Open Source

e-PRIORPre-Award 2.0

Release Notes

11/15/2018 / Page 1

Contents

1.Introduction

1.1.Release details

1.2.Prerequisites

2.Availability and Description

2.1.Package Overview

2.1.1.e-Submission new features

2.1.2.e-Evaluation and e-Awarding new modules

2.2.Detailed Description

2.2.1.Supplier Portal

2.2.1.e-Submission Front-Office applet

2.2.2.Pre-Award Back-Office

2.2.3.Known limitations

3.Documentation

1.Introduction

1.1.Release details

Open Source e-PRIOR Pre-Award 2.0 was released on March 31st, 2016. This release includes the modules

-Supplier Portal

-e-Submission front-Office (a.k.a. SPOTS)

-e-Submission Back-Office (a.k.a. CUBE)

-Open e-PRIOR

This release is based on the standard UBL (Universal Business Language) 2.1 PRD 2.

1.2.Prerequisites

-JBoss AS 7.1.1.Final is included in the full distribution.

-MySQL Server, version 5.6.19 or higher can be used.

2.Availability and Description

2.1.Package Overview

The distribution package is available at the following address:

Business processes covered on this release:

  • Enhanced support of the submissions of Tenders for Open Procedures
  • Limited support (building blocks) of "Restricted Procedures", "Negotiated Procedures" and "Calls for Expression of Interest". Further implementation is required; a more complete support of the above-listed procedures is under development.
  • Evaluation of Tenders: data entry of evaluation results and exchanging of messages with the Economic Operators
  • Awarding of Tenderers: data entry of awarding results and sending Awarding Notification to Economic Operators

2.1.1.e-Submission new features

  • system compliant with Directive 2014/24/EU
  • GUI for the module used by the Economic Operators to submit tenders is now multilingual (24 EU official languages)
  • itsupports Call for Tenders with and without lot. In case of Call for Tenders with lots, it allows the submission of Tenders for:
  • only one lot
  • somebut not all lots
  • all lots
  • improved clarity of messages provided by the system to the Economic Operator
  • improved auto-save function when composing the tender
  • the requirement to include in the tender bundle, either for the sole tenderer or for each member of a consortium, a Declaration on Honour (self-declaration that reduces the burden for the Economic Operators to provide all evidences at submission time)
  • reduced time required to submit a consolidated tender bundle
  • back-up copies of the submitted tender are stored on the local workstation of the Economic Operator
  • the opening session decryption process has been improved (two-step decryption)
  • during the Opening Session, the user can now view, add, edit, and delete remarks to received Tenders
  • improved handling of late tenders,i.e. tenders received after the receipt time limit (protected)
  • support of "lowest price" award criteria (prices are shown during Opening Session)
  • improved report produced at the end of the Opening Session
  • improved download of the received tenders (the ZIP structure is now more intuitive and easier to manage)
  • the system blocks the closure of the Opening Session if not all the Tenders/Qualifications have been marked as 'Admissible' or 'Inadmissible'
  • improved shortlist management to feed and support the Evaluation phase
  • improved mailbox management for the Economic Operators (messages related to the submission are more clearly grouped and the GUI is more intuitive)
  • some support of a two-step submission procedure (mechanism required to support Restricted Procedures, Negotiated Procedures, Call for Expression of Interests, DPS

2.1.2.e-Evaluation and e-Awarding new modules

The system now allows to:

  • exchange requests for clarifications and requests for evidences, and their replies
  • enter the results of the evaluation,
  • enter the results of the awarding,
  • prepare and send awarding notifications
  • exchange requests for information during the standstill period (requests issued by Economic Operators after the awarding notification).

2.2.Detailed Description

2.2.1.Supplier Portal

This portal is a website application in whichthe Pre-Award Front-Office module (see also "e-Submission Front-Office applet" below) is instantiated and contains a number of additional features.

New Notification email

  • generation of a notification email to the user when the Tender Receipt is available in the mailbox

New support for exchange messages with the back-office

  • the consultation of requests for clarifications received from the Contracting Authority during the Evaluation phase
  • the sending of a reply to a request for clarification with the option to attach supporting documents (Evaluation phase)
  • the consultation ofrequests for evidencesreceived from the Contracting Authority during the Evaluation and Awarding phases
  • the sending of a reply to a request for evidences with the option toattach supporting documents (Evaluation and Awarding phases)
  • the sending and consultation of requests for information during the standstill period (requests issued by Economic Operators after receiving the awarding notification).

2.2.2.e-Submission Front-Office applet

The e-Submission Front-Office applet component (aka SPOTS), is instantiated within the Supplier Portal to allow Economic Operators to fill in and submit their tenders, and within e-Submission Back-Office (aka CUBE) to allow Contracting Authorities to "preview" the forms that the Economic Operator has to fill to reply to a call for tender.

