Terms of Reference - W&RSETA€¦ · SETA’s activities, ABET training for employees, HIV/AIDS training for employees, etc. Companies have to agree with the SETA about the intended

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TERMS OF REFERENCE

1. BACKGROUND TO W&RSETA .................................................................................................... 2

1.1. THE ROLE OF SETAS ............................................................................................................... 2 1.2. THE ROLE OF COMPANIES ........................................................................................................ 3 1.3. LEARNING PROGRAMMES ......................................................................................................... 3

1.3.1. Learnerships ................................................................................................................. 4 1.3.2. Skills programmes ......................................................................................................... 4 1.3.3. Apprenticeships ............................................................................................................. 4 1.3.4. Internships ..................................................................................................................... 5

1.4. SAQA AND THE NQF ............................................................................................................... 5 1.5. QCTO ..................................................................................................................................... 5 1.6. THE WHOLESALE AND RETAIL SECTOR...................................................................................... 6 1.7. THE ROLE OF THE W&RSETA ................................................................................................. 6

2. BACKGROUND TO REQUEST FOR IM SERVICES .................................................................... 7

2.1. CURRENT SYSTEMS ARCHITECTURE ......................................................................................... 7 2.2. INFORMATION MANAGEMENT REQUIREMENTS ............................................................................ 8 2.3. CURRENT IT INFRASTRUCTURE AND SERVICES .......................................................................... 8 2.4. RECOMMENDED IM SOLUTION .................................................................................................. 8 2.5. CHANGING ENVIRONMENT IN WHICH THE SETAS OPERATE ........................................................ 9

3. OBJECTIVE ................................................................................................................................... 9

4. SCOPE ........................................................................................................................................... 9

4.1. BUSINESS APPLICATION REQUIREMENTS ................................................................................. 10 4.1.1. The W&RSETA Processes ......................................................................................... 10 4.1.2. Financial Processes .................................................................................................... 24 4.1.3. Procurement and Supply Chain Processes ................................................................ 26 4.1.4. Project Management Processes ................................................................................. 31 4.1.5. HR Processes ............................................................................................................. 34 4.1.6. BI Requirements ......................................................................................................... 36 4.1.7. Systems Requirements ............................................................................................... 38

4.2. DESCRIPTION OF SERVICES .................................................................................................... 42 4.2.1. Web Site ...................................................................................................................... 42 4.2.2. Call Centre Services ................................................................................................... 43 4.2.3. IT Services .................................................................................................................. 46 4.2.4. IT Service Management .............................................................................................. 53 4.2.5. Application Hosting Services ...................................................................................... 55 4.2.6. Application Support Services ...................................................................................... 55 4.2.7. Implementation Services for Business Applications ................................................... 55 4.2.8. IT Transition Services ................................................................................................. 56

4.3. SERVICE DELIVERY AND MANAGEMENT PRINCIPLES................................................................. 57 4.3.1. Systems availability ..................................................................................................... 57 4.3.2. Support Service Levels ............................................................................................... 58 4.3.2.1. Severity 1 .................................................................................................................... 58 4.3.2.2. Severity 2 .................................................................................................................... 59 4.3.2.3. Severity 3 .................................................................................................................... 59 4.3.2.4. Severity 4 .................................................................................................................... 59 4.3.3. Escalations .................................................................................................................. 59 4.3.4. Conditions with regard to the agreed service levels ................................................... 60

5. EXPECTED OUTCOMES AND DELIVERABLES ...................................................................... 60

6. QUALITY ASSURANCE REVIEWS OF THE WORK ................................................................. 60

7. INDEPENDENCE AND OBJECTIVITY OF STAFF ..................................................................... 60

8. SUBMISSION OF REQUIREMENTS ........................................................................................... 60

9. PRICING ....................................................................................................................................... 61

10. ABBREVIATIONS ................................................................................................................... 62

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1. BACKGROUND TO W&RSETA

1.1. The Role of SETAs

The primary function of the Sector Education and Training Authorities (SETAs) is to contribute to the enhancing of skills and to bring skills to the employed or those aspiring to be employed in their respective sectors.

The functions and responsibilities of SETAs are set out in Chapter 3, section 10 of the Skills Development Act, 1998. This Act states that the functions and duties of a SETA are to:

1. Develop a Sector Skills Plan (SSP) within the framework of the National Skills Development Strategy (NSDS). This is a plan to describe the trends in each sector, the skills that are in demand and to identify priorities for skills development. SSPs are important in making decisions about the priorities for skills development. A SETA’s SSP is important for it since it provides the framework and the background for its actions.

2. Implement the Sector Skills Plan through Learnership Implementation; Approval of Workplace Skills Plans; Allocation of Levy Grants; and the Monitoring of Education, Training and Development (ETD) activities in the sector.

3. Develop and administer Learnerships. Learnerships include the traditional apprenticeships of the past. Like Apprenticeships, Learnerships combine practice and theory. The main difference is that Learnerships go beyond "blue-collar" trades - they also prepare people for jobs in the services sector, and for higher para-professional occupations.

4. Support the implementation of the National Qualifications Framework. The National Qualifications Framework (NQF) is the framework, based on eight levels, on which any qualification or learning outcome can be registered.

5. Undertake Education and Training Quality Assurance (ETQA). In promoting quality provision, SETAs will:

a. Accredit education and training providers.

b. Monitor provision to ensure that programmes are being followed.

c. Register Assessors.

d. Collaborate with other Education and Training Quality Assurers.

e. Report to the South African Qualifications Authority on how they fulfil the ETQA role.

6. Disburse levies collected from employers in their sector. Employers pay 1% of their salary payroll to SARS on a monthly basis. 20% goes to the National Skills Fund. The SETA utilizes the remaining 80% as follows: It disburses 40% as Mandatory Grants (MGs), 20% as Discretionary Grants (MGs) and 10% as Pivotal Grants (Professional, Vocational, Technical and Academic Learning). The SETA uses 10% to cover administration costs.

7. Report to the Minister and to the South African Qualifications Authority. SETAs are statutory bodies. This means that they are established by Act of Parliament and they are given clear responsibilities to be discharged in the public interest. The levy collected from employers is public money. The Director-General of the Department of

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Higher Education and Training (DHET) (previously the Department of Labour) is the Accounting Officer. SETAs must therefore report to the Director-General on the efficient and effective use of funds. They are also governed by the Public Finance Management Act, the provisions of which are designed to ensure that public bodies operate in a manner that is not wasteful or irresponsible. In order that SETAs are publicly accountable, and to give them full responsibilities and scope to organize their work, each SETA is required to enter into a Service Level Agreement with the Department of Higher Education and Training.

1.2. The Role of Companies

The role of Companies in the Skills Development process is as follows:

1. Registration All companies within the respective sectors, paying PAYE on behalf of employees, must register as Skills Development Levy payers at the South African Revenue Service (SARS), irrespective of the size and turnover of the company. The company must indicate on the SARS application form which SETA they would like to register with.

2. Appointment of a Skills Development Facilitator A Company has to appoint a Skills Development Facilitator (SDF). A SDF is a person who will ensure that the Company’s Workplace Skills Plan (WSP) is implemented and also serve as a liaison person between the company and the SETA. A SDF can be appointed from within the company, usually a person within the training division and/or Human Resources division. An independent SDF can also be utilized to assist the company with the implementation of the Skills Development at the workplace.

3. Consultation Forum/Training Committee A Workplace Skills Plan (WSP) is to be compiled. A Workplace Skills Plan is a strategic document that articulates how the employer is going to address the training and development needs in the workplace. This process should be an all-inclusive one. The employer should consult with all the employees or employees’ representatives, irrespective of their levels or rank in the company. If a company has more than fifty employees, a Training Committee has to be established that comprises all levels of staff members. The primary role of the training committee is to ensure that all employees’ skills needs, irrespective of their levels, are included in the Workplace Skills Plan. A company will be eligible for a mandatory grant of 40% of the Levies paid after appointing a Skills Development Facilitator and submitting the Annual Training Report (ATR) / Workplace Skills Plan (WSP) to the SETA on or before the prescribed date.

4. Discretionary Grant The discretionary grant is equal to 20% of the total levies received. Unlike the mandatory grant discussed above, this grant is at the absolute discretion of the SETA. In order to qualify for this grant Companies have to comply with the SETA’s discretionary grant criteria to be eligible for the grant. Interventions funded from the Discretionary fund window includes, but is not limited to, active participation in SETA’s activities, ABET training for employees, HIV/AIDS training for employees, etc. Companies have to agree with the SETA about the intended interventions prior to implementation.

1.3. Learning Programmes

There are a number of different learning programmes offered by the SETAs.

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1.3.1. Learnerships

Learnerships are created with the job market in mind, i.e. if there are skills shortages within the economy, learnerships can be created to train this skill. Learnerships therefore address skills shortages and contribute towards creating jobs and resolving the unemployment crisis.

Learnerships have the following key features:

Structured learning which is theoretical and usually takes place within a classroom environment.

Practical work experience of a specific type and duration within a workplace or simulated work environment.

It leads to a NQF qualification related to an occupation.

