Abu Dhabi Education Council Procurement & Contracts … no. 20… · The Abu Dhabi Education Council is an independent corporate body and enjoys full legal status, as well as financial

.Interested companies whom wish to be prequalified and invited for the above stated Tender shall visit the Council’s web site www.adec.ac.ae , Procurement and Contracts tab (http://www.adec.ac.ae/en/Suppliers) to view the Request of Information, conditions and the submission requirements.

.The Council has the right at any time to cancel this Tender without any legal obligations or financial claims.

. Interested bidders, as pre-requisite for any further Tender Invitation, are required to complete their registration with ADEC by filling the registration form available at ADEC web site www.adec.ac.ae , Procurement and Contracts tab.

.The Council would like the Providers/Vendors to provide adequate information about latest available utilized Digital Repository Service (DRS) systems to enable and empower ADEC to explore the various DRS Systems and choose the best system that meets the needs of its stakeholders.

3rd Floor - ADEC Tender Box, Procurement & Contracts Division

Abu Dhabi Education Council

Ministries Complex, behind Khalifa Park

P.O. Box: 36005, Abu Dhabi

United Arab Emirates

.The Request for Information letters, Digital Repository solution proposals and the vendor’s file documents must be submitted in sealed envelope tagged with a label to show only the Tender Number and Title without any details about the applicants’ name & identity, then be dispatched or courier to the below address on/or before the above stated submission closing date:

.Vendors’ clarifications can be emailed to: [email protected] latest by August 26th, 2014. All Vendors shall visit regularly the above stated link till the submission closing date to view ADEC uploaded responses on the raised clarifications.

The Abu Dhabi Education Council invites the specialized Digital Repository Service Providers/Vendors whom are registered legally in UAE and have distinguished records of successful completed projects in UAE and in the region to submit their Request for Information letters, Digital Repository solution proposals and the vendor’s file documents for further ADEC review and screening to participate in the below mentioned planned Tender:

Abu Dhabi Education CouncilProcurement & Contracts Management Division

Expression of Interest

Tender Number Tender Description Submission Closing Date

ADEC/2014/913Repository to house digital educational content and resources

No later than 12:00 PM, Sunday August 31st, 2014

Request for Information

RFI No. ADEC/4102/913

Relating to:

The provision of a

“Repository to house digital educational content and resources”

(DRS)

Abu Dhabi

United Arab Emirates

2014

Request for Information – RFI No. ADEC/2014/913 Page 2 of 21

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. ABOUT ADEC ..................................................................................................................................................... 3

2. OBJECTIVES OF THIS REQUEST FOR INFORMATION ........................................................................................... 4

3. SPECIFIC REQUIREMENTS .................................................................................................................................. 5

3.1 Components .......................................................................................................................................... 5

3.2 Component Requirements/Specifications ............................................................................................ 5

1. General Solution Wide Requirements/Specifications..................................................................................... 5

2. Environment Installation and Testing ................................................................................................................. 9

3. Implementation and Training .............................................................................................................................. 9

4. ADSIC’S IT ARCHITECTURE & STANDARDS ........................................................................................................10

5. DIGITAL EDUCATION CONTENT REPOSITORY - REQUIREMENTS .......................................................................13

6. CURRENT ENTERPRISE SYSTEMS .......................................................................................................................14

6.1 Current Technologies Infrastructure .................................................................................................... 17

7. TRACK RECORD .................................................................................................................................................18

8. VENDOR PROFILE .............................................................................................................................................19

9. SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS ..........................................................................................................................20

10. SUBMISSION TIMELINE .....................................................................................................................................20

SCHEDULE IV – BID ATTACHMENTS ............................................................................................................ 21


1. About ADEC

The Abu Dhabi Education Council (ADEC) was set up in September 2005 by His Highness General Sheikh

Mohammed Bin Zayed Al Nahayan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the

UAE Armed Forces.

The Abu Dhabi Education Council is an independent corporate body and enjoys full legal status, as well

as financial and administrative independence in all its affairs. It has its headquarters in Abu Dhabi and

has the right to set up its branches and offices inside or outside the UAE.

ADEC seeks to develop and implement innovative educational policies, plans and programs that aim to

improve education in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi and support educational institutions and staff in a

manner that helps achieve the following objectives of national development:

Participate in the Emirate’s educational planning process within the framework of the UAE

general education policy and in coordination with the Ministry of Education

Prepare studies and proposals for the advancement of education and vocational training and for

the enhancement of all educational institutions and their staff to enable them to remain in line

with current development in all fields

Provide technical and material assistance to educational institutions

Support and enhance the relationship between educational institutions and the private sector

and improve the academic and professional level of graduates, training them, and enhancing

their employment opportunities

Provide support and technical assistance to educational institutions and coordinate their

activities in a way that enables them to implement their individual educational plans

Establish an educational database for the Emirate of Abu Dhabi

Encourage private educational institutions to deliver first-class educational services.

