Annex I
INSTRUCTIONS TO BIDDERS
A. INTRODUCTION
1. General
UNDP invites Sealed Bids for the Delivery, Installation and Support of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) Equipment for Public Libraries under Project No. 00071115: Bulgarian Libraries – Access Points to Information and Communication for All Program (Glob@l Libraries – Bulgaria Program).
2. Eligible Bidders
Bidders should not be associated, or have been associated in the past, directly or indirectly, with a firm or any of its affiliates which have been engaged by UNDP to provide consulting services for the preparation of the design specifications, and other documents to be used for the procurement of delivery, installation and support of ICT equipment items under this Invitation to Bid.
3. Cost of Bid
The Bidder shall bear all costs associated with the preparation and submission of the Bid, and UNDP will in no case be responsible or liable for those costs, regardless of the conduct or outcome of the solicitation.
B. SOLICITATION DOCUMENTS
4. Contents of Solicitation Documents
Bids must meet all technical specifications, quantities, documentation and requirements in their totality as specified in the Technical Specifications and Requirements (Annex II). Bids offering only part of the technical specifications, quantities, documentation and requirements will be rejected.
5. Examination of Solicitation Documents
The Bidder is expected to examine all corresponding instructions, forms, terms and specifications contained in the Solicitation Documents. Failure to comply with these documents will be at the Bidder’s risk and may affect the evaluation of the Bid.
6. Clarification of Solicitation Documents
A prospective Bidder requiring any clarification of the Solicitation Documents may notify UNDP in English and in writing. The response shall be made in writing to any request for clarification of the Solicitation Documents that UNDP receives earlier than one week prior to the Deadline for the Submission of Bids. Written responses in English (including an explanation of the query but without identifying the source of inquiry) shall be posted on www.glbulgaria.bg and www.undp.bg
7. Amendments of Solicitation Documents
No later than one week prior to the Deadline for Submission of Bids, UNDP may, for any reason, whether at its own initiative or in response to a clarification requested by a prospective Bidder, amend the Solicitation Documents. Any amendments will be published on www.glbulgaria.bg and on www.undp.bg. In order to afford prospective Bidders reasonable time in which to take the amendments into account in preparing their offers, UNDP may, at its discretion, extend the Deadline for the Submission of Bids.
C. PREPARATION OF BIDS
8. Language of the Bid
The Bid prepared by the Bidder and all correspondence and documents relating to the Bid exchanged by the Bidder and UNDP shall be written in the English language.
9. Eligibility Characteristics and Requirements
Participation in this procedure is open on equal terms to Bulgarian and foreign legal entities.
Eligible Bidders can be either companies or consortiums that meetthe eligibility characteristics and requirements, qualifications and conformity to the present solicitation package, as set below.
9.1. Eligibility Characteristics
(a) Bidders should not be associated, or have been associated in the past, directly or indirectly, with a company or any of its affiliates which have been engaged by UNDP to provide consulting services to the documents to be used for the preparation under this Invitation to Bid.
(b) Bidders shall not be considered eligible and will be excluded from participation in this procedure if:
i) They are bankrupt or being wound up, are having their affairs administered by the courts, have entered into an arrangement with creditors, have suspended business activities, are the subject of proceedings concerning those matters, or are in any analogous situation arising from a similar procedure provided for in national legislation or regulations;
ii) They have not fulfilled obligations relating to the payment of social security contributions or the payment of taxes in accordance with the legal provisions of the country where they are established;
(c) In the case of a consortium:
i) One of the consortium members shall be a leading organization under the present procedure and shall bear full responsibility on behalf of all consortium members for all contracted duties.
ii) Each consortium member has to meet individually the eligibility characteristics listed in sub-clause 9.1(b).
iii) Consortium members as a whole must meet the eligibility requirements for experience as a contractor of similar contracts, financial and human resources capacity listed in the table below.
iv) All consortium members will be jointly and severally responsible for performance of the awarded contract.
9. 2. Eligibility Requirements
№ / Description / Eligibility Requirements1. / Bidder Profile and Professional Experience
(a) / General information about the Bidder / (1) The Bidder is a company, whose professional experience is in delivery, installation and support of ICT equipment.
