Section one: Contracting authority
one.1) Name and addresses
Invest Northern Irleland
BELFAST
BT2 7ES
Country
United Kingdom
Region code
UK - United Kingdom
Internet address(es)
Main address
https://etendersni.gov.uk/epps
Buyer's address
https://etendersni.gov.uk/epps
one.2) Information about joint procurement
The contract is awarded by a central purchasing body
one.3) Communication
The procurement documents are available for unrestricted and full direct access, free of charge, at
https://etendersni.gov.uk/epps
Additional information can be obtained from the above-mentioned address
Tenders or requests to participate must be submitted to the above-mentioned address
Electronic communication requires the use of tools and devices that are not generally available. Unrestricted and full direct access to these tools and devices is possible, free of charge, at
https://etendersni.gov.uk/epps
one.4) Type of the contracting authority
Body governed by public law
one.5) Main activity
Economic and financial affairs
Section two: Object
two.1) Scope of the procurement
two.1.1) Title
ID 5094524 - DfE - Invest NI - Replacement Customer Portal
Reference number
ID 5094524
two.1.2) Main CPV code
- 72212445 - Customer Relation Management software development services
two.1.3) Type of contract
Services
two.1.4) Short description
Invest Northern Ireland (Invest NI) have the requirement to replace their current MyINI Customer Portal. The current MyINI Customer Portal was launched in 2017 and was delivered as an off shoot to Invest NI’s overall Customer Relationship Management system (CRM) strategic project. Invest NI is now seeking a long-term contract to develop a next generation MyINI Customer Portal that will remain tightly integrated with its existing back-office systems (as they continue to evolve) and become the indispensable channel for Invest NI’s digital customer engagement in tight coordination with our other customer interaction channels. It is envisaged that the Supplier will be appointed in December 2024 with ‘Go-Live’ (of at least Phase 1) no later than the January 2026. Contracting for the licensing, maintenance and support will be for an initial period of 4 years from Go-Live of Phase 1, following which there will be two optional extension periods of 3 years each (4 plus 3 plus 3 yrs). There will be a break point at the end of years 4, 7 and 10 and at least 6 months prior to their expiry the client will assess whether the solution is still fit for purpose and meets Invest NI’s needs. At the end of Optional Extension Period 2 (January 2036), subject to approval and obtaining additional budget, the Client may extend the contract for a maximum 3 further periods of 12 months. Each extension shall be subject to internal review and approval and shall incorporate the support, maintenance, and upgrade/enhancement of the solution.
two.1.5) Estimated total value
Value excluding VAT: £12,500,000
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
- 48211000 - Platform interconnectivity software package
- 48311000 - Document management software package
- 48482000 - Business intelligence software package
- 72212510 - Communication software development services
- 48780000 - System, storage and content management software package
- 48445000 - Customer Relation Management software package
- 72212445 - Customer Relation Management software development services
two.2.3) Place of performance
NUTS codes
- UKN - Northern Ireland
Main site or place of performance
Northern Ireland
two.2.4) Description of the procurement
Invest Northern Ireland (Invest NI) have the requirement to replace their current MyINI Customer Portal. The current MyINI Customer Portal was launched in 2017 and was delivered as an off shoot to Invest NI’s overall Customer Relationship Management system (CRM) strategic project. Invest NI is now seeking a long-term contract to develop a next generation MyINI Customer Portal that will remain tightly integrated with its existing back-office systems (as they continue to evolve) and become the indispensable channel for Invest NI’s digital customer engagement in tight coordination with our other customer interaction channels. It is envisaged that the Supplier will be appointed in December 2024 with ‘Go-Live’ (of at least Phase 1) no later than the January 2026. Contracting for the licensing, maintenance and support will be for an initial period of 4 years from Go-Live of Phase 1, following which there will be two optional extension periods of 3 years each (4 plus 3 plus 3 yrs). There will be a break point at the end of years 4, 7 and 10 and at least 6 months prior to their expiry the client will assess whether the solution is still fit for purpose and meets Invest NI’s needs. At the end of Optional Extension Period 2 (January 2036), subject to approval and obtaining additional budget, the Client may extend the contract for a maximum 3 further periods of 12 months. Each extension shall be subject to internal review and approval and shall incorporate the support, maintenance, and upgrade/enhancement of the solution.