The Education Sector in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi is currently comprised of three distinct regions in Abu

Dhabi, Al Ain and Western Region totalling 268 public schools and more than 150,000 students across

the Emirate of Abu Dhabi. ADEC has been assigned the responsibility to unify the Student Information

and education Systems for the three above mentioned education zones in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi.


2. Objectives of this Request for Information

The Abu Dhabi Education Council invites the specialized Digital Repository Service Providers/Vendors

whom are registered legally in UAE and have distinguished records of successful completed projects in

UAE and in the region to submit and provide ADEC with the following within the timetable stipulated

hereinafter :-

1) Request for Information (RFI) letter duly signed and stamped by the Bidders’ authorized signatory to

declare the interest to participate in ADEC’s Digital Depository Solution (DRS) upon successful

prequalification by ADEC.

2) Adequate information about latest available utilized DRS systems to enable and empower ADEC to

explore the various DRS Systems and choose the best system that meets the needs of its stakeholders.

2) Business Prequalification file inclusive of all local authorities’ registration documents, list of

successful completed projects and clients references , financial capabilities and 3 years financial audited

statements, organization details, staff qualifications.

The eventual goal of the above requirement is to evaluate the submitted information by ADEC to pre-

qualify and compare different systems for the purpose of releasing a formal Request for Proposal (RfP)

for the shortlisted prequalified vendors.


3. Specific requirements

3.1 Components

The vendor’s proposal should address the following components which are made up of services and

tools related to ADEC’s proposed P-12 Digital Education Content Repository, supporting

infrastructure, resourcing, and implementation. Vendors must clearly indicate which components

are addressed in their proposal.

General

a. General Solution Wide Requirements/Specifications

Services

b. Environment Installation and Testing

c. Implementation and Training

Tools

d. eContent Repository – Digital Content/Asset Discovery, Access and Delivery System

3.2 Component Requirements/Specifications

The vendor should specify how their proposed solution will meet or exceed the following requirements accompanied by concise descriptions of their proposal in the relevant area. The various requirements should be grouped by, but not limited to, the categories below.

Any area where the proposed solution does not meet the requirements stated below, should be clearly identified.

1. General Solution Wide Requirements/Specifications

Category Description Notes

1.1 User authentication Architecture, support for Single Sign on, integration with known identity management platforms

Must utilize single sign-on technology



1.2 Supported Integration architecture – i.e SOA and Enterprise Service Bus ( ESB)

1.3 Support for district-level hierarchy implementation i.e. districts, schools

Must allow hierarchical implementation, where control is devolved through a central authority, to regional authorities and eventually to clusters and individual schools, as per specific ADEC requirements.

1.4 Integration with back end systems such as student information systems, Oracle E-Business Suite, and identity management solutions, Active Directory, SharePoint

Must be able to be integrated with current ADEC solutions, as well as Active Directory and MS SharePoint.

1.5 Accessibility Solutions must be highly accessible and support various assistive and adaptive technologies. All UI pages should conform to at least ‘AA’ level of W3C conformance.

1.6 Multi-Lingual Support

Solution must be presented with both Arabic and English interfaces as well as be able to support other languages, as required. Users must be able to switch between the Arabic and English interfaces, as desired.

1.7 Access and Security architecture

Solutions must incorporate authenticated usage, roles, and hierarchies where users are assigned various access and security rights/roles, as required.

1.8 Technology Solutions must be device, content and platform agnostic. They must, in particular, support mobile devices using various operating systems.

1.9 Support for LTI & QTI

Solutions must support IMS Learning Tools Interoperability (LTI) or IMS Question & Test Interoperability (QTI) Specifications (whichever is applicable).



1.10 Reporting

The solution must provide:

The ability to produce/publish a range of reports such as content access, etc.

1.10.1 Data Exporting

The solution must:

Provide the ability to export data in standard formats that can be integrated with other systems

Provide Super and Admin users the ability to export data in a variety of standard formats that can be integrated with other information.

Incorporate security requirements that shall certify that only authorized users have access to the appropriate data.

1.11 Security & Access – User types

The solution must provide at least the following system roles:

Super User – System Administrator

Super User-Metadata Management Administrator

Emirate Administrator

Repository Officer

Contributor

Teacher

User

1.11.1 User Capabilities

The solution must provide for the following:

The system administrator manages the overall system configuration and settings.

