RFI -Travel Management Centre and Online Travel Booking tool

New amendment added #1: The tender is hereby amended to extend the deadline for submission by 7 days, to 17 August 2017 at 15:00 UTC.

New clarification added: 31. Is UNOP open for 3rd party SaaS based solution hosted on Cloud, or the application needs to be hosted in UNOPS data Center?UNOPS will accept 3rd party solution provided it meets UNOPS minimum requirements.32. "With respect to requirement "" Compatibility with UNOPS IT platform and other mobile applications i.e. I-phone, Blackberry, tablets etc."",Can we assume that OBT tool would have responsive Web design and native mobile application for OBT is not required."An App is not envisioned at this stage but might be an added advantage.33. Is UNOP already using any specific solution for SSO? If yes, please share more details on the same.Please provide your solution.34. Please share more details on UNOPS IT platform and if UNOPS has a preference for a specific technology. If the decision is to go with bespoke development.This information will be shared during the next stages of solicitation process, if UNOPS decides to move forward. Please propose your best solution based on the current practices.35. Please provide more details available on rules and configurations required in the OBT tool to address UNOPS needs? Please provide some examples.It shall be in accordance with “UNOPS Travel Policy”, which shall be shared during the next stages of solicitation process, if UNOPS decide to move forward.36. "What will be the likely user base for the application? How many concurrent users are going to access the application?"Please refer to the responses to Q11 and Q25 above.37. Is OBT required to provide any specific analytics on historical data?Yes.38. What is the volume of travel requests process that application needs to cater to?Please refer to the response to Q3 and Q27 above.39. Are there any specific security and performance related requirements which OBT tools needs to adhere to?It should be compliant with UNOPS travel policy, the aviation policy and UNOPS travel authorization and approval process.40. What is the UNOPS expectation on delivery timelines for OBT application?Currently, UNOPS is gathering information from the market for the solution. We do not currently have a timeline for solicitation.41.  Are there any specific data transfer/data migration requirements for OBT tool? Please clarify.Yes. The OBT tool shall be able to migrate user profiles in order to cater for travel entitlements for the user.42.  Does OBT tool need to have multilingual capability? If yes, which all languages are to be supported? Please clarify.Please refer to the response to Q6 above.43.  Does OBT tool have any upstream and downstream integration, like ERP, Finance or HR systems? Please clarify.Yes. The OBT shall be integrated into UNOPS ERP system.44. Do we see the need to build integrations with third party engines /components like booking engines, payment gateways, comparison web sites, trend engines in view of the TMC requirements? Please clarify.Yes. Please provide your solution.45. Do we see the need to extend the OBT and TMC coverage to UN's agent ecosystem in the future?This information will be communicated during the next stages of solicitation process, if UNOPS decide to move forward.Notes:*Please note that due to technical issues, there is an error in the serial no.  in second set of clarifications above, Questions marked 1 - 8 should be read as 12 - 19.** We will soon issue an amendment to extend the deadline of submission to 17 August 2017.

New clarification added: 23- OBT capability - In terms of the OBT external Interactions like Airline Portals etc, is there an existing tool supporting the same ? if not how is the communication with the external partners managed?The OBT should be able to interact with external portals and provide the best solution.24- OBT capability - "As a part of our offerings, we would also like to implement a Global Procurement Rigor (For Better Price & Service Competitiveness)"; Is there any probability of implementing the same through the OBT Functionality? if Yes how would UNOPS envision the interaction to occur?Please propose your solution. UNOPS will be interested in implementing any innovative solution.25 - TMC capability - Is there any Preferred Location for the Operations Support?No. But it should be 24/7 virtual support.26- TMC capability - What are the Language Dependencies required for Implementation of Service Support / TMC?The OBT shall be integrated within TMS. Multi language support will be an added value, especially French and Spanish.27- TMC capability - Will it be possible for UNOPS to share the existing Volumes of the Requests( Calls ,Emails / Faxes etc. )  being handled by the TMC currently for various regions and Travel Sectors?Unfortunately, we do not have such statistics at this moment.28 - Is it possible to get an extension to the submission deadline due to the holiday season?The deadline for submission will be extended by 7 days, to 17 August 2017 15:00 UTC.29. Can we assume that OBT will be a Web based intranet application which will serve the travel needs of OBT employees?Correct.30. Buy v/s Build : Is UNOP open for customization of off the shelf product or does it need to be bespoke development?UNOPS will consider both options. 