two.2.5) Award criteria
Price is not the only award criterion and all criteria are stated only in the procurement documents
two.2.6) Estimated value
Value excluding VAT: £12,500,000
two.2.7) Duration of the contract, framework agreement or dynamic purchasing system
Duration in months
60
This contract is subject to renewal
Yes
Description of renewals
Please refer to section II.2.11 - Information about Options, description of options.
two.2.10) Information about variants
Variants will be accepted: No
two.2.11) Information about options
Options: Yes
Description of options
The initial Contract period is intended to run for a period of 60 months from the date of Contract award. This
includes an envisaged 12 month implementation period for Phase 1 and an initial period from Go-Live of Phase 1 of 48 months (4 years).
It is envisaged that the Supplier will be appointed in December 2024 with ‘Go-Live’ (of at least Phase 1) no later than the January 2026.
Contracting for the licensing, maintenance & support will be for an initial period of 4 years from Go-Live of Phase 1, following which there
will be two optional extension periods of 3 years each (4+3+3 yrs).
There will be a break point at the end of years 4, 7 & 10 and at least 6 months prior to their expiry the client will assess whether the
solution is still fit for purpose and meets Invest NI’s needs. At the end of Optional Extension Period 2 (Jan 2036), subject to approval &
obtaining additional budget, the Client may extend the contract for a maximum 3 further periods of 12 months. Each extension shall be
subject to internal review and approval and shall incorporate the support, maintenance, and upgrade/enhancement of the solution.
two.2.13) Information about European Union Funds
The procurement is related to a project and/or programme financed by European Union funds: No
two.2.14) Additional information
The estimated maximum budget for the delivery of Phase 1 and Phase 2 up to year 10 is £7m (including VAT). The. figure indicated in II.1.5 represents an estimated maximum contract value of £12,500,000.00 (excluding VAT). This is a maximum figure that reflects the potential scale of the contract and takes into account delivery of Phase 3 of the project and all of the optional extension periods available. This maximum figure also takes account of any such changes to the scope/and or scale which may result from legislative, operational and. technological developments and/or additional functions and additional services that Invest NI may be required to provide during the. contract term. These figures do not however take into account the application of indexation to charges due to increases in charges due to increases in the Real Living Wage.The pricing strategy applied and the setting of cost/profit margins are a commercial decision for economic. operators when submitting a bid for this competition. In addition, neither CPD nor the Authority can provide any guarantee as to the. level of business under this contract. The Buyer does not bind itself to accept the lowest or any tender. Economic Operators remain. responsible for all costs and expenses incurred by them or by any third party acting under instructions from the Economic Operator in. connection with taking part in this procurement process regardless of whether such costs arise as a consequence, directly or indirectly. of any amendments made to the procurement documents by the Buyer at any time. No legally binding contract shall arise (and an Economic Operator shall. have no legitimate expectation that a contract will be entered into) until such time as entry into the Contract has. been confirmed by the Buyer. Economic Operators should note that all dates, time periods and figures in relation to values and volumes. specified in this notice and the procurement documents are approximate only and the Buyer reserves the right to change any or all of. them. For Further details regarding the requirement, please refer to document entitled “ID 5094524 – Mid-Tier Schedule 02 (Specification).. .