The capability to add, change or delete roles.

Ensure that system roles cannot be deleted.

The capability to associate roles with a user. Multiple roles may be assigned to same user.

The capability to assign a role to an application area using appropriate security settings.

The capability of the System Administrator to create Organizations. Organization may be hierarchical.

The ability to define which fields of a record a particular user or group can view and which they can edit.



Row level security using the underlying relationships between users and organizations.

The capability to copy a role and its defined access rights.

The ability to maintain an audit trail of transactions made in the system, identifying who made changes, the type of change/s made, and the date/time the change/s occurred. This shall be accomplished for addition, deletion, and edits. It shall include all security maintenance transactions.

The ability to allow users with administrative privileges to create other users in the system and assign permissions to those users.

The ability to allow users with administrative privileges to deactivate users under their authority.

The ability to allow users with administrative privileges to create courses and classes.

The ability to allow users with appropriate permissions to register students in the system and assign them classes, courses, etc.

1.12 Genuine Products The vendor shall provide genuine products to ADEC and all software must be licensed and the necessary software licenses provided to ADEC.

1.13 Embedded Team

The vendor must provide a team of personnel, to be embedded within ADEC, to ensure the smooth implementation of the Digital Repository and its components. This team must consist of personnel who can support the technical and business side of the implementation. The makeup up and specific personnel assigned to this team will be approved, at the discretion of ADEC.

1.14 Interface Design Appropriateness

The vendor shall take all due care in ensuring that all interfaces and imagery used within the solution shall conform to adopted ADEC standards. All interface designs that will be accessible to users need to be provided for approval.


2. Environment Installation and Testing


2.1 Analysis

Explain how you intended to conduct a detailed analysis of the environment in which the Digital Repository will be used. This analysis must provide ADEC with an overview and identify any foreseeable issues, along with recommendations, that may need to be considered and acted upon to ensure the success of the project.

3. Implementation and Training

3.1. Operational Training

Explain how you intended to provide the appropriate and sufficient training for designated ADEC personnel to operate the Digital Repository and its components.

3.2. Operational Manuals

Explain what you intend to supply the ADEC eLearning Taskforce with indexed manuals (in digital format) for the Digital Repository and its components (and updates).

3.3. Implementation Explain in details your implementation methodology and Systems Development Lifecycle.


4. ADSIC’s IT Architecture & Standards

The vendor should provide a detailed description of their DRS solution’s fulfillment and shortcomings relative to the Abu Dhabi Systems and Information Center (ADSIC) KPIs listed below:

KPI Description Components

4.1 Accessibility

Provides access and delivery

channels to cater for all users

regardless of location or medium

used

Application-based access

Web-based access

Telephone access

Mobile access (i.e. mobile phones and

PDAs), IVR

4.2 Availability

Provides a high level of uptime with

minimal or no downtime under high

demand or stress situations

High-availability

4.3 Completeness and

Relevance

Closely and exhaustively meets all

requirements and specifications set

by the business stakeholders

Number of functionalities

Sophistication of functionalities

4.4 Data Collection and

Relevance

Is designed such that data is entered

centrally only once and is used

multiple times across all applications

Single data set across multiple system

installations

Single data set across various modules /

functionalities

4.5 Error Tolerance

Is capable of handling unforeseen

and invalid system states and

recovering gracefully without

downtime

Fault-tolerance

Recovery time

4.6 Flexibility and Agility

Is easily adjustable to new frames of

reference as well as upgrades at

predictable cost

Complexity of software upgrade process

Automatic transfer of customizations

during upgrades

Software Development Kit (SDK)



4.7 Interoperability

Interfaces easily with other systems

through customization with minimal

integration and coding effort

Number of APIs available

Programming language(s) of APIs

Adapters to integrate with other systems

4.8 Maintainability

Is easily modifiable to cater for future

organizational changes and/ or

technological advancement

Code rigidity

Code modularity

System configuration scenarios

4.9 Manageability

Allows for easy management,

monitoring, maintenance and

troubleshooting

Central administration tool

Central monitoring tool

Component monitoring

Message monitoring

Performance monitoring

Central error reporting tool

4.10 Openness

Is interoperable, based on open

standards, well defined and

documented to simplify integration

Messaging protocols (e.g. XML, etc.)