Any person, whether employed or unemployed, can participate in a Learnership. If employed, a Learnership can be registered through a company within the sector. If unemployed, the candidate may register for placement at a local labour centre or through employers in the area. The Department of Labour’s Labour Centres are responsible for registering the unemployed and placing them in learnerships if they meet the minimum requirements. Learners do not have to pay for the Learnership and the unemployed are given an allowance / stipend to cover the costs of transport and food to the venue.

Accredited training providers must provide the training on a Learnership for it to be recognized by the employers. As it is a structured programme, the workplace component will need to be inspected to see whether the employer can provide the necessary workplace support.

Learnerships normally take up to a year to complete. The learner is assessed throughout by a qualified assessor and the SETA moderates this intervention. I f the learner is found to be competent, a National Qualification is awarded to the learner.

1.3.2. Skills programmes

Skills programmes are shorter learning programmes that are a stepping stone to a full qualification. They are job-focused training interventions and are often introduced in response to a skills need in a particular industry where an urgent job is required but the employers do not have the skills to do this. Skills programmes are building blocks towards a full qualification.

Skills programmes have a practical component and therefore provide learners with the experience they need to increase their employability, self employment and mobility in the workplace.

To get a skills programme up and running a company / training provider must identify the need, the unit standards that will be trained, and should apply to the SETA for recognition of the programme.

1.3.3. Apprenticeships

An apprenticeship is a technical training system that includes practical and theoretical training. Apprenticeships are offered in particular trades (e.g. jewellery making) and after passing a trade test the learner is recognized as an artisan.

Apprenticeships are different form learnerships in that they are job and not career orientated, and relate to a specific trade.

An employer offering apprenticeship training must be workplace approved. The learner is then indentured in a designated trade in terms of the Manpower Training Act. They can also study and get a N2 Certificate with a relevant FET college. The employer will pay for this

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and when they are successful and have passed the trade test they will be awarded the National Trade Certificate and be recognized as a qualified artisan.

1.3.4. Internships

An internship is a temporary position created within a company to provide learners with supervised on-the-job training. Internships are usually for students and university graduates who are seeking some kind of work experience at an entry level.

1.4. SAQA and the NQF

The South African Qualifications Authority (SAQA) is a body of members appointed by Ministers of Higher Education and Basic Education. The members are nominated by the stakeholders in Education and Training. The functions of the Authority are two-fold:

To oversee the development of the National Qualifications Framework (NQF), by formulating and publishing policies and criteria for the registration of bodies responsible for establishing education and training standards or qualifications and for the accreditation of bodies responsible for monitoring and auditing achievements in terms of such standards and qualifications.

To oversee the implementation of the NQF by ensuring the registration, accreditation and assignment of functions to the bodies referred to above, as well as the registration of national standards and qualifications on the framework. It must also take steps to ensure that provisions for accreditation are complied with and where applicable, that registered standards and qualifications are internationally comparable.

1.5. QCTO

The Quality Council for Trades and Occupations’ (QCTO) vision is to capacitate the trades and occupations with skilled, productive and employable people by providing a streamlined, efficient and effective occupational qualification system that responds to labour market skills needs. The main role of the QCTO will be to establish and manage its sub-framework to ensure quality in the design and development of occupational qualifications, and in the delivery, assessment and certification processes required to develop occupational competence in accordance with labour market skills needs.

The functions of the QCTO will therefore be to:

Design and develop occupational standards and qualifications and submit them to SAQA for registration on the NQF;

Establish and maintain occupational standards and qualifications; Ensure the quality of occupational standards and qualifications and learning in and

for the workplace; Promote the objectives of the National Qualifications Framework; Liaise with the National Skills Authority on the suitability and adequacy of

occupational standards and qualifications and on the quality of learning in and for the workplace;

Liaise with SAQA, other Quality Councils and professional bodies responsible for establishing standards and qualifications or the quality assurance of standards and qualifications

The intention is that the QCTO will in future take over the SETAs’ Provider accreditation functions. The purpose of the SETAs will remain to ensure quality education and training in their respective sectors, but the emphasis on functions will change.

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1.6. The Wholesale and Retail Sector

The Wholesale and Retail sector is the fourth largest contributor to the national GDP with a share of approximately 12.4%.

The Wholesale and Retail sector comprises a number of sub sectors. The following sub-sectors are included in the scope and responsibility of the W&RSETA:

Wholesale and commission trade, except of motor vehicles and motor cycles

Retail trade, except of motor vehicle and motor cycle; repairs of personal and household goods

Retail trade in second-hand goods in stores.

Fuel retail

The Wholesale and Retail sector is the fourth largest contributor to the national GDP after the financial and business sector, manufacturing and government. The sector contributes approximately 12.4% of the national GDP. The sector output of R 432 billion in 1999 was generated by more than 65,000 enterprises. These enterprises ranged from about 50 very large category organizations to tens of thousands of small, medium and micro enterprises (SMEEs) such as cafes, spazas and speciality goods retailers that represented 99% of the employers in the sector. The W&R sector is characterized by intense rivalry and low margins. The W&R sector employs about 806,000 employees, with total salaries and wages amounting to some R 10.2 billion ( as reported in the 2002 Statistics SA – Survey of Employment and Earnings). Both mean hourly wages and consequently mean annual earnings in the sector are at low end of the economic spectrum, with only agriculture and the domestic sector worse off.

1.7. The Role of the W&RSETA

The Wholesale and Retail Sector Education and Training Authority (W&RSETA) was established and registered in March 2000 in terms of the skills development Act of 1998. The W&RSETA is accredited by the South African Qualifications Authority (SAQA). The role of the W&RSETA is to ensure quality learning provision within the wholesale and retail sector. From relatively humble beginnings, the W&RSETA has become one of the leading SETAs in the implementation of National Skills Development Strategy (NSDS) and fostering the development of skills of the workforce.

The Vision, Mission and Objectives of the W&RSETA are as follows:

Vision

We are the Premier Authority in Skills Development, exceeding stakeholder expectations in the wholesale and retail sector.

Mission

To contribute to the social and economic development and growth of the country by enabling education and training of the highest quality in the Wholesale and Retail sector, to the benefit of employers, employees and learners.

Objectives

As part of its overall strategy to foster a life-long learning culture in the sector, the W&RSETA is pursuing several objectives. Some of these are:

The development of a trained, educated and content employee component leading to improved productivity;

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Transforming the workplace and facilitating affordable and accessible training to meet the needs of the sector and the country;

Addressing historic imbalances in the development of the people in our sector;

Developing the capacity of companies to implement Skills Development Strategy and policies;

Focusing on the development of small, medium and micro enterprises (SMMEs) to provide future employment opportunities in the sector;

Aligning the W&RSETA's skills development strategy to the National Skills Development Strategy and sector requirements; and

Encouraging the participation of more employers.

2. BACKGROUND TO REQUEST FOR IM SERVICES

At present the W&RSETA has approximately 11 000 levy paying companies. Of these 5 100 are participating companies (of which 4000 are small, 800 are medium and 300 are large). The W&RSETA has in the order of 900 ET (Education and Training) providers. During the previous financial year R 467 million was received in levies and R 234 million was paid in Mandatory Grants while R 148 million was disbursed as Discretionary Grants. 390 044 People were trained and 4 421 small companies were supported. A total of 4760 learners received nationally recognized certificates, 57 skills programmes were approved, 107 providers received accreditation or re-accreditation and 568 assessors were registered or re-registered.

The W&RSETA’s operations are geographically dispersed with the Head Office in Centurion and ten branch offices spread countrywide. Its stakeholders are geographically spread throughout the country.

In order to most effectively serve the Wholesale and Retail Industry, and to cope with the volume of requirements, the W&RSETA requires effective Information Management (IM) processes and systems. IM services and access are provided to W&RSETA personnel at its Head Office and branch offices. Stakeholders have internet access to the W&RSETA’s information via its web site and limited, controlled access to some of its systems’ functionality that is exposed to the web.

The W&RSETA’s IM services are currently provided by Deloitte Consulting on the basis of a Service Catalogue and Service Level Agreements. In general most hardware (excluding some local servers, desktops and notebooks), facilities and effort required to provide these services are provided and owned by the service provider.

2.1. Current Systems Architecture

The W&RSETA processes are currently supported by the following applications architecture:

JD Edwards Financials

A bespoke developed SETA specific application (the so called “SETA Management System” (SMS)), that has limited integration with JD Edwards. It has the following functions and attributes:

o Skills module

o ETQA and Learnerships module

o A limited Project Module

o A Supply Chain Management module

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o A limited HR module

o The SMS system supports limited document management in the form of file attachments that are linked to a transaction.

o The SMS system is a custom-developed application on a Microsoft SQL Server / .NET platform.

A Web Site, through which certain SMS functions are exposed to stakeholders

A Call Centre

A Business Intelligence (BI) tool (Pro Clarity)

A Workflow tool (Flow Centric)

VIP is used to process the payroll and leave. It has no integration other than manual file transfers (outsourced).

Shared drives on Windows File servers are used for document storage

The email system, which is Microsoft Exchange based, is used extensively for exchange of files and to support the general business process flow.

