Annex-F

TERMS OF REFERENCE FOR INSTITUTIONAL CONTRACT

Title of the assignment

Support & Maintenance Services

Purpose

To establish a Long-Term Arrangement for Services (LTAS) to provide Support & Maintenance Services.

Location

Bangladesh

Estimated Duration

Initial duration 36 months with the provision to extend the validity for another 24 months subject to satisfactory performance of service.

Reporting to Technical Supervisor of this assignment

Project owner from the program section and the ICT/T4D focal person

1. BACKGROUND

UNICEF is the agency of the United Nations mandated to advocate for the protection of children's rights, to help meet their basic needs and to expand their opportunities to reach their full potential. Guided by the Convention on the Rights of the Child, UNICEF strives to establish children's rights as international standards of behavior towards children.

Technology for development (T4D) and digital innovation are recognized as key enablers to meeting the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and are a key change-strategy identified by UNICEF in the new Strategic Plan. At UNICEF, the T4D function provides advisory, implementation and quality assurance services to programmes on technology and digital innovation.

UNICEF Bangladesh office integrates digitization, automation, and software usage as enablers of programming as part of its program implementation. Presently, the office is seeking a vendor capable of providing Support & Maintenance Services.

2. PURPOSE, SCOPE OF THE PROPOSED WORK AND REQUIRED SERVICES

2.1     Purpose

UNICEF Bangladesh office seeks to identify a community/communities of service providers, with proven expertise and track record on providing Support & Maintenance Services as outlined below. The procurement of the services will be facilitated through Long-Term Arrangement for Services (LLTS) which will be signed between UNICEF and the successful Proposer(s). An LLTS allows UNICEF’s office to contract directly with service providers based on an agreed set of services, products and costs (rate cards).

2.2   Scope of Work and Required Services

To technically qualify, bidders must ensure that they can present to UNICEF adequately skilled personnel for the specific services described here against specific tasks. Periodic reviews and evaluations of the talent pool and quality of services will be carried out by UNICEF. Repeated failure to meet the required and expected standards and/or quality of work will result in consequent non-use of the LLTS and possible subsequent nonrenewal at the expiry date of the term of the LLTS. 

DevOps

SERVICE

EXPECTED/KEY DELIVERABLES

User support for an application or product, resolving user problems or requests, provision of helpdesk support, managing online content (knowledge base, manuals, etc.) about an application or product

• Proactively managing the performance and availability of software applications and infrastructure.
• Providing timely resolution of incidents and service requests, including troubleshooting and problem resolution.
• Regular maintenance activities, including software updates, patches, and upgrades.
• Implementing security measures and best practices to safeguard against potential threats and vulnerabilities.
• Performance tuning and optimization of software applications and infrastructure components.
• Documentation of support procedures, troubleshooting steps, and system configurations.
• On-call support and emergency response services as needed.
• Payment processing, managing subscription services
• Providing training
• Administration and maintenance of hosted servers,
• Licenses renewal on behalf of UNICEF,

UNICEF Bangladesh ICT/T4D and the relevant UNICEF program staff will supervise the work required and delivered under the resulting LLTS(s).

3. DURATION AND LOCATION

The resulting LLTS(s) will have an initial period of three (3) years with an option for UNICEF to extend the term for another two (2) years periods.

4. QUALIFICATION AND EXPERTISES 

4.1 Required (Mandatory)

• Demonstrated Experience: The service provider must have a proven track record of providing support and maintenance services for software applications and infrastructure.
• Technical Expertise: Skilled technical personnel with expertise in relevant technologies and platforms.
• Certifications: Team members must hold either of CompTIA A+, Azure, CCNA, or ITIL
• 24/7 Support: Ability to provide 24/7 support with guaranteed response times for critical incidents.
• Security Measures: The service provider must have experience in implementing security measures and best practices to protect against cyber threats.
• Compliance: Compliance with relevant industry standards and regulations related to support and maintenance services is mandatory.

4.2 Desirable

• Comprehensive SLAs: Proposal of comprehensive Service Level Agreements (SLAs) in terms of response times, resolution times, and availability guarantees is desirable.
• Security compliance: The vendor is expected to be compliant of ISO 27001, NIST Cybersecurity Framework, and GDPR.
• Collaboration Skills: Ability to communicate effectively and collaborate with internal teams and stakeholders is desired.
• Positive References: Positive feedback from previous clients and references is desired.

• Communication Skills: Strong communication skills to effectively communicate findings and recommendations to technical and non-technical stakeholders.

• Project Management: Identify, plan, schedule, and manage project resources, communications, and progress reporting.
• Business and Requirements Analysis: Conduct business analysis, prioritize requirements, and document user needs and translation into technical frameworks.

5. REPORTING AND RESPONSIBILITY

The roles and responsibilities of representatives from the selected vendor(s) and UNICEF are outlined below. Roles and responsibilities may be defined in more detail in purchase orders/contracts created for specific projects based on the resulting LLTS(s). However, at a minimum:

Vendor shall be responsible for:

• Providing a single point of contact or dedicated focal point for overall LLTS’s management.
• Providing a single point of contact for each specific project (based on the type of services required)
• Ensuring that each contract   remains within the agreed budget and alert UNICEF’s project team if there is a need for any scope adjustment.
• Presenting the plan outlining the gathering of scoping information, as well as the rules of engagement, along with a project timeline for each endeavour.
• Requesting approval from UNICEF for any changes in the term during the project execution period.
• Periodic project/support progress meetings and sending written reports to UNICEF on the progress against the agreed objectives and timelines.
• Ensure compliance with relevant industry standards and regulations, such as GDPR, PCI DSS, ISO 27001, HIPAA etc.

UNICEF is responsible for:

• Providing a single point of contact for overall LLTS’s management.
• Providing a single point of contact for each specific project.
• Providing clarifications of requirements, as needed.
• Providing feedback on deliverables to the vendor such as project documentation quality and completeness.
• Facilitating a reasonable amount of interaction between the vendor and the UNICEF’s Subject Matter Expert (SME) to have a clear understanding of each project’s content and for other inputs, as deemed necessary.
• Reviewing and if acceptable signing off on agreed deliverables of each project.