Number of web services

4.11 Performance

Has acceptable throughput and

response time in compliance with

best-practice KPIs

Performance benchmarks

Use of AJAX

4.12 Reusability

Is designed for maximum reuse of

components and data to avoid

duplication of effort and redundancy

Number of modules

Number of component packages



4.13 Scalability

Is scalable to allow additional

capacity / bandwidth / volume of

users in the near and mid-term future

Load balancing

Bandwidth requirements per user

Maximum number of users

4.14 Security

Ensures controlled access,

protection, confidentiality,

authenticity, reproducibility and

compliance with policies

User and group-level security

Menu access authorizations

Data read / write / modify/ delete

authorizations

Message encryption (e.g. Public key

encryption, etc.)

Transport Layer Security (e.g. HTTPS,

FTPS, etc.)

4.15 Usability

Is easy to use, consistent, intuitive,

logical and hides the details of the

underlying technology

Consistency of interface across

functionalities

Desktop installation requirements

Provision for a “Children-friendly interface

Provisions for special needs students


5. Digital Education Content Repository - Requirements

Category Description Vendor Notes ( Complaint Yes / No)

5.1 Content Repository Platform

The digital content repository must provide a platform to house, manage, discover and share digital material acquired or developed by ADEC to support teaching and learning.

The platform must be capable of ingesting content, etc. from sources outside of ADEC.

The platform must comply with LTI (Learning Tools Interoperability) specifications to provide interoperability with VLE solutions and other compatible solutions.

4.1 Content and Metadata

The solution must support and utilize a metadata profile such as IEEE LOM or LRMI and metadata tagging. This framework must be used to enable searches of house material.

Tagging must support/enable searches conducted in either Arabic or English.

4.2 Third-party Content Handling Capabilities

The Digital Content Repository must be able to federate and present content from third party publishers and developers, housed in repositories outside of ADEC.

The platform must allow third party content to be presented aligned to the ADEC curriculum standards (which will be made machine readable).

This facility must be designed to allow designated ADEC personnel to review and comment on selected third-party content.

Appropriate quality assurance processes and filters must be able to be applied when external content is integrated. Content not deemed appropriate, of poor quality, etc., must be able to be flagged and blocked.

4.3 Third-party Content

Where agreements are in place between ADEC and various public and private content providers, the vendor shall put measures (or processes) in place to make this content accessible to ADEC users through the Content Repository.

4.4 Search and filter capabilities

The Content Repository must enable simple and advanced searches of its content and allow federated searches where the content of third party providers and/or the internet is included.


Category Description Vendor Notes ( Complaint Yes / No)

Users must, if desired, be able to include results from a variety of search tools/engines, such as Google.

The platform must provide options to apply content filters to various, schools, individuals, etc. accessing the system.

These filters must be capable of filtering out content on various bases such as: content that is deemed not applicable; not culturally appropriate; or not suitable for particular age groups.

4.5 Rating and comment , share facility

The Content Repository must provide authorized users with the ability to rate, comment on and/or share (potential through internal systems or social media) content items.

Users must be able to sort content based on user ratings.

4.6 Upload facility

The Content Repository must provide authorized users with the ability to upload new content and the details associated with that content. This must trigger a quality assurance workflow before the content is accessible by others.

4.7 Integration

The Digital Content Repository must be able to be integrated with ADEC’s Content Delivery Service Node, which will be developed as a platform to enable content selection, access, license and digital rights management.

6. Current Enterprise Systems

ADEC utilizes several centrally served enterprise systems serving over 15000 staff and 150000 students,

below is a list of major systems/services/applications for your reference:

Application/Service Technology/ Platform Function

/Modules

ERP - Core Oracle E-Business Suite

R- 12

Finance,

Procurement,

HRMS

HRMS Self Service Oracle HR Self Service



/Modules

Advanced

Procurement &

Contracts – I-

Procurement

Oracle

Contracts, I-

Procurement and

I- Supplier

I-Recruitment Oracle Online

Recruitment

Visa & Housing Oracle Online visa &

housing

Business Intelligence Oracle Reporting and

Dashboard

Student Information

System Oracle

Registration,

Demographics,

attendance,

grade book,

special

education, health

records

Enterprise

Attendance

SmartVision Access control

and attendance

Scholarship

Management System

PeopleSoft Manage

scholarships

Library Management

System

Horizon – Symphony Library

Management

System

Active Directory Infrastructure

Services

SharePoint Portal

Internal, extranet

and public

portals



/Modules

Identity Management

and Single Sign on Oracle Access Manager

Identity lifecycle

management

MS Exchange Microsoft 2013 Messaging

Office 365 Microsoft Messaging

GIS Esri GIS, school maps,

school finder

SMS Short Messaging

System

SMS integrated

with ERP and

other

applications

IT 360 ManageEngine

Comprehensive

Network/systems

Monitoring

Solution

Blackberry Enterprise

Service Blackberry Messaging

Sigma Sigma

IP Phone

Accounting

System

Enterprise E-Fax RightFax Electronic Faxing

Central Help Desk ManageEngine Help Desk


6.1 Current Technologies Infrastructure

ADEC deploys a state-of-art datacentre serving all public schools in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi through an MPLS cloud for access, central management and monitoring. The datacenter also hosts the latest WAN Optimization, security and content filtering solutions. Every school in Abu Dhabi public schools have been equipped with a modern ICT infrastructure that includes: structured cabling, full wireless coverage, and WAN optimization technologies. Schools are provided with modern desktops situated in the administration areas, teacher offices, and at least a single desktop in every class room connected to an interactive projector.