(2) The Bidder is a consortium, whose members have professional experience in delivery, installation and support of ICT equipment.
(b) / Experience as a contractor of similar contracts / Three successful contracts of similar scope during the previous consecutive five years (2005 – 2009), one of which for at least USD 1,000,000 (one million USD)
(c) / Quality Management System / The Bidder (in case of consortium – each member) is expected to have quality management system certified under ISO 9000
2. / Financial Resources Capacity
(a) / Total revenue for the previous consecutive three years (2006 – 2008) / USD 50,000,000
(b) / Current liquidity capacity for the performance of the contract / Net working capital: USD 500,000 or higher (for companies bidding individually and for consortiums as a whole)
Quick ratio of 1 or higher (for companies bidding individually and for each consortium member)
3. / Human Resources Capacity
(a) / Support service centres in Bulgaria / Minimum six support service centres in six different cities spread around Bulgaria, providing full national coverage. Each service centre should have at least 2 IT support specialists, who provide full support necessary for IT equipment.
(b) / Project Coordinator (Administration) / Person with five years relevant experience in administrative management of projects with similar scope.
(c) / Quality Assurance Coordinator for IT support services / Person with three years relevant experience in quality assurance management of IT support activities.
(d) / Dedicated staff available for delivery, installation and support of ICT equipment / The Bidder has at least 30 IT support staff, who will be dedicated for the delivery, installation and support of ICT equipment. Of these 30, the Bidder shall have at least 15 certified IT support staff who will be available for the delivery, installation and for the warranty support, where at least 5 of these 15 IT support staff shall be certified by the manufacturer to support the ICT equipment.
The Bidder shall have at least another 15 IT support staff that will be available for the provision of onsite software support services.
A minimum of 5 of the 30 IT support staff shall be Microsoft Certified.
4. / Methodology – in accordance with Annex II. Technical Specifications and Requirements
(a) / Description (up to 3 pages) / Describe the methodology for organizing and completing the delivery, installation and support of ICT equipment for the target libraries under the Glob@l Libraries - Bulgaria Program. The methodology will take into consideration:
· the volume of work
· the territorial distribution of the target libraries
· the optimal time frame for completing the work
· Subcontractors – the type and scope of activities, if applicable
(b) / Work plan (up to 5 pages) / Prepare an indicative work plan for the delivery and installation of ICT equipment to the target libraries for Phase One 2009 (as per the list of target libraries available on http://glbulgaria.bg/en/page.php?c=39). The work plan will commence following the contract signature and will include at least the following tasks: supply of ICT equipment without operating system (OS); installation of operating system and specified list of software (approved OS image) on the computers; on-site delivery, installation, configuration and acceptance test of all equipment for Phase One 2009 at 455 libraries spread around Bulgaria.
(c) / Support of ICT equipment (up to 4 pages) / Prepare a description (up to 2 pages) and user guide of the available ICT service request management system, providing ICT equipment users the opportunity to create and monitor the status of their ICT service requests. This system should provide UNDP or its authorized representatives the opportunity to monitor service delivery levels for quality control purposes.
Prepare a time schedule (up to 2 pages) for single ICT service request resolution. The schedule should clearly state the steps, time frame and resources involved in the resolution
9.3 Documents Establishing the Bidder’s Eligibility, Qualifications and the Conformity of Delivery, Installation and Support of ICT Equipment to Bidding Documents
The Bidder shall furnish as part of its Bid, documents establishing the Bidder’s eligibility, qualifications and conformity to the Bidding Documents of all ICT equipment and related ICT delivery, installation and support under the Contract. The Documentary Evidence of the Bidder’s eligibility, qualifications and conformity to perform the Contract if its Bid is accepted shall be established to UNDP’s satisfaction.