Requirements Bidder compliancy statement

The current systems architecture noted and provision made for the transition from it into the new service model proposed for the W&RSETA.

2.2. Information Management Requirements

A more detailed description of the requirements of the W&RSETA with respect to its IT Solutions and Service Management model is presented in the document: “WRSETA IM Requirements”.


The Information Management requirements noted and provision made for it in the new service model proposed for the W&RSETA.

2.3. Current IT Infrastructure and Services

The architecture of the W&RSETA infrastructure is provided in the document: “WRSETA IT Infrastructure”.


The current IT Infrastructure and Services noted and provision made for the transition from it into the new service model proposed for the W&RSETA.

2.4. Recommended IM Solution

The recommended solution for the W&RSETA’s future Information Management solution is provided in the document: “WRSETA Recommended Solution”.

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The recommended IM Solution noted and provision made for the transition into it in the new service model proposed for the W&RSETA.

2.5. Changing Environment in which the SETAs operate

It should be noted that the SETAs operate against the backdrop of a continually changing legislative, regulatory and policy environment. This includes, but is not limited to the new NQF Bill and revised Higher Education Act, General and Further Education and Training Act and Skills Development Act. The new Skills Development Amendment Bill, for example, establishes the Quality Council for Trades and Occupations (QCTO) as a juristic person. The new Grant Levy System introduces the Pivotal Grants (Professional, Vocational, Technical and Academic Learning). The National Skills Development Strategy (NSDS) provides an overarching strategic instrument for skills development and sector skills planning, with NSDSIII, covering the period from 2011 to 2016, setting the national skills development objectives, priorities and initiatives to support and sustain the National Economic Growth and Social Development Goals (MTSF), the National Industrial Policy Framework and the Industrial Policy Action Plan 2, and the National Human Resources Development Strategy (2010 – 2030). The systems provided to the W&RSETA should therefore be flexible and able to cater for the dynamically changing environment, inter alia necessitating different processes, functionality and reporting requirement to be provided on an ongoing basis.


The changing environment in which the SETAs operate noted and provision made for it in the new service model proposed for the W&RSETA.

3. OBJECTIVE

The objective is to appoint a service provider to provide all the W&RSETA’s IM services on the basis of a Service Catalogue and Service Level Agreements. In general all hardware, facilities and effort required to provide these services shall be provided and owned by the service provider.

The W&RSETA wishes to have a single point of responsibility for the delivery of the services. Any sub-contractors shall be the sole responsibility of the service provider to manage.

The required date for the inception of the full IM services is 1st April 2012.


The objectives noted and provision made for them in the new service model proposed for the W&RSETA.

4. SCOPE

The scope of the services required includes the aspects addressed in the sub-sections hereunder.

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4.1. Business Application Requirements

4.1.1. The W&RSETA Processes

These processes refer to the core business processes that the W&RSETA executes to fulfil its business objectives in terms of the development and improvement of skills in the Wholesale and Retail sector.

Process Group: Skills Development

Process Requirement Bidder compliancy statement

SLA with Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET)

The W&RSETA sets an SLA with the DHET with specific targets for the year.

The SETA system(s) shall provide weekly and ad-hoc reporting on progress against each of the targets as set out in the DHET quarterly report / NSDS targets.

Business Plans The W&RSETA draws up a business plan with measurable targets. These business plans contribute towards the SLA.

The business plan targets include, inter alia, WSP’s, Discretionary Grant (DG) projects and other special projects to address objectives set out in, among others, the Sector Skills Plan.

The SETA system(s) shall support the capturing and tracking of the SLA and business plan targets per region and any other applicable categorization required.

Sector Skills Plan (SSP) The SSP is drawn up to address scarce and critical skills in a given sector. A 5 year SSP is developed, and updated annually. The SETA system(s) shall provide for the extraction of all information required, e.g. information captured against the WSP/ATR per sector / region.

Critical Skills Guide This guide is developed with inputs from SDF’s / ISDF’s and

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educators, and is published annually. The SETA system(s) shall provide for the extraction of all required information available to facilitate this.

Employers The SETA system(s) shall support:

Employer registration and maintenance.

Maintain employer development areas, required training, etc.

The uploading of the employer file received on a monthly basis from SARS. The file contains all current and new employers.

Make provision for the registration of temporary or non-levy paying companies.

Provide for Web based online access for Employers to load and update own information.

Skills Development Facilitators (SDFs) and Independent SDFs (ISDFs)

Skills development Facilitators (SDF’s) in the employ of the stakeholder, or an Independent SDF (ISDF) that is contracted by W&RSETA work with the stakeholders to develop the WSP. W&RSETA contracts the ISDFs in the beginning of an annual cycle. This contracting is handled by SCM department, and is done from a supplier database.

The SETA system(s) shall:

Support the registration and maintenance the SDF and ISDF details.

Provide for Web based online access for SDFs and ISDFs to register and update own information online.

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Workplace Skills Plans (WSPs) / Annual Training Reports (ATRs)

The Annual Training Report (ATR) from the previous year and Workplace Skills Plan (WSP) of the new year shall be capable of both being captured directly on SETA system(s) by the SDF /ISDF. The WSP shall be pre-populated by the previous year’s numbers, if applicable. The WSP is reviewed, and then approved on the SMS system. This triggers the Mandatory Grant process.The SETA system(s) shall allow:

Employers’ SDFs / ISDFs to create and maintain WSP/ATRs directly on the system. The Employer shall be able to generate a hard copy of the WSP/ATR that is signed and submitted to the W&RSETA to meet submission requirements.

Progress updates by the Employer shall be done on-line. The Employer shall have the ability to generate hard copy reports of the updated WSP.

The evaluation of the WSP/ATRs according to predefined criteria shall be supported by the SETA system(s). This shall include the on-line approval of the WSP by an authorized W&RSETA user.

The SDF/ISDF should be able to submit information up to the deadline date of 30th June. The system will allow read-only access after the deadline date has passed.

The WSP be drawn up according to the W&RSETA’s

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templates specified from time to time.

Mandatory Grants (MGs) The SETA system(s) shall support a fully integrated Mandatory Grants process:

This process originates with WSP/ATR that is approved by the Regional manager or equivalent.

The SETA system(s) shall calculate the amounts due to the respective employers and generate a schedule of MG disbursements per company. The payment shall be calculated based on a fixed percentage of the levy paid by the particular employer. The calculation will take all levies vs grants paid and any SARS reversals into consideration.

The SETA system(s) shall generate a listing which is checked by the Financial Manager, and then authorized by CFO/CEO. The SETA system(s) shall generate a payment voucher for each employer on the list.

MG payments shall be made each quarter, for the previous quarter.

Exceptions shall be removed from the list before payments are generated.

SARS will trigger any adjustments to the levy paid by a company. This could result in an additional payment (if actual levy was higher), or recovered from future MG payments (if it was lower). Only in exceptional cases will it be necessary for

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monies to be retrieved from a company.

Employers shall have online access, through a Web interface, to query the SETA system(s) regarding the payment status of Mandatory Grants.

Discretionary Grants (DGs)

The SETA system(s) shall support a fully integrated Discretionary Grants process. The Discretionary Grants process is based on a contract with an Employer. This is managed as a project where specific objectives are agreed.

For a DG project the following shall be managed in the SETA system(s):

The learners who form part of the project (they may not be employees of the company)

The course / skills development objectives for the project

The deliverables to be achieved through the project, and the proof of deliverable

The payment tranches associated with each deliverable

The following contractual documents form part of the DG contract:

A contract between the W&RSETA and the company

Contracts between the company and each of the learners (on a W&RSETA template)

It is a requirement that the SETA system(s) shall be capable of generating pro-forma contracts

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for the above, populated by information that is captured in the system. The signed contracts shall be scanned and linked to the DG Project.

The W&RSETA will store all signed hard copies of all project documentation for audit purposes.

Upon approval of the DG Project the SETA system(s) shall support the following process:

Generate a schedule of deliverables and a payment schedule. This is used to liaise with a company when a deliverable is due

Companies shall have online access, through a Web interface, to update the progress status of DG Projects (i.t.o. units completed per learner, etc.)

The project will be monitored on an ongoing basis by means of regular progress reports, the tracking of milestones and their deliverables, and the tracking of spent and committed amounts vs. budgeted amounts.

When deliverables are due, the company is required to provide proof of the progress (as per the contracted requirement). Proof may take the form of training to be uploaded or a project deliverable. Hard copies are to be scanned / stored, and scanned electronic copies are shall be attached to the DG Project.

When there are changes to the contract, such as learners

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who dropped off the course, the contract needs to be amended and the contract variation order signed by both parties. The result of these changes shall be recorded in the SETA system(s), and approved by an authorized W&RSETA employee.

The SETA system(s) shall enable an authorized W&RSETA employee to approve a DG Project deliverable. This will set of the payment process in motion. The Finance Dept. waits for invoices that are generated by the responsible region. Invoices are supported by a PO and supporting documentation. It has to be authorized according to the defined delegation levels. The payment status of all deliverables will be reflected in the SETA system(s).

Finance produces a monthly management report indicating the status of payments to the employer.

