Overview

Conducting a rigorous procurement process will ensure a strong contractual position for governments and mitigate delivery risk in the provision of software and services. Central to this is a Request for Proposals (RFP) that clearly defines the system, requirements, deliverables and delivery timeframes. The procurement process outlined in this activity provides guidelines of a suggested approach, this should be used in conjunction with standard procurement processes.

Steps:

1

Evaluate the ability of government technical resources to develop the required digital CRVS system in-house, based on:

  • In-house development skills and experience
  • Resource availability
  • The possibility of joint development with other government agencies (e.g. Ministry of Health) or academic institutions

Procuring the services of external developers can be beneficial; if you decide to pursue this avenue, follow the steps below to procure an appropriate developer.

2

Define selection criteria by which all bidding applicants will be measured against (example below). This should specify both minimum and additional desirable criteria and each category should be weighted in terms of importance.

Criteria Definition Maximum Points

Personnel

Company Expertise

5

Team profile(s)

10

Deliverable Response

Implementation Plan

10

System Architecture

10

Requirements Coverage

15

Architecture Standards

10

Support Structure

Support & maintenance contract

10

Cost

Development

Licenses

Hardware

Testing

Indicative run-costs

Indicative maintenance

30
 

Total

100

Example Procurement Criteria

3

Develop a Request for Proposal (RFP) for the Digital CRVS System using the CRVS RFP Template. Include details of:

  • Dates for key activities in the procurement process including bidders conference, submission deadline, notification of application status, oral presentations, announcement of selection.
  • Bidding process e.g. open local competition, open regional competition, short-listed competition or sole source.
  • Submission process.
  • Deliverable schedule.
4

Review the RFP with the internal procurement team to ensure that it is compliant with standard clauses.

5

Release the RFP, providing applicants with enough time to put together proposals (generally 4-6 weeks after RFP release).

6

Contract Top Tips

  1. Define clear list of deliverables and scope of work.
  2. Link the delivery schedule with gated reviews to ensure that each step of implementation is reviewed before progressing to the next stage.
  3. Link payment to delivery milestones.
  4. Review your implementation plan with the awarded party and update it to reflect developer inputs.
  5. Define clear statement on the terms of warranty
  6. Include clause on Intellectual property and ownership of software.

Arrange a bidder’s conference mid-way through the RFP response period. This allows applicants to spend time reviewing the RFP and develop relevant questions for the conference, as well as allowing enough time for them to develop the proposal

7

Conduct a technical review meeting of the proposal with relevant project/procurement stakeholders. This meeting is conducted to ensure that the proposals meet the criteria specified in the RFP and to determine whether any applicants should be disqualified.

8

Conduct a written review of the proposals with an appropriate selection committee. This committee should be made up of key stakeholders as defined in the RACI.

  • Evaluate each proposal against criteria defined in Step 1.
  • Shortlist top 3 parties.
  • Conduct oral interview/presentations with selected parties and decide on winning proposal.
  • Award tender to selected party.
9

Engage legal department to draft contract considering the “Contract Top-Tips”.