This version includes the following new or improved features:

  • support of two-step procedures
  • improved built-in verifications
  • improved entering data forms
  • improved functions to save, load and validate draft tenders
  • improved submission performance

Support of two-step procedures

  • support for thetwo-step submission procedures (e.g. Restricted Procedures, Negotiated Procedures, Call for Expression of Interests, DPS): first the submission of qualifications info (that will be subject to an evaluation in order to reduce the number of participants to the second step), followed by the submission of tenders in a second step (only for those Economic Operators whose qualifications are in the shortlist at the end of the first step).

New Built-in verifications

  • verification of the Call for Tenders XML sealing through anintegration with an e-Signature Service (external to the application and not included in the package), to ensure the Call for Tenders content is valid
  • display of a warning if a new version of a Call for Tenders has been released (e.g. a Corrigendum), and theupdate of the information of the Call for Tenders according to the changes in the new version
  • automatic check if the user is opening the application from a bookmark (in order to reduce the risk of pointing to an obsolete version/corrigendum)

New Data Form features

  • multi-language support, all 24 official languages of the EU
  • the requirement to attach the Declaration on honour
  • a Declaration on Honour (self-declaration that reduces the burden for the Economic Operators who can avoid to provide all the evidences at submission time) should be included in the tender bundle, either for the sole tenderer or for all members of the consortium,
  • new Selection Criterion "Capacity to pursue the Professional activity"with the possibility to attach supporting documents for this new Selection Criterion.

Improved functions to save, load and validate draft tenders

  • consultation ofthe summary of the attachments
  • opening of a draft tender:
  • to resume the work of a draft tender.
  • As "read-only" if the Tender has been submitted.
  • To create a new tender based on a tender that has been submittedpreviously.
  • improved validations when opening a draft tender, to detect possible errors
  • auto-creation of a back-up draft tender

Improved Submit Tender function

  • improved performance of the submission of Tenders

2.2.3.Pre-Award Back-Office

The Pre-Award Back-Office (aka CUBE) is integrated throughan interface with an e-Access system that is in charge of the publication of the Call for Tenders and the management of the Questions & Answers related to the procurement procedure.

The back-office allows the Contracting Authorities to preview the Tender input screens as they will be seen by the Economic Operators in the e-Submission Front-Office, to transmit to the Front Office the XML template associated to the Call For Tenders that the Economic Operators will have to fill, to open and export tenders during the opening session,to introduce the results of the evaluation, to award tenderers, and to interact with the Economic Operators during the Evaluation and Awarding phases.

This version includes the following new/improved features:

Improved security

  • The system applies ane-seal on the Call for Tenders XML to guarantee the integrity of the content (including the public key to be used to encrypt the tenders).

Improved Search and View Call For Tenders

  • key words can be put instead of the full Call for Tenders Reference
  • improved screen layout and user experience

Improved browsing of received Tenders (Opening Session)

  • support for thetwo-step submission procedures (e.g. Restricted Procedures, Negotiated Procedures, Call for Expression of Interests, DPS): first the reception of qualifications info (that is subject to an evaluation in order to reduce the number of participants for the second step), followed bythe reception of the tenders in a second step (only for those Economic Operators whose qualifications are in the shortlist at the end of the first step)
  • displays of the following information for the received Tenders: Name of the Tenderer (including the Consortium members if applicable) & the Price if the Awarding Criterion is "Lowest Price"
  • late Tenders (i.e. Tenders received after the submission deadline) are not marked in red
  • opening of the Tenders with a two-step decryption
  • possibility to add, edit and delete remarks to Tenders
  • the information of Tenders is hidden if the Tender has been received after the submission deadline and is not marked as 'Admissible'
  • in case a late Tender is marked as 'Admissible', the system now forces the user to add a remark to justify the reasons why the Tender was admitted in spite of being too late
  • improved screen layout and user experience

Improved download of Tenders Qualifications

  • only Tenders (or Qualifications in case of step 1 of a two-step procedure) marked as 'Admissible' can be downloaded
  • the download of Tenders (or Qualifications in case of step 1 of a two-step procedure) marked as "Inadmissible" is now blocked
  • a Tender (or Qualification in case of step 1 of a two-step procedure) is downloaded as a zip file with an improved structure

Improved Opening Report and closuse of the Opening Session

  • the Opening Report contains the Price if the Awarding Criterion is "Lowest Price"
  • the Opening Session cannot be closed if not all the Tenders/Qualifications are marked as 'Admissible' or 'Inadmissible'

