EP/ERMS, Tender documents
ANNEX VI.2. Open Questions
Table of Contents
1Introduction
2General requirements
2.1License
2.2Warranty
2.3Product roadmap
3Functional requirements
3.1Introduction
3.2Compliance with records management standards
3.3Records management functions
3.3.1Registration
3.3.2Management of documents and records
3.3.3Attribution of a permanent link
3.3.4Filing
3.3.5Management of folders
3.3.6Management of the filing plan
3.3.7Management of the functional classification scheme
3.3.8Preservation of folders
3.3.9Conversion of written records to pdf and stamping
3.4Records management services for other applications
3.4.1Basic services
3.4.2Specific custom metadata
3.5Integration with specific Parliament’s IT systems
3.5.1Integration with the system for the management of archives.
3.5.2Integration with the Register (ERR) for publication
3.5.3Integration with Outlook
3.6Basic administration functions
3.6.1Access rights
3.6.2User community management
3.6.3Search
3.6.4Administration and monitoring
3.6.5Reporting
3.6.6Audit trail
3.6.7Interface
3.6.8Remote access
3.7Additional requirements
3.7.1Scanning
3.7.2Notifications
3.7.3Electronic workflow
3.7.4Automatic access rights for recipients
3.7.5Assignments
3.7.6Markings (confidential non-classified documents)
3.7.7Linking related records/folders
3.7.8Delegations
3.7.9Multilingualism
3.7.10Templates
4Non-functional requirements
4.1Environment
4.1.1Storage
4.2Performance efficiency
4.2.1Time behaviour
4.2.2Resource utilization
4.2.3Capacity
4.3Software Product
4.4Security
4.4.1Confidentiality
4.4.2Integrity
4.4.3Authentication
4.4.4Authorisation
4.4.5User Access Management
4.4.6Application Security
4.5Reliability
4.5.1Availability, flexibility, resiliency and scalability
4.5.2Fault tolerance
4.5.3Recoverability
4.6Compatibility
4.6.1Co-existence
4.6.2Interoperability
4.7Usability
4.7.1Operability
4.7.2User error protection
4.7.3Accessibility
4.7.4Remote access
4.8Technical deployment
4.8.1Accessibility
4.8.2Deliverables
4.8.3Documentation
4.8.4Functional, security and load testing
4.8.5Acceptation of changes
4.9Portability
4.9.1Adaptability
4.9.2Deployment
4.9.3Replaceability
4.9.4Cloud evolution
5Services
5.1Features
5.2Maintenance services
5.3Warranty services
5.4Training
5.4.1Training for technical personnel
5.4.2Training for system administrators and super-users
5.4.3Training for end users
5.4.4Ad hoc training courses
5.4.5Training materials
5.4.6Information sharing between customers
5.5Consultancy
5.6Configuration, customisation and application development
5.7Service management
6Deployment project
6.1Project scope
6.2Resourcing
6.3Project organisation
6.4Scheduling
6.5Project management and governance
6.6Risk management
6.7Communication management
7Annexes
7.1Glossary
1Introduction
This document contains all open questions that each Tenderer has to answer.The answers will beread and evaluated during the award phase of the public procurement.
The Tenderer should write its answers to the tables in this document without adjusting the width of the tables or the cells. The font “Calibri (Body), size 11” is to be used and the page margins shouldn’t be adjusted. If the answer is longer than requested, the EP will read the answer only till the allowed length and ignore the rest of the answer. Links to the external content (e.g. web pages, attachments, documents in separate file) will not be followed.
