RFQ Services - Provision of website maintenance, hosting and design services for the purposes of ensuring smooth running of Cities Alliance’s Drupal based website

New clarification added: Question 7: Form E: Previous Experience Form " Minimum 4 Experience in the past 5 years in similar types of services indicated in the Section II: Schedule of Requirements. Bidders must share links to the websites mentioned below.  At least 4 proofs of experience are submitted by providing either client reference letters/ Signed PO/Signed Contracts for similar service. Bidder must submit proof of the mentioned experience below" As per the table given, there are only 3 rows to provide similar expereinces, can you please confirm if we can add one more row to present all the 4 expereinces and also can we include website links in the "Detailed Description of services" column along with services offeredAnswer 7: Bidders are allowed and expected to add more row in Form E: Previous Experience Form. As indicated in the criteria its "minimum of 4 experience" thus, there is no maximum number of similar experiences that bidders can add provided they are within the past 5 years.

New clarification added: Question 6 Clarification on "Relevant Experience" (Form C, Section 1.2)We would like to ask for a clarification about the experience requirements in Form C (Section 1.2 Relevant Experience). This section requests a minimum of 4 previous contracts for "similar types of services".Answer 6 : These references should be relevant to the scope of services requested, including website maintenance, Drupal development/design support, hosting and related technical services.We understand that these 4 projects must collectively cover all the required areas mentioned in Section II (website design, content maintenance, and hosting). We understand it is not mandatory for each individual project to include all these different services at the same time, as long as the 4 contracts combined cover the full scope of Section II.Please, could you confirm if our understanding is correct? If it is not correct, please clarify.Answer 6: The four references should demonstrate relevant experience in similar services. It is not mandatory for each individual contract to cover every element of the full scope, provided that the bidder’s submitted references, taken together, demonstrate sufficient relevant experience across the required areas. Compliance will be assessed based on the documentation submitted and the requirements set out in the solicitation documents.

New clarification added: Clarification on Experience RequirementsWe would like to ask for a clarification about the experience requirements for this tender. Our understanding is the following: Please, could you confirm if our understanding is correct? If it is not correct, please clarifyQuestion 3 : The Pass/Fail criteria for company experience is indicated in Form C (Sections 1.2 and 1.3) and Form E. This means we need to provide a minimum of 4 previous contracts in the past 5 years.Answer 3: This is correct Question 4: The points listed under "Experience of the contractor (specific details and number of years of experience)" in Section II: Schedule of Requirements (Objective 01) are not related to the 4-contract Pass/Fail criteria mentioned above.Answer 4: The requirements listed under “Experience of the contractor” in Section II form part of the technical requirements of the solicitation and should be addressed in the bidder’s technical submission. The four-contract requirement in Form C relates to relevant previous experience and references. Compliance will be assessed against the full set of requirements included in the solicitation documents.Question 5: Instead, we understand that these specific details from Objective 01 (for example, having 20% Drupal experts, 50% female staff, and the specific Drupal developments) are part of our general technical proposal. Therefore, we should demonstrate them in Form C, specifically in Section 2.7 Gender and Diversity Considerations, Section 3.1 Proposed Team Structure, and Section 3.2 Qualifications of Key Personnel Proposed. Furthermore, our understanding is that the specific requirements regarding staff percentages (such as having 50% female staff and 20% Drupal experts) are evaluated on a Pass/Fail basis strictly at the level of the specific team proposed for this project, and not at the overall company level.Please, could you confirm if our understanding is correct? If it is not correct, please clarify.Answer 5:The requirements listed under Objective 01 should be addressed in the bidder’s technical submission, using the relevant sections of the quotation forms.The staff-percentage requirements, including the requirements on Drupal expertise and female staff, will be assessed at the level of the personnel proposed for execution of the assignment/contract, not at the level of the bidder’s wider corporate group or overall workforce.For the Drupal expertise requirement, bidders should indicate the proposed delivery structure, including the core team and any technical or backstopping staff who will be available for contract delivery, and specify the total number of staff in that structure and the number of Drupal experts.For the female staff requirement, bidders should provide the proposed team composition and staffing details, in line with the clarification provided under Question 2.These requirements are mandatory pass/fail requirements. Compliance will be assessed based on the information and supporting documentation submitted by the bidder.

New clarification added: Question 2: Please clarify how the requirement “At least 50% or above of the staff are female” will be assessed: at group level, legal-entity level, business-unit level, or proposed-team level? For example, in group level, out of 1500+ staff, 35% of our employees are females. Please confirm whether this is a mandatory pass/fail requirement or an evaluation consideration under Gender and Diversity.Answer 2:The requirement "At least 50% or above of the staff are female" shall be assessed at the level of the personnel proposed for execution of the assignment/contract.Bidders shall demonstrate that at least 50% of the proposed project team members are female through the submission of the team composition and staffing details.This requirement is a mandatory pass/fail criterion.

New clarification added: Question 1: Please clarify how the requirement “At least 20% of the staff in the company are Drupal experts” will be assessed. Should “company” be understood as the legal entity submitting the quotation, the wider corporate group, the specific business unit proposed for contract delivery, or the proposed project/delivery team? For example, we have a Drupal capabilty of 80+ Drupal specialists, but the wider group has approximately 1,500 employees. Please confirm which denominator should be used for this requirement and what evidence is expected.Answer 1:The requirement “At least 20% of the staff in the company are Drupal experts” shall be assessed at the level of the personnel proposed for execution of the assignment/contract, not at the level of the bidder’s wider corporate group or overall workforce.For this requirement, bidders should identify the proposed delivery structure, including the core team and any technical or backstopping staff who will be available for contract delivery. Bidders should indicate the total number of staff in this proposed delivery structure and the number of Drupal experts within it.Bidders should provide supporting information demonstrating Drupal expertise, such as staffing details, staff profiles, certifications, relevant project experience, or other evidence considered relevant.