Projects may span more than one financial year. The system(s) must make provision for this, in particular the financial system must cater for the remaining part of the project to be executed in the new financial year.

A Company shall have online access, through a Web interface, to query the SETA system(s) regarding:

The payment status of DG Contracts.

The W&RSETA learner

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database to identify learners whom they could ask to participate in a DG Project.

Discretionary Grant Projects

In addition to the Discretionary Grant Projects (described above) the W&RSETA also undertakes Strategic Projects, Sector Initiatives and other projects. The process is generally as follows:

Review Sector Skills Plan (SSP) for gaps that could be addressed through a project.

Advertise project in the media to invite companies to participate in the project

SCM contracts the company (or companies) and generates a PO. This includes defining payment tranches linked to specific deliverables.

The process is very similar to the DG process described above. The SETA system(s) shall support the DG Projects process with the Projects functionality described in Section 4.1.4, including:

Registration of project

Capturing of project scope, deliverables, budget, etc.

Definition of deliverables with tasks

Definition of approved project budgets

Collection actual costs against project

Maintenance of forecasts

Management of budgets per milestone / deliverable

Scheduling and tracking of

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projects

Provision of project accounting (including integration with procurement, accounts payable and financial and management accounting)

Linking and tracking of learner programs to the project.

Learnership / Apprenticeship / Skills programmes

Registration and maintenance of Learnerships, Apprenticeships and Skills Programmes.

The SETA system(s) must be able to load Learner information according to the requirements of the NLRD. The SETA system(s) must allow the monitoring of Learnerships as per all relevant legislative and audit requirements, and Learnership contracts must be able to be attached / referenced. The SETA system(s) must facilitate the required Learnership payments to be made.

Upload / report to DHET The SETA system(s) shall enable the W&RSETA to:

Produce reports as required by the DHET in the required electronic format.

This includes, among others, the Schedule 2B report to be delivered to the DHET on a quarterly basis.

The format and integrity of the information shall comply with DHET standards. The SETA system(s) shall also comply with the emerging ESSA standard.

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Reporting to the DHET shall include the following new requirements: OFO (Organizing Framework for Occupations) codes and learner municipality (postal codes).

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Process Group: Education and Training Quality Assurance (ETQA)


Learner Database The SETA system(s) shall facilitate:

Registration / maintenance of learners’ information according to the requirements of the NLRD.

Training Providers to upload any assessment and moderation data for the learners.

Monitoring of learners six months after completion

Auditing / external moderation

Education and Training (ET) Providers

The W&RSETA deals with around 900 ET Providers. The ETQA department of the W&RSETA is responsible for the accreditation of providers.

The SETA system(s) shall facilitate the management, accreditation process and status of providers through the entire process, including:

Facilitate the management of the entire process of accreditation, from application to evaluation to accreditation, on the system.

Capture the entire monitoring and auditing process for providers through data entry and the scanning of documents.

Allow the ETQA department to load the scope of the provider and audit information.

Capture the information according to the requirements of the NLRD.

Generate the Provider accreditation certificates.

Manage the accreditation time (automatic lapsing according to dates).

Programme approval for ET providers

The SETA system(s) shall enable the management of the entire process, from the submission of a programme to the approval and extension of the

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scope of a provider according to a programme’s scope.

Learners ET Providers are required to maintain Learner information according to the requirements of the NLRD.

The SETA system(s) shall provide the following mechanisms and capabilities:

Direct online access to the SETA system(s) shall be provided via a Web interface to:

o Add / maintain learner records

o Add / maintain unit standards to a learner

o Add / maintain learning programmes to a learner

o Maintain assessments per learner

The SETA system(s) shall support the upload of a file into the system for the off-line capture of learners and learner achievements (relevant to those ET Providers who have their own in-house solutions with a learner database). Where files are uploaded from ET Providers the SETA system(s) shall be capable of performing data verification according to SAQA standards before the information is uploaded in to the SETA system(s) database. This requirement shall ensure the integrity of information that is uploaded.

The SETA system(s) will test to ensure the minimum credits and correct combination has been achieved before the certificate can be created by the ETQA division.

Assessors SETA system(s) shall enable the registration and maintenance of assessor details. The system shall provide for the following, inter alia:

Support the process of Assessor

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registration, from application to approval and capturing of information including contact details, qualifications, unit standards and qualifications qualified for assessment and providers that are associated to the assessor.

It shall include the maintenance around assessors including assessor types, assessor status, assessor status reason, qualifications and unit standards for assessment.

Moderators SETA system(s) shall enable the registration and maintenance of moderator details. The system shall provide for the following, inter alia:

Support the process of Moderator registration, from application to approval and capturing of information including contact details, qualifications, unit standards and qualifications qualified for assessment and providers that are associated to the moderator.

It shall include the maintenance around moderators including moderator types, moderator status, moderator status reason, qualifications and unit standards for assessment.

Unit Standards The SETA system(s) shall provide the following:

A database of Unit Standards shall be maintained.

It shall include the credit value, start and end dates and teach out period.

The system shall contain measures to ensure that Unit Standard descriptions and details are aligned with SAQA standards at all times.

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Unit standards that relate to other regulatory bodies shall contain a cross reference to the relevant module as defined by that body.

Qualifications The SETA system(s) shall provide the following:

A database of Qualifications as registered by QCTO shall be maintained.

It shall include the unit standards, whether core, fundamental or elective, the total credit value, start and end dates and teach out period.

The system shall contain measures to ensure that Qualifications descriptions and details are aligned with SAQA standards at all times.

Certification of Learners

The W&RSETA’s ETQA department issues a certificate upon the successful completion of a course by a learner. The W&RSETA issues around 5000 certificates per year.

The SETA system(s) shall manage the certification of Learners, which is a strict process with certain rules and approval levels that shall be built into the system.

The SETA system(s) shall facilitate the process as follows:

The system will only allow the ETQA division to create a certificate once the rules of combination were achieved. The Training Provider shall be able to upload the information, including the statement of results, against each learner’s name.

The ETQA approval status will only be available to the ETQA division for the creation of certificates. The process of issuing the certificate is subject to strict security measures, and it is required that this is

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controlled by system access measures and that a full audit trail be maintained by the system.

The system shall automatically use the next number and make provision for the hologram number uploading.

NLRD upload / reporting to SAQA

The SETA system(s) shall enable the W&RSETA to produce quarterly reports to SAQA in the required electronic format. The integrity of the information shall comply with SAQA standards to ensure a successful upload of all records to SAQA. The format of the upload to SAQA is defined by SAQA. The fields on the system shall be updated continuously to reflect those on the NLRD.

4.1.2. Financial Processes

Process Group: Financial Processes


Standard financial accounting

The SETA system(s) shall provide the following capabilities, including:

Accounts receivable

Accounts payable

General ledger

Bank

Lease accounting

Cash management

Asset accounting

Period end processing (month, quarter and year end)

Management accounting

Cost centre accounting and reporting

Cost centre budgeting and

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budget control

Budget preparation and control

Forecast preparation and control

Management accounting reports

Business intelligence

Project accounting Project / WBS budgeting

Budget control per WBS

Forecasting

Financial reporting Compliance and Legal reporting

DHET Reporting of receipt of levies (monthly)

Treasury Reporting (monthly and quarterly reports have different formats)

Production of Audit Trails and Reporting for internal and external auditors

Fully integrated accounting reporting, including salaries.

Asset Management Asset register and details.SCM is responsible for the logistical aspects (e.g. tagging, tracking, etc.) while accounting (depreciation, etc.) is handled by Finance. All items above R5k are handled as assets.

Fixed and intangible asset accounting

Investment Management

Full investment management functionality

Determined by strict rules from Treasury

Payments All payments shall be managed by this functionality.

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The SETA system(s) shall manage, process and control all payments and generate the payment advice. Payment of vendors is based on an approved invoice, and a PO that is generated by SCM. All payments are done via EFT (ABSA).

It shall integrate with Salaries payments and do allocation to cost centres from the Salaries module.

Disbursements of Grants

Discretionary Grants disbursements shall occur once a project deliverable is approved.

Mandatory Grants disbursements shall occur according to the schedule of MG disbursements that is generated by the SETA system(s).

The SETA system(s) shall process the EFT payments for grants, and generate the payment advice.

The SETA system(s) shall update the SETA system(s) to reflect the payment status of grants.

The solution shall include seamless integration between the various modules of the SETA system(s) to facilitate the processing of grant payments. It will require approval on the system of payments by the relevant W&RSETA employees.

4.1.3. Procurement and Supply Chain Processes

Process Group: Procurement and SCM Processes

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Demand Management Plan

Set up a demand management plan and verify acquisition of goods against the plan.

Delegations and thresholds

The SCM process shall take place as per W&RSETA policy, National Treasury prescriptions, and as described in the applicable legislation such as the PFMA.

To determine the availability of products and services in the market place, the TEC may publish a Request for Information (RFI).

All procurement of goods and services must follow one of the following approved (RFx) purchasing mechanisms:

Request for Quotation (RFQ) ; or

Request for Proposal (RFP) / Request for Tender (RFT).