2General requirements
2.1License
Question 2.1)Please describe the license offered, covering at least EP’s minimum requirements, including third party software or middleware not on the EP environment list.(max. 1 page)
2.2Warranty
2.3Product roadmap
Question 2.3 I)Describe your ERMS product roadmap for the next three years. What kind of major releases are foreseen and what are the new features that will be available? Do these releases have an effect on the ERMS solution proposed to EP (e.g. need to re-implement interfaces/re-customize features/re-configure system)? Are all new features always free of charge? How the product roadmap changes are communicated to the customers? How customers can give their feedback on the roadmap?(max. 1 page)
Question 2.3II)
List all the major releases of the ERMS during the past two years period with the most important changes introduced in each of them. (max. 1 page)
Question 2.3III)
Describe the position and importance of Enterprise Content Management and especially Records Management in your product portfolio. If you foresee any major changes on the importance of the ECM/RM or your possibilities to deliver the products or services during the contract period, please describe these changes as well. (max. 1 page)
Question 2.3IV)
If the Tenderer’s offer will be accepted and a contract will be signed, how big share of Contractor’s turn-over will come from this contract during the next three years? What will be the EP’s importance for the Contractor? (max. 1 page)
3Functional requirements
3.1Introduction
3.2Compliance with records management standards
Question 3.2)If compliance has not been certified, explain why you consider that the ERMS is compliant with one of the records management standards listed in the specifications. (max. 1 page)
3.3Records management functions
3.3.1Registration
3.3.2Management of documents and records
Question 3.3.2)Describe the features provided for creating, saving and managing documents before registration. (max. 1 page)
3.3.3Attribution of a permanent link
3.3.4Filing
Question 3.3.4)Explain how the system allows users to file records in several folders (which may be associated to different retention periods) without creating duplicates. (max. 1 page)
3.3.5Management of folders
Question 3.3.5)Please describe how folders are created and managed, specifying folders’ metadata, folders’ status (open, closed...), access rights associated and also facilities to re-structure the folders (e.g. move between headings of the filing plan). (max. 1 page)
3.3.6Management of the filing plan
Question 3.3.6)Explain how the filing plan may be structured, in particular if there is a maximum number of headings’ levels, possible access rights and retention periods associated to headings, etc. (max. 1 page)
3.3.7Management of the functional classification scheme
Question 3.3.7)Explain how a functional classification scheme may be created and managed, specifying in particular functional classes’ metadata and access rights, how a functional class may be associated to a given retention policy (retention period and action to take at the end of the ARP), etc. (max. 1 page)
3.3.8Preservation of folders
Question 3.3.8)Explain how the system manages folders’ preservation (e.g. alerts sent to authorised users, possibility to launch the ARP not only at the closure of the file but also at other moments, deletion of records filed in folders associated to different retention periods, etc.). (max. 1 page)
3.3.9Conversion of written records to pdf and stamping
3.4Records management services for other applications
3.4.1Basic services
Question 3.4.1)Describe the services, both mandatory and optional, that the ERMS may provide to other applications. (max. 1 page)
3.4.2Specific custom metadata
3.5Integration with specific Parliament’s IT systems
3.5.1Integration with the system for the management of archives.
Question 3.5.1)Present two case studies that show how the system was integrated with another system for long-term archiving (e.g. type of objects transferred, formats, metadata, etc.). (max. 1 page)
3.5.2Integration with the Register (ERR) for publication
3.5.3Integration with Outlook
Question 3.5.3)Explain the features provided by the integration of the ERMS with MS Outlook (e.g. possibility to capture email text only, attachments only or both, automatically captured metadata of incoming and outgoing email, etc.). (max. 1 page)
3.6Basic administration functions
3.6.1Access rights
Question 3.6.1)Describe how access rights are managed in the ERMS, including at least the following items: attribution of roles to users, attribution of access rights to user groups, access rights associated to folders, definition of classification hierarchy for access rights and association of ACLs to records. (max. 1 page)
3.6.2User community management
Question 3.6.2)Describe the roles available in the ERMS (e.g. user, authorised user, records manager, system administrator, etc.), specifying in particular their permissions. Explain also how the ERMS grants access rights to users because of their membership to a given group of users and how the ERMS manages access rights of users who hold two or more positions (e.g. Head of Unit and Director ad interim). (max. 1 page)
3.6.3Search
3.6.4Administration and monitoring
Question 3.6.4.I)Describe the tools that system administrators have for the administration of the ERMS, in particular to monitor the use of the system, to setup profiles, to attribute permissions, to manage system parameters, to modify and delete records and to manage entities’ ACL. (max. 1 page)
Question 3.6.4.II)
Explain how the ERMS may capture or export records and other objects as a bulk transfer from/to other software (e.g. an Office software). (max. 1 page)
Question 3.6.4.III)
Explain how the ERMS allows to manage the creation and validation of new external senders/recipients metadata. (max. 1 page)
3.6.5Reporting
Question 3.6.5)Please describe the ready-made reports in the system, how they can be configured and how new reports can be added. (max. 1 page)
3.6.6Audit trail
3.6.7Interface
Question 3.6.7)Explain the main features of the interface, including at least the following topics: may be configured to client’s look-and-feel? does it allow users to create favourite objects? How context-sensitive help is provided to users? Can users personalise the interface? Is it possible to undo non-confirmed changes? (max. 1 page)