The Documentary Evidence shall consist of:
(a) In order to demonstrate they meet all eligibility characteristics and requirements, Bidders shall submit supporting documents in English or in legalized translation into English in accordance with the list below. In the case of a consortium, consortium members shall nominate one of the members as a leading organization who will be authorized to represent the consortium and sign all documents on its behalf. The requested documents will be submitted for individual members of the consortium or by nominated sub-contractors:
i. For Bulgarian legal entities or sole traders - Court and VAT registration, BULSTAT registration or certificate from the Commercial Register under Art. 23 of the Bulgarian Commercial Register Act. For foreign persons – certificates for incorporation under the law of the country in which the candidate is established.
ii. The Certificate of the current legal status/registration of the Bidder issued by the competent authority certificates for incorporation under the law of the country in which the Bidder is established not earlier than three months of date of submission of the Bid.
iii. Documentary proof under the law of the country in which the Bidder is established, to show that the Bidder does not have unfulfilled obligations relating to the payment of social security contributions or the payment of taxes in accordance with the legal provisions of the country where they are established.
iv. Documentary proof under the law of the country in which the Bidder is established, to show that it is not bankrupt or being wound up/having its affairs administered by the courts.
(b) Duly filled out and signed Form 6. Company Declaration stating that the Bidder does not fall into any of the exclusion situations listed below:
i. has entered into an arrangement with creditors, has suspended business activities, is the subject of proceedings concerning those matters, or is in any analogous situation arising from a similar procedure provided for in national legislation or regulations;
ii. has been the subject of a judgment for fraud, corruption, involvement in a criminal organization or any other illegal activity.
(c) In the case of a consortium:
i. a copy of the relevant consortium contract, duly filled out by individual Consortium Members Form 6. Company Declaration and duly filled out Form 7. Consortium Declaration;
ii. a Power of Attorney for the consortium representative duly signed by legal representatives of all the Consortium members.
(d) Annual balance sheet and Profit/Loss Account of the Bidder for the previous consecutive three years (2006, 2007 and 2008) – copies certified by the candidate, each member of the consortium.
(e) Document for certification of the Quality Management System under ISO 9000.
(f) A detailed description of the technical parameters of the ICT equipment in accordance with the Technical Specifications and Requirements (Annex II) duly included in Form 1. Technical Specifications and in the Bidder’s Draft Service Level Agreement for Onsite Warranty Hardware Support Services of ICT equipment and in the Bidder’s Draft Service Level Agreement for Software Support Services.
(g) A list of the User Documentation and Warranty and Maintenance Documentation for the 11 ICT equipment items duly included in Form 3. ICT Equipment Documentation and electronic copies of this documentation included on a CD(s).
(h) Documentary proof that the Bidder has at least 15 certified IT support staff who will be available for the delivery, installation and for the warranty support, where at least 5 of these 15 IT support staff shall be certified by the manufacturer to support the ICT equipment and a minimum of 5 shall be Microsoft Certified. Documentary proof that the Bidder has another 15 IT support staff that will be available for the provision of onsite software support services. A minimum of 5 of these IT support staff shall be Microsoft Certified. All certified IT support staff listed by the Bidder shall possess valid certificates and the Bidder undertakes to update these certificates on a periodic basis upon request from UNDP. Hard copies of the CV and the valid relevant certificate(s) for each employee in the two lists above shall be submitted by the Bidder. The Bidder shall also submit documentary proof that the listed certified employees are personnel of the Bidder and will be available to support the offered ICT equipment for the period of the Contract.
(i) Declaration of Conformity from the Manufacturer for the parameters for each ICT equipment item proposed by the Bidder (a copy signed and sealed by the Bidder stating: ‘True to the Original’).
(j) Declaration from the Manufacturer that the Manufacturer shall provide the requested warranty (as indicated in the Technical Specifications) for the laptops, desktops and servers offered by the Bidder (an original copy signed and sealed by the Manufacturer shall be provided).
(k) Valid Authorization from the Manufacturer to the Bidder to sell and deliver the offered laptops, desktops, servers, all printers and projectors (a copy signed and sealed by the Bidder stating: ‘True to the Original’).
(l) Valid Authorization from the Manufacturer to the Bidder to support the offered laptops, desktops, servers and all printers (a copy signed and sealed by the Bidder stating: ‘True to the Original’).