The mechanisms, processes and approvals shall be enabled by the system and its workflow. The delegations and thresholds employed are:

Up to R500 – Petty cash system

Up to R2000 – One verbal quote system with a detail description / specification, if necessary

Up to R10,000 – Three verbal quote system with a detail description / specification, if necessary

Up to R 30,000 – Three written quote system with a detail description / specification.

Up to R 500,000 – Three written quote system with a detail description / specification.

More that R 500,000 – Competitive Tender with a Business Case approval via a Board sub-committee. Tenders may be open or, if the market is highly specialized, Single, Selected or Closed.

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Supplier selection The supplier selection process contains elements of the following, that is included in the respective detailed processes:

Supplier market analysis;

Sourcing strategy development;

RFx process;

Bid evaluation;

Negotiation;

Awarding of bids;

Supplier visits;

Due Diligence;

Drawing up of contracts;

Contract management, and

Supplier performance management.

Supplier Registration and maintenance of suppliers, including all relevant details (such as bank accounts, supplier category, expiry date on Tax certificate, BEE status, etc.).

Evaluation of suppliers

The system shall provide, through reporting, information to enable the W&RSETA to measure the performance of suppliers.

Tender The Tender process comprises the following:

New Tender registration

CEO approval

Establishment and capturing of TEC Members

Approval of the Project Charter

Generation and printing of documents for the tender

Capturing and approval of Meeting Minutes

Viewing of Bid Documents

Capturing of Briefing results

Creation and viewing of advertisement for tender

Tender closure

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Bidder registration

Evaluation of Critical Criteria for a bid

Administrative compliance evaluation

Rejection of bids due to non-compliance

Technical evaluation for bid

Validation of technical evaluation

Approval of tender

Award of tender

Procurement The Tender process comprises the following:

RFP capturing of new item, including

o priority

o type of good/services/ consultants

o capex/opex/HR or IT

Establishment of Scope of Work (SOW)/Specification /Special requirements

HDI, Functionality and Pricing processing

Business unit manager approval

Procurement Capturing, including the supplier category

Establishment of supplier values, including the functional criterion and HDI

Comparative schedule establishment and approval

Supplier selection

Manager approval according to thresholds

Purchase Order processing, approval and notification

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GRV capturing and notifications

Invoice capturing and approval

Request for payment

Processing of payments

Supplier evaluation / rating

Procurement Evaluation

RFP closure and archiving

Contracts Create, maintain and authorize Contracts.

Contract Registration (type (e.g. Tender SLA, Lease, etc.), business unit, etc.)

Contracting party information

Contract details

Payment schedule specification, including deliverables, quality, tranche due dates and contract amount

Invoice capture and approval, including a calculation of the pending and outstanding total against the contract amount

Attached contract documents

Contract Monitoring, including aspects such as monitoring visits

Update contract information such as start, end and contract signed dates

Addendum registration and approval. Addendums comprise:

o Payment schedule updates, or

o Tax clearance Certificates.

Provision of contract summary information, including all tranches and invoices to date.

Selection of suppliers

The W&RSETA has a policy of selecting suppliers on the basis of rotation, selection or preferred supplier.

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The system shall support all of these processes.

Courier process Courier services are used extensively, in particular in the regions. The courier produces an invoice that has to be allocated to the respective BU/region afterwards. The courier statement must be reconciled back to actual deliveries requested by the BU/region.

Travel management

Travel management functionality is required to manage travel, as per policy

Petty Cash management

Petty Cash management functionality is required to manage Petty Cash, as per policy

4.1.4. Project Management Processes

The objective of the system is to facilitate the management of all the different types of projects that the W&RSETA is involved in, e.g. Discretionary Grant Projects. It shall enable the following:

Automate project management functions

Provide a single central repository and communication portal with all project

information

Integrate with financial system and contract management system

Facilitate the decentralized updating of and access to information

Process Group: Project Management Processes


Project Management

Being a project driven organization, the W&RSETA undertakes a variety of Projects. The SETA system(s) shall support projects with at least the following functionality:

Registration of projects in such a way that it has a unique project registration that avoids duplicates and confusion of projects or their names.

Definition of Work Packages:

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o Primary projects

o Sub-projects

Definition of deliverables with tasks

Definition of approved project budgets

Collection actual costs against project

Maintenance of forecasts

Management of budgets per WBS / Deliverable

Scheduling and tracking of projects

Provision of project accounting (including integration with procurement, accounts payable and financial and management accounting)

Linking and tracking of learner programs to the project.

Change Management

The systems must allow formal baseline establishment and change management, e.g.:

Allow the establishment of various baselines for all aspects of the project such as the scope (e.g. number of learners), cost, schedule and deliverables, for purposes of being able to draw a comparison between the planned and actuals.

Provide the ability to incorporate changes to any and all project parameters, under configuration management, and to track changes to ensure that schedule, cost and contracts are aligned, and that audit requirements are met.

Risk Management Track Risk Logs and Mitigation plans, with the ability to prioritize risks.

Issue Management

Track Issue logs and resolution, thereby providing the ability to identify problem areas and their resolution and

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impact on the project

Documentation Management

The Scanning and archiving of documentation relating to a project during its life cycle (e.g. supporting documentation linked to a DG project claim, etc.)

The Management and distribution of internal electronic documentation. The documentation can pertain to:

o A description of the relevant project lifecycle(s) and the policies, procedures, templates, standards, etc. pertaining to each phase of the project(s), and

o Project specific documentation, such as its Charter, Board approvals, Change Requests, etc.

All documentation must be version controlled, to track and control documentation and allow the latest documentation to be identified and utilized.

Reporting Generate W&RSETA standard reports (in PDF format), e.g.:

o Board status report

o Detailed monthly report

o Executive dashboard, etc.

Provide various project schedule reporting views. e.g. Gantt chart, network diagrams, etc.

Provide project health indicators on, inter alia: Cost/Budget, Schedule, Learners, etc., ranging from RAG (Red, Amber, Green) indicators to industry standard indicators such as CPI, SPI, % Complete, etc. The reports must be able to be viewed graphically or numerically in appropriate industry standard views.

The ability to filter reports to obtain

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reporting for various intervals.

The ability to communicate reports by sending email and notices relating to projects.

Integration The project functionality must Integrate with the Financial and Contract Management system, and must incorporate, inter alia, contracts, budget and project plans between the systems to ensure alignment between financials, schedule and contracts

Technical Web Based – must be able to access the system 24 hours/ 7 days a week (provided you have login details)

Hosted – must reside at provider and be accessible via internet or intranet.

4.1.5. HR Processes

Process Group: HR Processes


Payroll The W&RSETA currently makes use of VIP to manage the payroll. Respondents to the RFP are requested to provide a proposal to either:

Retain VIP and provide hosting and application support, or

Provide an alternative payroll solution

The integration between the payroll solution and the SETA system(s) may be via manual file transfer.

Tax payments are handled via SARS e-filing. The payroll is processed via Standard Bank

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Process Group: HR Processes


ACT.

Leave administration The solution shall support the leave administration process. The current VIP license includes the leave administration module.

Personnel administration

The solution shall cater for:

Employee details

Employee training.

Employee leave.

Employee demographics reporting.

Training and Development

The solution shall cater for:

Employee training planning.

Employee training scheduling.

Employee training results

Performance Assessment

The solution shall capture the results of the assessments that are done twice per annum.

Employee Self Service (ESS)

The ESS solution shall have a web browser based access and shall and shall be accessible to all W&RSETA personnel, with password based access, to, with the necessary security procedures in place:

View their details.

Update relevant details regarding themselves, their spouses and dependents.

Submit leave for approval.

Submit grievances

The solution shall be workflow enabled and shall route the request appropriately as per the delegation of authority.

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4.1.6. BI Requirements

Business Intelligence Requirements


Reporting and analysis

A Business Intelligence tool shall be provided that will provide web-enabled management reporting to designated users in a variety of formats. These formats shall include Grids, Graphics (Bar charts, Line charts, Pie charts, etc), decomposition trees and perspective views. The BI tool shall ensure that all information is consolidated into one source database, providing the ability to compare trends between planned and actual values across a number of years. The BI tool shall also allow for the measurement of Key Performance Areas (KPIs) per division and across the whole of the W&RSETA, e.g. according to the NSDS targets and the organization and its division’s respective balanced score cards.

Integration The BI tool shall enable users to easily access data from all functions and across all sub-systems of the SETA system(s) in a variety of formats. The process shall be seamless across the systems from the users’ point of view.

Standard Reports Standard reports shall be built in the BI tool to provide the reports that can not readily be obtained from the SETA system(s) standard reporting mechanisms. These include reports that must be provided to the DHET and other stakeholders. Examples of such reports are, inter alia:

Weekly and ad-hoc reporting on progress against each of the targets as set out in the DHET quarterly report on the achievement of NSDS targets (e.g. see page 10 to 12 of the Annual Report 2009/2010).

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General statistics, e.g. the number of levy paying companies (small, medium and large) per region, levies received per region, grants paid per region, people trained per region, number of small companies supported, trends of mandatory levy income vs. mandatory grants (e.g. see page 17 to 23 of the Annual Report 2009/2010).

Report of all projects to the Board Committee (that is currently cut and pasted out of various systems and documents).

