data and reporting requirements
• Automation technology
Indicative User Volumetrics:
• There are circa 10 super users who have self-serve access to manage day to day user admin, reports development and configuration options.
• There are some 250 professional users who run strategic procurements within the Defra group
• There are a significant number (1000’s circa 5000) of business users who run self-serve procurements (low value/low risk)
• There are a significant number (100’s circa 800) of business evaluator users that are involved in technical evaluation
• There is a significant number (1000’s circa 3000) of business contract managers that are involved in contract management activities
• There are a number (10’s circa 50) of business users that are involved in supplier management
The above is neither an exhaustive nor a final set of requirements. It is subject to development prior to any potential subsequent contract opportunity notice utilising the outputs from the RFI responses.
two.1.5) Estimated total value
Value excluding VAT: £2,000,000
two.1.6) Information about lots
This contract is divided into lots: No
two.2) Description
two.2.2) Additional CPV code(s)
- 48000000 - Software package and information systems
two.2.3) Place of performance
NUTS codes
- UK - United Kingdom
two.2.4) Description of the procurement
The supplier shall also provide full implementation, transition and data migration support, initial and ongoing training and initial and ongoing technical support and all necessary system maintenance and upgrades throughout the contract term.
Should this potential procurement result in a subsequent contract notice, details of the organisations within the wider Defra group (“Defra Group”) and other potential user will be provided.
The above is neither an exhaustive nor a final set of requirements. It is subject to development prior to any potential subsequent contract opportunity notice utilising the outputs from the RFI responses.
two.3) Estimated date of publication of contract notice
2 August 2021
Section four. Procedure
four.1) Description
four.1.8) Information about the Government Procurement Agreement (GPA)
The procurement is covered by the Government Procurement Agreement: Yes
Section six. Complementary information
six.3) Additional information
This notice is for information only. The Contracting Authority may or may not subsequently publish a formal contract opportunity notice in the future.
The value above is an estimate only based on a potential initial contract term of 3 years. The Contracting Authority anticipates up to 2 extension periods of 12 months each.
Please note that in addition to this notice, we have a separate RFI document available to suppliers. This can be requested by contacting the following email address: dgc.E-Commercial.Systems.Project.Team@defra.gov.uk
Please also note that the deadline for responses to the RFI is 24 May 2021, and we therefore advise interested suppliers to make contact as soon as possible in order to access this.
Following receipt of responses, we intend to invite a small representative group of suppliers to present their system to us by way of a demonstration. This exercise will be for information purposes only and will not be used other than for reasons outlined in the RFI document.
Whilst we aim to be non-discriminatory in who we invite to demo their product, due to the nature of this activity we will only be inviting a small number of suppliers. Should your organisation not be selected, this should not be interpreted as the Authority not being interested in your product, nor will it prejudice our impartiality in any future procurement activity.
We would like to remind suppliers that we are still devising our procurement strategy, and at present many aspects are still to be confirmed. This includes our route to market. Therefore, a response to this RFI does not guarantee you a place in any future competition, for example, if a framework route to market is selected and your organisation is not available via this framework.
The Contracting Authority may, without prejudice, use feedback from the responses and demos to help inform the development of the potential requirement.
Any system demonstration is to help the Contracting Authority gather information about the type of systems which may be available in the marketplace and to help inform our potential requirement.
Please be advised that:
• this opportunity to demonstrate is offered entirely without prejudice,
• you are not obliged to demonstrate.
If you do demonstrate your system:
• it is not a sales opportunity,
• it is for information purposes only to help inform our potential requirement.
Potential providers are advised that should the Contracting Authority subsequently publish a formal contract notice, the procurement will be managed (including the submission of tender responses) via the Contracting Authority's e-procurement portal.
To register an account, please visit:
https://defra.bravosolution.co.uk/
Should the Contracting Authority subsequently move to a formal procurement exercise it will be advertised on Contract Finder and/or other required publishing platforms.