New clarification added: 1-      General - Is UNOPS looking for a 'Off the Shelf' Product for both TMS and OTB or is there any scope to build a new tool?UNOPS will consider both options. 2-      General - What are the processes that UNOPS back end BPO team performs? Please describe.This information will be provided during the next stages of the solicitation process, if UNOPS decides to move forward. 3-      General - OBT desired state mentions the capability of OBT to have an Integrated Billing and Invoice Capability, please highlight if the requirement is also to accept payments over the OBT with Payment Gateways etc.; If the answer is No, what is the existing Payment Gateway in use? The OBT shall be able to issue invoices and shall be able to accept personal credit card for private bookings. 4-      General - Is there any requirement on AR/AP tool or manage AR/AP completely?This information will be provided in later stages, should we decide to move forward. 5-      General - What are the various compliance UNOPS expects with the solution?The system should be compliant with “UNOPS Travel Policy” and IT policy, which will be shared during the next stages of the solicitation process, if UNOPS decides to move forward. 6-      General - What are the various points of integration for the proposed solution including finance?The OTB shall be integrated in the ERP system, approval flow and budget verification etc. 7-      General - What is the tentative timeline expected for roll out of the new solution?Currently, UNOPS is gathering information from the market for the solution. We do not currently have a timeline for solicitation. 8-      General - Will there be dedicated business stakeholders from UNOPS to be a part of the project?UNOPS project team will support and provide feedback during project implementation.20.  General - Is there any specific requirement on hosting the solution (On Premise/Public / Private cloud)?The System should be compliant with UNOPS IT policy, which will be shared during the next stages of solicitation process, if UNOPS decides to move forward.21.    General - What are the various fare engines that UNOPS is currently subscribing for the booking?Please propose in your response your solution as to how you will capture the competitive prices available in the market.22- General - How is reconciliation performed in the current system and let us know about the proposed process?This information will be shared during the next stages of solicitation process if UNOPS decides to move forward.

New clarification added: 1-      General - What is the key business driver for this program? Is the end state objective is to Standardize / Optimize / Productivity improvement/Customer Satisfaction?All of the above and, in addition, innovation. 2-      General - How UNOPS is currently managing the world wide travels? Is there any OTA/TMS solution currently being used at UNOPS?Currently, UNOPS is using a self-travel booking tool integrated into UNOPS Intranet in conjunction with a Travel Management Company that issues the tickets based on the booking.3-      General - How many users will be using the proposed system?It is very difficult to estimate the number of users at this time as it depends upon the operational need. However a considerable spend on travel services is foreseen. 4-      General - Will UNOPS continue to manage the resource process if the vendor provides OBT/TMS?It will be Supplier’s responsibility to manage OBT/TMS. However, some integration with UNOPS internal processes, such as travel authorization, is required. 5-      General - What are the various locations across the Globe, where UNOPS users will be using the system? Which region handles maximum amount of Traffic?UNOPS operates in more than 80 countries around the globe in Europe, Africa, Asia, Latin America and Middle East Region. The amount of traffic per region is not available at this time. 6-      General - Please provide the information about Multiple Applications in use currently, which are expected to be supported by the OBT? Is Multi Language Support also a requirement?The OBT shall be integrated within TMS. Multi language support will be an added value, especially French and Spanish. 7-       General - What are the various ancillary services that UNOPS intend to provide as a part of the Flight Booking. Basically how many third party services are expected in the OTB?Ancillary services may include hotel booking, car rental etc.  8-      General - Is there any existing relation with any GDS system for inventory and Air Fares management in place? And in current system landscape, how much integration are synchronous and how many are asynchronous?The Supplier is responsible for managing such systems. Please propose your solution how you would address UNOPS requirements based on the Request for Information. 9-      General - Does UNOPS prefer any specific technology platform for the new solution?Any platform will be acceptable if it meets UNOPS minimum requirements and is compatible with our IT platform. 10-  General - Will UNOPS take care of hardware requirement and third party software license software required for solution?UNOPS owns the third party licence required for the solution. 11-  General - Please provide sizing / volumetric information / non-functional information such as Peak users, Concurrency, Transaction volumes, Response time expectation etc.UNOPS does not have such estimates at this time.