User friendly monthly and quarterly management financial reporting.

Ad-hoc Reports Ad-hoc reports shall be able to be built with the BI tool, preferably by a user without the service provider’s assistance, to provide the reports that can not readily be obtained from the SETA system(s) or BI tool’s standard reporting mechanisms. These include analyses that are done and the building of “what-if” scenarios. Examples of such reports are, inter alia:

What is the status of learners on learnerships that have run?

What is the effect of a change in the budgeted levy collections that are paid over to the SETA?

What are the trends that emerge when WSPs are analyzed against the SSP?

What do I learn in drawing up the SSP, which addresses scarce and critical skills, from the information captured against the WSP/ATR per sector / region?

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Etc.

4.1.7. Systems Requirements

Systems Requirements


User Access Head office users shall have access to all the SETA’s business systems and facilities including, but not limited to, the SETA system, Financial system, email, document management system(s), intranet, managed internet access, etc.

Regional Site users

o Site users currently have access to the current SETA system, but not to the financial system. They have inadequate access to documents stored on the file server(s), especially those that are accessed over the WAN.

o In order to support the decentralized model they shall have access to all the SETA’s business systems and facilities including, but not limited to, the SETA system, Financial system, email, document management system(s), intranet, managed internet access, etc.

External stakeholders such as SDF’s, Employers, Training Providers, Assessors / Moderators, etc. that are appropriately authorized shall be enabled to gain access controlled access to the W&RSETA’s systems via a Web browser based access. This places the accountability for data capturing as close as possible to the source of the data, and relieves W&RSETA from a significant workload of data capturing.

The system user The system user availability shall be as

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availability defined in Section 4.3.1

Application system support

The provider shall provide adequate application system support to the W&RSETA’s users in all geographies. This includes, but is not limited to:

Initial user training (if a new system is implemented, or for new users)

Ongoing user training, e.g. when new features are implemented.

Ongoing user support. This includes:

o Support in the use of the system to individual users, and

o Understanding new user requirements for implementation in upcoming enhanced versions of the systems.

Reporting and query handling

The SETA system(s) shall make provision for authorized parties to perform queries and request reports, e.g.:

Employers / stakeholders shall be enabled to perform queries on the system relating to, inter alia:

o Approval status of WSP / ATR / Quarterly reports

o Payment status of Mandatory Grants

o Approval status of Discretionary Grant milestones

o Payment status of Discretionary Grant milestones

o Any other information relevant to the Employer

ET Providers may request information relating to, inter alia:

o Qualifications and unit standards

o Learners

o Status of certification per learner

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o Other relevant details

W&RSETA employees shall be able to respond efficiently and in real time to telephonic or email queries by employers / stakeholders, learners, providers or other parties involved.

All statutory and legislative reports

shall be available as in a standard format from the system(s), e.g. all relevant reports across all functions of the SETA system(s) shall be provided standard, including those that are required according to the PFMA / National Treasury / SAQA / SARS / National Treasury, etc.

A report writing facility shall be available that will allow users to create reports and select fields to be reported on.

Document Management

The W&RSETA has the following two key requirements with respect to document management:

Management and distribution of internal electronic documents comprising policies, procedures, templates, standards, etc. in an electronic format. This is for the management of internal electronic documents (e.g. in MS Word, MS Excel, PDF, etc. formats).

o Documents shall be managed and distributed across the organization and version control and security policies shall be employed.

o The system shall use of web-based access, and shall be optimized for usage across wide area network connections. Users at all sites shall be able to access documentation without the need to create decentralized copies of documentation across

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a number of file servers.

Scanning and archiving of documentation relating to its business processes (e.g. learner documentation such as certified copies of identity documents and others, supporting documentation linked to a DG project claim, etc.)

o The scanning and archiving solution should be integrated with the SETA system(s), and should enable electronic documents to be linked to the relevant transactions in these systems. This will enable W&RSETA to store all hard copy documents in a suitable location (or possibly outsourced) while further business processes are then supported by an electronic copy of the document

o It is important that all relevant audit requirements be satisfied by the scanning and archiving solution.

Workflow All relevant process across all functions of the SETA system(s) shall be workflow enabled to allow relevant approval and other actions to be automated or facilitated by the workflow to relevant parties, as per their delegation of authority and as determined by the process and its authorization levels required.

Integration The functions and sub-systems of the SETA system(s) shall be integrated to ensure that data is only maintained in one source, and that the various processes can proceed seamlessly across the systems.

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4.2. Description of Services

4.2.1. Web Site

The service provider must manage and host the W&RSETA Web site as follows:

Web Site Services

Service Requirement Bidder compliancy statement

Provide and manage Web Site

Management of the W&RSETA Web Site as follows:

Implement and maintain the web site.

Update the design of the web site on a regular basis.

Add or make changes as per W&RSETA requests.

Provide easy access for the public to the website.

Ensure that the website has secure access for all authorized stakeholders such as employers, learners and providers.

Provide authorized access to W&RSETA business systems via Web Site

Provide an interface for access to agreed functionality of the W&RSETA’s business systems for authorized users

Provide managed Intranet access

Provide Intranet access to designated employees.

Host Web Site Host W&RSETA web site at a secure facility

Facilitate and manage secure access to W&RSETA’s Internet Site, including but not limited to the provision of industry accepted Firewall and anti-virus protection.

The WEB and Intranet sites must be available 24 hours. Should there be a problem, a message should (assuming this is technically possible at the time) be displayed informing users attempting to gain access that the site is down, and giving an

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Web Site Services


estimated up time.

W&RSETA will require notification of not less than 1 week for interruptions > 1 hour Office Hours or > 2 hour Non Office Hours, excluding agreed maintenance times.

4.2.2. Call Centre Services

The service provider must provide Call Centre services to the W&RSETA on service provider supplied infrastructure and with their personnel. The Call Centre shall provide the services during normal working hours. Depending on circumstances, e.g. whether a campaign is being handled, the requirement is that 1000 calls per month inbound and 500 calls per month outbound must be handled. These number are, however, highly variable, depending on the exact requirements at a particular point in time, and could be much higher at any instant in time.

Call Centre Services


Queries Management of telephonic queries received as follows:

Provide initial contact point for members and learners.

Verify details of callers at time of call.

Forward queries to the relevant parties for resolution.

Escalate unresolved queries.

Close queries that have been resolved.

Attend specific W&RSETA training and information sessions as scheduled by W&RSETA.

Provide for an automated voice mail system for after

hour calls.

The services must be provided in such a way that:

Queries must be forwarded to

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the relevant parties for resolution within 15 minutes of logging a call.

90% of the calls are to be answered within 30 seconds.

50% of calls are to be resolved by the receiving agent during the first call whilst on the phone with the caller.

The service provider’s relevant call centre personnel shall attend training and information sessions as scheduled by W&RSETA (6 sessions annually).

Outbound Campaigns

Outbound campaigns include communications via one or more of the following channels, as is most appropriate to the target recipients of the communication i.e.:

Telephone

SMS

eMail

Fax

The nature of the communications and target recipients vary widely. They include, but are not limited to the following. e.g.:

Responses sent to a list of prospective learners re their response to an advertisement.

Responses sent to a group learners.

Responses sent to a group of trainers.

Communications sent to a group of companies, e.g. letters re levies.

Ad-hoc bulk distribution of documentation to a list of

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stakeholders obtained from the database.

Newsletter distribution

Receive and distribute electronic newsletters according to a supplied distribution list within 2 days of their receipt.

Functions / Workshops

The information pertaining to Functions / Workshops is to be managed as follows:

Understand the details of the function / workshop.

Receive and formally log all RSVPs.

Forward the RSVPs to the function’s organizers.

Confirm bookings with attendees.

Provide a mechanism to do electronic, online registration of attendees

Confirm bookings with attendees within 2 working days before the function.

Returned Mail Investigation of returned mail and follow up thereof as follows:

Receive returned mail information.

Perform the root cause analysis of the returned mail.

Provide updated information to W&RSETA relating to successful and unsuccessful mail.

Update distribution list with received updated information.

Reporting Reporting of Call Centre operational statistics is to be provided regularly as follows:

Number of calls received;

Total number and percentage

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of dropped calls during peak times;

Total percentage of calls resolved by the Call Centre i.e. calls that do not require referral to another party for resolution;

Response times to calls (i.e. average time taken to answer during peak times – 09:00 – 12:00 and 14:00 – 16:00);

Call trends and calls per function e.g. learnerships , levies etc.

4.2.3. IT Services

With respect to the provision of IT Services, the service provider should note the following requirements:


The LAN cabling at some of the offices may need to be reviewed and rectified. The cost of this is not part of the scope of the RFP.

All WAN connections shall be managed in terms of traffic policies and shaping. The requirements for each WAN connection should be reviewed in terms of data throughput and availability needs.

All network devices, including firewalls, routers and switches shall be management-capable to enable the network to be managed remotely. This may require an additional capital outlay.

All servers shall be hosted off site, with only minimal infrastructure (such as file and print servers) remaining on site. Efficient WAN traffic management is a requirement to enable this.