3.6.8Remote access
Question 3.6.8)If, based on the access type, the system provides policy discrimination, describe the one available. (max. 1/2 page)
3.7Additional requirements
3.7.1Scanning
Question 3.7.1)Explain how the system capture paper documents from scanners. (max. 1 page)
3.7.2Notifications
Question 3.7.2)Explain how the system manages notifications, specifying at least the events that can be notified, if notifications are sent inside the system or outside (e-mail) and how notifications may be configured. (max. 1 page)
3.7.3Electronic workflow
Question 3.7.3)Describe the main features of electronic workflow facilities. (max. 1 page)
3.7.4Automatic access rights for recipients
Question 3.7.4)If a document registered concerns mail exchanged between internal users of the Parliament, explain how the ERMS ensures that the record is shared automatically between EP internal sender(s) and recipients, even in cases where the recipients don’t have access to the folder(s) where the record is filed by the sender(s). (max. 1 page)
3.7.5Assignments
Question 3.7.5)Describe the features provided by the ERMS for assigning tasks on records to users (e.g. type of tasks, deadline, degree of importance, etc.) and how the progress of the assignments can be monitored. (max. 1 page)
3.7.6Markings (confidential non-classified documents)
Question 3.7.6)Explain how the ERMS restricts access rights to confidential non-classified records, specifying in particular how the system combines the authorization to consult a specific type of confidential non-classified record and the access right to the folder where the record is filed. (max. 1 page)
3.7.7Linking related records/folders
3.7.8Delegations
Question 3.7.8)Describe delegation facilities provided by the system (e.g. limitation of delegations to non-confidential records and to a certain period of time, possibilities to delegate in cascade, etc.). (max. 1 page)
3.7.9Multilingualism
Question 3.7.9)Describe multilingualism facilities provided by the ERMS, including at least the following topics: multilingual interface, Unicode compliance and linking several linguistic versions to the same record after registration. (max. 1 page)
3.7.10Templates
Question 3.7.10)Describe facilities provided by the ERMS to create and manage templates prescribing the structure of documents and explain how this feature is implemented (e.g. roles authorised to create templates, metadata available, possibility to derive metadata field values from documents automatically, etc.). (max. 1 page)
4Non-functional requirements
4.1Environment
Question 4.1)Describe the server infrastructure and approximate sizing you foresee for the EP’s ERMS installation. (max. 1 page)
4.1.1Storage
Question 4.1.1)Explain how the ERMS will ensure integrity, authenticity, availability and readability in time.(max. 1 page)
4.2Performance efficiency
4.2.1Time behaviour
Question 4.2.1)Explain how many simultaneous users working with large records (e.g. the ones with multimedia content) is the system able to manage without affecting the performance (response times) of the system and at what point (threshold) investments in additional infrastructure would be needed (sizing formula). (max. 1 page)
4.2.2Resource utilization
4.2.3Capacity
Question 4.2.3)Explain the maximum ERMS capacity in terms of number of records stored, number of concurrent users, database size and network bandwidth. (max. 1 page)
4.3Software Product
Question 4.3)Describe the proposed software product and the components covering the EP requirements. max. 1 page)
4.4Security
4.4.1Confidentiality
Question 4.4.1)Please enumerate all cryptographic algorithms supported by the system (max. 1 paragraph)
4.4.2Integrity
Question 4.4.2.I)What mechanisms are implemented by the ERMS to guarantee the long-term integrity of records and how integrity is protected from system administration teams? (max. 1 paragraph)
Question 4.4.2.II)
What well-known industry anti-malware products are supported to scan uploaded documents for malicious content?(max. 1 paragraph)
4.4.3Authentication
Question 4.4.3.I)If the system supports 2-factor authentication mechanisms, what such mechanisms are supported? (max. 1 paragraph)
Question 4.4.3.II)
If login/password credentials are stored within the system, how are they securely stored (e.g. is one-way encryption/hashing used)? (max. 1 paragraph)
Question 4.4.3.III)
If login/password credentials are stored outside of the system, what password stores (e.g. LDAP servers, Active Directory used as a LDAP server) can the system interact with? (max. 1 paragraph)
Question 4.4.3.IV)
If the system can rely on external authentication mechanisms / identity providers, such as Integrated Windows Authentication, please enumerate the supported authentication mechanisms. (max. 1 paragraph)
4.4.4Authorisation
Question 4.4.4.I)If the system supportsa role-based authorisation model, please enumerate all roles supported by the system and provide their description. (max. 1 page)
Question 4.4.4.II)
If the system can rely on external authorisation / access management mechanisms, such as OpenAM, please enumerate supported authorisation products (max. 1 paragraph).
4.4.5User Access Management
Question 4.4.5)Within roles defined internally by the system, please describe what roles are related to user access management operations. (max. 1 paragraph)
4.4.6Application Security
Question 4.4.6)If the system is developed in compliance with secure development frameworks, please enumerate which one(s). (max. 1 paragraph)
4.5Reliability
4.5.1Availability, flexibility, resiliency and scalability
Question 4.5.1)Explain how the ERMS is designed in a resilient and scalable way. Present case studies (specifying anonymised client references) that show how the system scaled given a sudden increase in usage and what were the necessary investments to make it scale. (max. 2 pages)
4.5.2Fault tolerance
Question 4.5.2)Please describe the fault tolerance capabilities of the ERMS (e.gload balancing, redundancy, etc.). (max. 1 page)
4.5.3Recoverability
4.6Compatibility
4.6.1Co-existence
4.6.2Interoperability
Question 4.6.2)Explain the different integration methods/techniques available in the proposed ERMS system.