Section three. Legal, economic, financial and technical information
three.1) Conditions for participation
three.1.2) Economic and financial standing
Selection criteria as stated in the procurement documents
three.1.3) Technical and professional ability
Selection criteria as stated in the procurement documents
three.2) Conditions related to the contract
three.2.2) Contract performance conditions
Before the intention to award phase, as part of the verification process, the Supplier that has the highest mark for quality and cost and confirmed compliance with the mandatory requirements in Schedule 2 (Specification) will be required to provide a working demonstration of their proposed solution. Demonstrations will be to a party of up to 15 people. The supplier will bear any costs relating to travelling to the location and any associated lodging costs. These demonstrations will take. place in the Invest NI Headquarters, Bedford Street, Belfast (unless agreed otherwise) and must be within 3 weeks of a request from the Buyer to hold such a verification exercise. The solution must be demonstrated comprehensively against the requirements marked with ‘V’. within the mandatory requirements. This is to ensure that the solution meets the requirements. A guided Scenario is presented in Annex. AB1 of the procurement specification on how these requirements could be demonstrated. This is supported by Annexes AB2 (example. Application Form), AB3 (example Eligibility Checker flow) and AB4 (example Online Claims Supplier Data). This exercise will be used to. confirm responses. Scores may be amended downwards where verification indicates that performance is less than previously stated within the supplier’s bid. In the event that any element of the verification of the proposed solution cannot be met the panel will mark the bid as a Fail and the next highest scoring supplier will be asked to provide a working demonstration of their solution. In the event that a quality score is reduced which results in the score initially awarded falling below that of the next highest scoring Supplier then the next. highest scoring tender will be asked to provide a working demonstration of their solution. The supplier with the highest scoring compliant. bid and solution that successfully passes the verification process will then be awarded the contract.
Section four. Procedure
four.1) Description
four.1.1) Type of procedure
Open procedure
four.1.8) Information about the Government Procurement Agreement (GPA)
The procurement is covered by the Government Procurement Agreement: Yes
four.2) Administrative information
four.2.1) Previous publication concerning this procedure
Notice number: 2023/S 000-017721
four.2.2) Time limit for receipt of tenders or requests to participate
Date
12 November 2024
Local time
3:00pm
four.2.4) Languages in which tenders or requests to participate may be submitted
English
four.2.6) Minimum time frame during which the tenderer must maintain the tender
Tender must be valid until: 10 February 2025
four.2.7) Conditions for opening of tenders
Date
12 November 2024
Local time
3:30pm
Section six. Complementary information
six.1) Information about recurrence
This is a recurrent procurement: No
six.3) Additional information
The successful Supplier's performance on the contract will be regularly monitored in line with the tender documentation. Supplier's not. delivering on contract requirements is a serious matter. It means the public purse is not getting what it is paying for. If a Supplier fails. to reach satisfactory levels of contract performance they will be given a specified time to improve. If, after the specified time, they still. fail to reach satisfactory levels of contract performance, the matter will be escalated to senior management in CPD for further action. If. this occurs and their performance still does not improve to satisfactory levels within the specified period, it may be regarded as an act of. grave professional misconduct and they may be issued with a Notice of Unsatisfactory Performance and the contract may be terminated.. The issue of a Notice of Unsatisfactory Performance can result in the Supplier being excluded from all procurement competitions. being undertaken by Centres of Procurement Expertise on behalf of bodies covered by the Northern Ireland Procurement Policy for a. period of three years from the date of issue. The Authority expressly reserves the rights:.(I). not to award any contract as a result of the. procurement process commenced by publication of this notice;. (II). to make whatever changes it may see fit to the content and structure. of the tendering Competition; and. (III). to award (a) contract(s) in respect of any part(s) of the services covered by this notice; and in no. circumstances will the Authority be liable for any costs incurred by candidates.. This project will be used to progress the Government’s. wider social, economic and environmental objectives.
six.4) Procedures for review
six.4.1) Review body
The UK does not have any such bodies with responsibility for appeal/mediation procedures. Instead; any challenges are dealt with by the High Court, Commercial Division, to which proceedings may be issued regarding alleged breaches of the PCR 2015 as amended.
n/a
Country
United Kingdom
six.4.3) Review procedure
Precise information on deadline(s) for review procedures
CPD will comply with the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 and, where appropriate, will incorporate a standstill period (i.e. a minimum of 10 calendar days) at the point information on the award of contract is communicated to tenderers. That notification will provide full information on the award decision. This provides time for the unsuccessful tenderers to challenge the award decision before the contract is entered into.