Desktop and Laptops should be standardised, and supply and maintenance agreements negotiated. A standard desktop software configuration should be used to the maximum extent possible and, if possible, software images created (this will require s

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high degree of standardization on hardware).

All printers and scanners should be network attached. Printers and scanner hardware should be standardised, and supply and maintenance agreements negotiated.

The W&RSETA requires the following IT services to be provided on the basis of a Service Catalogue and Service Level Agreements. The W&RSETA owns all desktop computers, notebook computers, printers and scanners. All other hardware required to provide these services will be provided and owned by the successful service provider, unless it is explicitly stated otherwise in the response.

IT Services


Email and Collaboration

Provision of mail boxes for 160 business users

Provision of a shared diary with scheduling capability

Provision of a shared address book

Provision of spam filtering to ensure that junk-mail is filtered.

Document management

Provision of solution with group level security

Internet Access Provision and management of internet connectivity for the W&RSETA and to its Web Site.

The provision of internet access for designated W&RSETA personnel throughout the organization in its different geographies.

Management of security of the internet service

The internet access must be managed in order to avoid abuse, cyber-loafing etc. by, e.g. providing weekly/monthly the internet usage and browsing reports to the user and his/her superior manager(s). The internet must be managed to provide a higher priority for

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IT Services


business related systems access, and must be optimized for snappy response.

Printing / scanning / multifunction machines

Management of print servers and print queues.

Installation of new devices.

Installation of drivers on desktop / laptops.

Resolution of printing / scanning related requests and incidents.

Management of the interface with 3rd parties for the maintenance and break-fix of devices.

IT security management

The service provider shall provide Security services, covering all Information Technology services, including:

Development of Information Security plans.

Submission of Information Security plan.

Testing of the Information Security plans.

Updating of the Information Security plan depending on experience, test results and changing circumstances.

Provide Information Security statistics and results in the monthly report.

Provide and manage antivirus solution on desktop / laptop, servers and mail system.

Implement and manage security policies.

Provide spam filtering for mail

Provide firewalling for each site

Provide update and patch management for all software.

Conduct quarterly penetration

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IT Services


testing and provide test results to the W&RSETA

Notify the W&RSETA within 4 hours of unauthorized access or any (attempted) security breach to any of its systems

Directory and authentication services

Provision and management of directory and authentication services.

Creation of users, user maintenance, maintenance of access levels

Wide Area Network(WAN) services

Provision and management of WAN connections from each of the W&RSETA’s sites to the Data Centre

The management of the provision- and upgrading of data lines from the telecommunications provider.

The provision of a consolidated telecommunications data line rental and usage invoice for direct recovery from the W&RSETA.

Management of WAN utilization

The provision of WAN usage reporting.

The management of the utilization of the WAN connections through traffic shaping, caching, proxying and other policies. This is to ensure that bandwidth is available for critical business applications and prioritized accordingly.

WAN routers and firewalls

The W&RSETA owns the routers, but it does not own the firewalls currently deployed. All required additional or replacement equipment to take over the current services shall be provided by the service provider, and included in the service fees.

Network management

The service provider is required to provide all necessary equipment and software, and describe how the

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IT Services


networks will be managed and monitored.

LAN services in each location

The successful service provider will be required to provide LAN services at each of the W&RSETA sites. Existing W&RSETA-owned equipment may be used. All required additional or replacement equipment to take over the current services shall be provided by the service provider, and included in the service fees.

Should the service provider find that the LAN cabling is inadequate it will be outside the scope of this RFP.

Remote access It is a requirement that all SETA system(s) and email shall be accessible through a secure remote connection. The provision of 3G connectivity to users is not within the scope of the RFP.

If file servers are to be hosted on site, then a VPN access solution will be required to enable users to access those.

Desktop services The W&RSETA owns all desktop computers, notebook computers, printers and scanners. The service provider shall provide the appropriate services to support the W&RSETA in this regard, including the following services, inter alia:

Preparation of new notebooks and desktops according to a standard configuration

Installation of software

Installation of printer and scanner drivers

Installation of printers and scanners

Support of all desktops, notebooks, printers and scanners.

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IT Services


IMAC Services The successful service provider will be required to provide services for the installation, moves, additions and changes to LAN, WAN, Desktops, Notebooks, printers etc. from time to time. Such requests would be handled as and when they arise, and on the basis of a separate quote. It is required, however, that the basis and rates at which this will be done is provided in the response.

IT Support Services

The service provider will be required to provide IT support services as per the Service Catalogue and within the parameters of the SLA. The following should be noted with regards to on-site support::

Provide on-site technical staff on the following basis:

Head office – 4 days a week during office hours

Regional offices – as and when the need arises, by prior request and by prior arrangement

Provide desk side user familiarization training for newly installed or changed systems.

System enhancements

The service provider must supply the following:

On-going updating of all system as required to meet legislative requirements, within timescales required to meet legislative compliance.

On-going updating of system to cater for reasonable minor changes as requested by the W&RSETA.

All systems’ integrity is to be maintained at all times.

Change control policies and procedures are to be rigidly enforced and maintained.

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IT Services


Informing the top level management regarding the latest technology trends that may benefit the W&RSETA.

IT System user training

The service provider shall supply the following:

Provide full ongoing user training for all the provided IT systems.

Provide ongoing training for all installed upgrades e.g. Microsoft product or IT System upgrades.

Provide training for the use and access to email.

Provide schedules for training.

Follow up with people who have attended the training.

Disaster recovery

The service provider shall provide Disaster Recovery (DR) services, covering all Information Technology services, including:

Development of DR plans.

Submission of DR plan.

Testing of the DR plans.

Updating of DR plan depending on the test results and changing circumstances.

Provision of daily, weekly, monthly system and data backups.

Provision of a secure off-site back up storage.

Provide back-up statistics and random testing results in the monthly report.

Development of a Business Continuity plan in conjunction with W&RSETA.

Backup

Backup services shall address the following:

Backup of all server-side data

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IT Services


o SETA systems

o Mail

o File servers

Backup of Desktop / Laptops

o My Documents

o Local mail folders

Staff Hiring / Transfers

The management of staff transfers - new hires, leavers, and movements is to be managed by:

Setting up new users.

Deleting end user accounts.

Modifying user accounts (access rights etc.).

4.2.4. IT Service Management

IT Service Management


Catalogue of Services

Provide a detailed catalogue of IT and application management services requested in this RFP, and describe service levels for each service as the basis for the quoted service costs.

IT Asset Lifecycle Management

The service provider is required to:

Establish and provide a service for the procurement (on behalf of the W&RSETA), deployment, maintenance and disposal of servers, network equipment, desktops, laptops, printers and scanners.

Warranty management, back to suppliers

Establish an asset management process whereby current hardware will be

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utilised up to end of life, and thereafter replaced by new hardware according to a standardisation policy (to be established).

Provide inventory management of all server and desktop hardware and software. Describe the process to be followed to ensure that the W&RSETA IT hardware inventory database always corresponds with the asset register (maintained in the SETA system(s)).

Software license management

The service provider is required to provide the following services:

Maintain a software inventory, detailing all licenses deployed at the W&RSETA, and on which machine it is used

Maintain a definitive software library where all original media for software is kept.

Change management

The service provider is required to implement a change management process. This will govern all changes to applications or infrastructure. For major changes it is expected that a Change Control Board will be formed to approve changes.

Incident and Request Management

The service provider is required to provide a centralized incident and request management service to the W&RSETA users. This shall provide a single point of contact for all IT or application related incidents, change requests or requests for assistance according to ITIL best practices.

Reporting The service provider must supply periodic standard and ad-hoc reports pertaining to all relevant aspects of the service delivery,

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systems and networks.

4.2.5. Application Hosting Services

Application Hosting Services


Application Hosting

The W&RSETA wishes to obtain the SETA system(s) and other business applications as hosted application services. The service provider shall therefore provide the hardware and infrastructure needed by the application as part of a service fee.

4.2.6. Application Support Services

Application Support Services


Application Support

It is required that application support be provided for the business applications listed above. This shall include the provision of post-implementation training as and when required.

The service provider shall describe his ongoing application support service process and methodology in detail.

4.2.7. Implementation Services for Business Applications

Implementation Services for Business Applications


Implementation of Business Applications and take-on of

The service provider is required to provide a firm quotation for the implementation of the business applications as part of the IT Transition Services (see section 4.2.8). The

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Implementation Services for Business Applications


services service provider is required to provide the following detail in the response:

A description of the implementation strategy to be followed

A description of the methodology to be followed for the implementation

A detailed implementation schedule

A schedule of implementation deliverables, with detailed description of each deliverable

A description of the end user training plan, including the development of the W&RSETA specific training material

A description of the data cleanup and migration plan, detailing the inputs that are needed from the W&RSETA and 3rd parties.

The service provider is required to provide detailed information on the involvement of the W&RSETA staff that is required in the implementation. This shall include the roles that are expected of them and an estimate of the time commitment required.