The Server infrastructure is fully virtualized in both in main Datacenter and Disaster Recovery sites.


7. Track Record

The vendor should provide details regarding past implementations, including, but not limited to:

Experience in P-12 Education

Number of successful implementations in P-12, preferably including Middle East implementations – A minimum of 3 verifiable references in the last 5 years are required.

Reference customers, presenting the information in the format below:

Customer Information Components

Customer Name Name of customer

Geography Customer location

Project Description ( Minimum 3)

Background

Scope

Number of schools

Number of students

List of modules / functionalities (including language support, ERP functionalities implemented)

Key success factors

Challenges faced

Preparation needed “Professional Development”

Implementation Total duration of implementation

Date of implementation

Contact Details

Contact name

Contact telephone number

Contact email address


8. Vendor Profile

The vendor should provide the following details, including, but not limited to:

Vendor Information Components

Digital Repository Product

Positioning

Percentage of Sales generated by Digital Repository (noting P-12

Education) implementations compared to the rest of your

organization’s product portfolio. The comparison must be provided

for the last 5 years.

Middle East Footprint Please note that a Middle East Footprint may be required of the

service provider selected in the RFP process

Importance of Digital Repository

Solution in Product / Service

Portfolio

Number of FTEs allocated to software development of Digital

Repository solution

Total Number of employees in the organization

Total number of employees dedicated to and located in the

UAE/region

Digital Repository Solution

Supported Languages Bilingual P-12 Digital Repository solution –Arabic/English

Digital Repository Deployment /

Best Practices

A minimum of three positive reference sites where the supplier

implemented a district-wide P-12 Digital Repository solution in the last

three years - in a local or regional education environment similar in

size to ADEC.

Support / Training

Proven ability, supported by references, to provide demanding after-

sale support and training to multiple sites in geographically dispersed

areas

It is highly preferable that the bidder have an established presence in

the UAE and/or Gulf region that includes pre-sale engineers, account

managers, subject matters experts, implementation and support

consultants dedicated to the Digital Repository discipline.

Table: Reference Customer Information


9. Submission Requirements The Request for Information letters, Digital Repository solution proposals and the vendor’s file documents must be enclosed in a sealed envelope labelled as follows:

“Request for Information” RFI No. ADEC/2014/913

ADEC Digital Educational Content Repository (DRS) The above stated sealed envelope shall be delivered and dispatched into ADEC official Tender Box located in the following physical address:-

3rd Floor - ADEC Tender Box, Procurement & Contracts Division Abu Dhabi Education Council Ministries Complex, behind Khalifa Park P.O. Box: 36005, Abu Dhabi United Arab Emirates

10. Submission Timeline

All responses to this document must be received no later than: Sunday, August 31, 2014, 12:00 PM. All vendors shall adhere to the below requirements and timetable:

Milestone Date

Vendor Acknowledgement August 21, 2014 (Thursday)

Vendor Questions and Clarification Period Ends August 26, 2014 (Tuesday)

Vendor Submission closing date August 31, 2014 (Sunday), 12:00 PM

Presentation Date Subject to ADEC invitation upon need.

Any questions/clarifications should be addressed only by email on or before August 26, 2014 to the following:-

[email protected] And copy to: [email protected]

mailto:[email protected]

mailto:[email protected]


SCHEDULE IV – BID ATTACHMENTS

Each Bidder shall endorse his submission with a copy of registration certificates/licenses, specifically the

following:

Copy of UAE valid Trade License

Copy of UAE valid Membership Registration Certificate

Copy of UAE valid Planning Department Certificate

Power of Attorney and Specimen Signature(s) of person(s) having the relevant legal power to

sign proposals and agreements, each duly attested by Attorney General

Copy of Joint Venture Agreement (if applicable)

Company HSE Plan and QA/QC Plan (if any)

Any additional information deemed necessary.

Documents

Abu Dhabi Education Council Procurement & Contracts … no. 20… · The Abu Dhabi Education Council is an independent corporate body and enjoys full legal status, as well as financial