(max. 1 pages)
4.6.2.1Integration with Authentication systems
4.6.2.2Integration with the Reporting system
Question 4.6.2.2)Describe how the ERMS reporting shall be technically implemented. (max. 1 page)
4.6.2.3Integration with reference data system (CODICT)
4.6.2.4Integration with Historical archives (Clavis)
Question 4.6.2.4)Explain on a high level how the ERMS could be integrated to EP’s Clavis system. How do you propose to manage the situation where Clavis rejects the records being transferred due to the metadata quality issues? (max. 1 page)
4.6.2.5Integration with scanners
Question 4.6.2.5)Describe how the ERMS will be integrated during the Deployment project to the scanners being used in EP. (max. 1 page)
4.6.2.6Integration with client applications
Question 4.6.2.6.I)The EP has currently an application “A” (Technologies used: Oracle/Hibernate/JPA2, Spring 3.x, Spring MVC 3.x), Apache CXF 2.x/Apache CFX REST 2.x/HornetQ, Tomcat 8), which uses the records management features of GEDA via SOAP Web services. Describe what should be done in order this application to be able to start to use the ERMS instead. Estimate the work needed both on ERMS side and on application “A” side to implement this integration. (max. 1 page)
Question 4.6.2.6.II)
Describe how the ERMS should be integrated to a custom-build java based web application (see “European Parliament IT Environment” for additional details regarding the standard technologies/tools/applications that will be used) “B” with 50 concurrent users, who have continuous need to add or retrieve documents from ERMS to support their daily work). Estimate the work needed both on ERMS side and on application “B” side to implement this integration. (max. 1 page)
Question 4.6.2.6.III)
Describe how the ERMS should be integrated to the SharePoint 2013 site “C” being used in EP for collaboration and workflow by a limited number of users. The number of documents/records is going to be around 500. Estimate the work needed both on ERMS side and on site “C” side to implement this integration. (max. 1 page)
4.6.2.7Integration with EP’s electronic signature solution
4.6.2.8Other integrations available
4.7Usability
4.7.1Operability
4.7.2User error protection
4.7.3Accessibility
4.7.4Remote access
4.8Technical deployment
4.8.1Accessibility
4.8.2Deliverables
4.8.3Documentation
4.8.4Functional, security and load testing
4.8.5Acceptation of changes
4.9Portability
4.9.1Adaptability
4.9.2Deployment
4.9.3Replaceability
4.9.4Cloud evolution
Question 4.9.4)If the EP decides to move to the cloud (e.g. SaaS), explain what is available per today, what kind of solutions shall be available in 2021 and how do you see the migration from the initial solution to the cloud. (max. 1 page)
5Services
5.1Features
5.2Maintenance services
5.3Warranty services
5.4Training
Question 5.4)Describe thee-Learning facilities provided.(max. 1 page)
5.4.1Training for technical personnel
Question 5.4.1)Describe the training required for EP technical staff (backup, monitoring, network, ...) to obtain a suitable level of expertise, specifying the number of days needed. (max. 1 page)
5.4.2Training for system administrators and super-users
Question 5.4.2)Describe the training required for system administrator and super-users to obtain a suitable level of expertise, specifying the number of days needed. (max. 1 page)
5.4.3Training for end users
Question 5.4.3)Describe the training for end-users and the train-the-trainers service proposed, specifying at least the number of days needed and how technical and business functions are covered. (max. 1 page)
5.4.4Ad hoc training courses
5.4.5Training materials
5.4.6Information sharing between customers
5.5Consultancy
Question 5.5)Describe theconsultancy services provided, both on-site and off-site.(max. 1 page)
5.6Configuration, customisation and application development
Question 5.6.I)Describe what kind of user change requests (caused by the changing business processes) can be implemented in the system by just configuring the system differently. (max. 1 page)
Question 5.6.II)
Describe what kind of user change requests (caused by the changing business processes) that cannot be provided by just configuring the system differently, can be implemented through customisation. (max. 1 page)
Question 5.6.III)
Describe what kind of features that cannot be provided by configuring or customising the system, can be supplied by developing client applications within the ERMS or based on ERMS technology (you can use the list of functionalities listed in the chapter 3 of the technical specifications as an example). (max. 1 page)
Question 5.6.IV)
Give two examples of client applications developed within the ERMS or based on ERMS technology, specifying the main functionalities supplied. (max. 1 page)
5.7Service management
Question 5.7)Describe the different roles in a team in charge of managing the ERMS service provided to the EP.
(max. 1 page)
6Deployment project
6.1Project scope