4.2.8. IT Transition Services

IT Transition Services


IT Transition The service provider is required to provide a firm quotation for the services required in the transitioning from the current IT infrastructure and service management environment to the new environment. This shall include:

All once-off service costs, including all initial setup costs and once-off third party costs (e.g. installation of

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IT Transition Services


a new network connection)

Where equipment needs to be purchased (and therefore not included in a monthly service fee), provide a detailed breakdown of these costs

4.3. Service Delivery and Management Principles

Application Hosting Services


Service delivery and management

All Service delivery and management shall take place according to ITIL principles, which will be defined in detail by the service provider in conjunction with and to the satisfaction of the W&RSETA.

The service provider’s Service Delivery and Management Methodology shall be described in detail.

System availability

The systems availability shall be as spelt out in Section 4.3.1 below

Service Levels The Service Levels shall be as spelt out in Section 4.3.2 below

Escalations Escalations shall be as spelt out in Section 4.3.3 below

4.3.1. Systems availability

The systems must, other than scheduled down time agreed between the service provider and the W&RSETA, be available 24 hours, 7 days a week, 365 days per year. Should there be a problem, a message should (assuming this is technically possible at the time) be displayed informing users attempting to gain access that the system is down, and giving an estimated up time.

The W&RSETA will require notification of not less than 1 week for interruptions > 1 hour during Office Hours or > 2 hour during Non Office Hours, excluding agreed maintenance times.

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The system user availability shall be > 99%, excluding service outages caused by or associated with:

Circumstances beyond the reasonable control of the service provider;

Scheduled maintenance, including upgrades; emergency maintenance;:

Telecommunications failures due to a 3rd party telecommunications operator (e.g. Telkom)

4.3.2. Support Service Levels

The following Service Levels will apply to Support Services including Incidents, Request s for Service and IMACs.

Support Service Levels

Severity Time to respond¹ (working hours)

Time to resolve² (working hours)

1 2 4

2 4 8

3 8 12

4 16 24

¹ Time to respond shall mean the elapsed time (in normal working hours) between a report of a problem and the commencement of problem resolution efforts.

² Time to resolve for Incidents means the elapsed time (in normal working hours) between initiation of a problem ticket relating to a problem at a site and the successful resolution (i.e. repair, not escalation) of the problem. For Requests for Service and IMACs it means the elapsed time (in normal working hours) between initiation of a request at a site and the successful fulfillment of the request, waiting time for 3rd parties excluded.

Note:

All support calls reported outside normal working hours will be treated as though they were received at 08h00 the next normal working day.

In the absence of a severity classification the default severity will be 4;

The time frames indicated are the times required to resolve 90% of all logged incidents / events. The maximum time to resolve an incident / event is three times the average times indicated above;

The above service levels are not applicable with regard to the following Services:

Special Projects;

Logging of calls to 3rd parties

4.3.2.1. Severity 1

Severity 1 calls mean a problem that has the potential of having a high business impact on the organization or its customers. Without limiting the generality of the foregoing, examples of Severity 1 problems include a “system down” outage affecting a business critical system or section of the infrastructure.

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4.3.2.2. Severity 2

Severity 2 calls mean a problem that has the potential of having a noticeable impact on the organization or its customers but does not arise to the level of a Severity 1 problem. Without limiting the generality of the foregoing, examples of Severity 2 problems include problems related to response time, or other service degradation that does not constitute an outage.

4.3.2.3. Severity 3

Severity 3 calls mean a problem that only has the potential to have minimal impact on the organization or its customers, impacting on a single or a limited number of users. Without limiting the generality of the foregoing, examples of Severity 3 problems include service degradation that affects only a few end users, and outages affecting a single workstation.

4.3.2.4. Severity 4

Severity 4 calls mean a trivial problem with little or no impact to the organization or its customers that does not rise to the level of a Severity 1, Severity 2 or Severity 3 problem. Without limiting the generality of the foregoing, examples of Severity 4 problems include annoyances that don’t preclude a user from using their equipment, or an application error requiring an investigation regarding its root cause to fix, etc.

4.3.3. Escalations

Once an incident, IMAC or Request for Service is logged into the Service Management system, it shall be allocated the appropriate severity, priority and/or category of service. This allocation shall dictate the manner in which the call’s lifecycle will be addressed.

These thresholds shall be as defined per SLA and alerts shall be automatically triggered when each threshold is breached. The service provider and organization will collectively define who the recipients of each escalation will be and at what level.

The standard escalation levels shall be:

50% of SLA

75% of SLA

100% of SLA

125% of SLA

The 50% and 75% SLA’s shall typically be directed at the team leaders and engineers concerned. The purpose of this shall be to create awareness of the status of the SLA and that action is required to ensure the SLA is met and adhered to.

The team leader shall at 75% escalation point ensure that Tier 3 support personnel are assigned to assist with the resolution.

At 100% and 125%, the SLA will already have been breached and the intensive care process shall be initiated. The intensive care process requires half-hourly status reports and includes the organization’s management, where applicable, as well as the service provider’s Service Delivery Manager(s).

Once the incident is resolved, a root cause analysis shall be performed to identify the actual cause of the problem or fault with a view to initiating service improvement programmes that will prevent repeat incidences from occurring. This is to ensure that the correct information is applied to the known-error database, which can aid in improving identification and resolution of similar incidents in the future.

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4.3.4. Conditions with regard to the agreed service levels

The service provider shall attempt, in all cases, to provide the best possible response times on service requests, incidents or IMACs within the constraints of operational and system performance.

5. EXPECTED OUTCOMES AND DELIVERABLES

The W&RSETA wishes to have a service provider act as the single point of responsibility for the delivery of all its IM services.

The required date for the inception of the full IM services is 1st April 2012. Any implementation and take-on project will have to be completed by this time.

The duration of the provision of the services is up to 31st March 2015

6. QUALITY ASSURANCE REVIEWS OF THE WORK

If an implementation and take-on project is required the W&RSETA will monitor this on a regular (weekly and monthly) basis through meetings with a steering committee and reporting from the service provider.

The ongoing monitoring of the delivery of the services will be monitored on a regular (monthly) basis through meetings with a demand side management committee and reporting from the service provider.

7. INDEPENDENCE AND OBJECTIVITY OF STAFF

In carrying out the work, the service provider must ensure that its staff and subcontractors maintain their objectivity by remaining independent of the activities they execute.

8. SUBMISSION OF REQUIREMENTS

Please see the criteria guidelines for detailed submission requirements.

Tenders not submitted in the agreed format will be automatically eliminated from the evaluation process and will be deemed non-responsive.

The Technical submission must include the following subcategories:

1. The Scope of the services proposed, duly completed (section 4)

2. Capability of the service provider, in particular:

a. The capability of the service provider to act as the single point of responsibility for the delivery of all the W&RSETA’s IM services

b. Experience relevant to the delivery of similar services.

c. Experience relevant to the delivery of the exact SETA services specified.

d. Organizational capacity to deliver the exact specifications in the time periods specified and with the minimum risk and disruption to the W&RSETA.

e. Capability to deliver the services to the W&RSETA on a national scale

f. The number of personnel of the service provider currently involved in delivering the exact services specified.

3. Sustainability of the service provider, in particular:

a. The number of years that the service provider has been existence.

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b. The number of years that the service provider has been providing the exact services.

c. The financial strength of the service provider. The service provider shall provide adequate proof of its financial stability and sustainability.

d. The number of personnel employed nationally by the service provider

9. PRICING

The abovementioned scope of work should be used when compiling a budget for the delivery of the services

All costing must be shown inclusive of any applicable VAT.

Costing must be done inclusive of any applicable travel or disbursements of any kind and should therefore be inclusive of all foreseeable costs to achieve the objective.

Fixed costs associated with the delivery of the service shall be submitted as follows:

Item Once off implementation and

setup fee

Monthly fee

SETA System(s) (itemize)

Hosting and WAN support

Desktop and LAN support

Escalation of the Monthly fee will be allowed once per annum on the anniversary date, based on the then current CPIX.

The number of units (e.g. ERP system or BI tool licenses) must be specified if they are limited in any way.

Any unit costs (e.g. costs for additional user licenses or additional desktop support) must be explicitly quoted.

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10. ABBREVIATIONS

Abbreviation Description

3G 3rd Generation

ACT Automated Confirmation of Transactions

AD Active Directory

ADSL Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line

ATR Annual Training Report

AV Anti-Virus

DG Discretionary Grants

DHET Department of Higher Education and Training

ESSA Economic Society of South Africa

ET Education and Training

etc. et cetera

ETD Education, Training and Development

ETQA Education and Training Quality Assurance

HR Human Resources

i.t.o. in terms of

IM Information Management

IT Information Technology

kbps Kilobits per second

LAN Local Area Network

MG Mandatory Grants

OFO Organising Framework for Occupations

PC Personal Computer

RFP Request for Proposal

SAQA South African Qualifications Authority

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SARS South African Revenue Services

SCM Supply Chain Management

SDF Skills Development Facilitator

SETA Sector Education and Training Authority

SLA Service Level Agreement

SSP Sector Skills Plan

TB Terabyte

UPS Uninterrupted Power Supply

USB Universal Serial Bus

VPN Virtual Private Network

WBS Work Breakdown Structure

WSP Workplace Skills Plan

W&RSETA Wholesale and Retail Sector Education and Training Authority