Evaluation of Tenders / Qualifications

  • the introduction of the evaluation results for all Tenders marked as 'Admissible'
  • the possibility for each Tender/Qualification to:
  • enter the result on exclusion criteria,
  • enter the result on capacity and professional activity,
  • enter the result on technical and Professional capacity,
  • enter the result on economic and financial capacity,
  • specify the overall qualification result,
  • enter the qualification evaluation date,
  • enter the tender score,
  • enter the evaluation rank,
  • enter the tender evaluation date,
  • the possibility to view, add, edit and delete remarks to tenders
  • the sending of requests for tender clarification and requests of evidences to the Economic Operators
  • the settingof a due date for the reply to requests for tender clarification and requests for evidences,
  • consultation of the messagesexchanged with the Economic Operators (such as requests for clarification and requestsforevidences)
  • replies from the Economic Operator that are received after the due date, are marked
  • saving the evaluation results
  • closing the evaluation session once the evaluation is finished
  • the consultation of the evaluation results in "read-only mode" after closing the evaluation session

Awarding of Tenderers

  • entering the awarding rank
  • selection of the winner(s)
  • the possibility to view, add, edit and deleteremarks
  • the sending of requests for Evidences to the Economic Operators
  • consultation of the messages exchanged with the Economic Operators
  • saving the awarding results
  • closing the awarding session once the awarding is finished
  • see the results of the awarding as "read-only mode" after the closing of the awarding

Prepare and Send Awarding Notifications

  • preparation and saving of the awarding notifications
  • the setting of the stand still period end date
  • the possibility to add attachments
  • the sending of theawarding notifications
  • replying to requests for information issued by Economic Operators during the standstill period
  • consultation of the messages exchanged with the Economic Operators

Development of Building Blocks/Service for support of DPS and e-Auction

  • e-Qualification (step 1 of two-step procedures during which the qualifications that are required to be admitted to the DPS and to the e-Auction rounds,have to be submitted to the Contracting Authority)
  • shortlist management sub-system allowing to manage the shortlist for a procurement procedure (this could be adapted /extended to be used for DPS, its related individual procedures and for e-Auction rounds)
  • the submission process following the e-Qualification step can be instantiated for the individual procedures related to the DPS
  • Opening Session functionality
  • the Evaluation and the Awarding modules with support for exchanges with Economic Operators (to send requests for clarifications, requests for evidences and awarding notifications to Economic Operators, and to consult their replies)

2.2.4.Known limitations

This section provides information about issues encountered during the test phase, and lists restrictions due to the default configuration.

Open items related to Supplier Portal and e-Submission Front-Office (SPOTS):

  • Compatibility issue on Win 8.1 using surface (issue ID 3521)
  • Java6 not running on Win 8.1/Win 7 anymore (IE11 and GC41/42) (issue ID 3526)
  • Timeout not occurring overnight in IE and FF - user can continue to work but gets an exception when submitting (issue ID 3717)
  • Cross Platform Ubuntu: it's possible to continue work on a saved session that is a few days old (issue ID 3480)
  • Invalid value for Time zone field stopping the consolidation (issue ID 3189)
  • Time-out not reached in FF / IE (in FF Ubuntu similarities and differences) (issue ID 3416)
  • No error messages in case of a disabled java plugin in IE (issue ID 3744)
  • Cosmetics issues in Linux Ubuntu - Java8 (issue ID 3028)

Open items related to Pre-Award Back-Office (CUBE):

  • Time zone in the back-office is always CEST (issue ID 8915)
  • If there are no Awarding Notifications to send, the back-officeshould give a clear message (issue ID 9130)
  • Improve landing screen after closing the opening session (issue ID 9149)
  • Cancelled lots may not be treated like active lots in the CfT workflow (issue ID 9121)
  • Display the prices in the case of low prices regardless of the grouping (issue ID 6792)
  • Add a specific section on the "Tender Receipt" for the Declaration on Honour (issue ID 9049)
  • Make the back-office robust enough to avoid exceptions and interrupt the Opening Session execution (issue ID 8845)
  • Add a friendly page in case the user doesn't have access to the back-office (issue ID 9017)
  • Have a “Previous” button that allows to go to the previous tenderer (issue ID 7240)
  • Implement compatibility checks when launching the preview in the back-office (issue ID 7224)

Open items related to Open e-PRIOR:

No known issues or limitations

3.Documentation

The description of the Open e-PRIOR project can be found at the following address:

Any questions or issues can be reported via the forum:

or via email:

The Open Source e-PRIOR Pre-Awardrelease is available on Joinup at the following address:

The SVN repository of Open Source e-PRIOR Pre-Award 2.0can be accessed at the following address:

Full list of functionalities are also available on Joinup

Open Source e-PRIOR Pre-Award 2.0 / Page 1 / 9