Clarifications
There are 140 clarifications for this DPS
42. Our bid contains some commercially sensitive information that cannot be public facing. Could you please confirm if the responses will be made public?
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As stated in the document entitled ' READ FIRST RM6094 DPS Needs' of the Bid pack, if you feel that a particular clarification question should not be published, you must tell us why when you ask the question. We will then decide whether or not to publish the question and the response or return a response to you confidentially via the DPS Marketplace.
Answered
08/05/2019 15:43
41. We have nearly completed the submission. However, upon doing this, we have encountered a new section named as SQ Evidence Submission (questions 166 to 185) - do these need to be completed?
There is an ask for the Contract Example, which is capped at 4,000 characters - but we have already put in the Contract Example in the SQ where there was no word or character cap for the Contract Example description.
This "new" questionnaire also asks for a Letter of Confirmation of Works - is this also required?
I have had a look through the bid pack and cannot find a section which provides step by step guidance on how to put forward a submission to get onto the Spark DPS - I am thinking to possibly restart the submission to avoid any issues.
CCS can confirm with reference to the Selection Questionnaire question numbers 166 to 185 these relate to evidence requests which align to responses provided earlier in the standard Selection Questionnaire. Suppliers can submit evidence at any time where applicable and you can therefore disregard these questions.
Regarding the contract example, as stated in the DPS Needs document at paragraph 31 to 34, when completing the contract example you can either complete question 133 of the Standard Selection Questionnaire, as you have done, or you can complete question 50 of the DPSQ Questionnaire. As you have already completed Question 133 you should find that your contract example has pulled through and is populated in Question 50 of the DPSQ. We will accept the information detailed in Question 133 of your Selection Questionnaire.
Regarding the Letter of Confirmation of Works, this is a mandatory requirement and is detailed in the DPS Need document at paragraph 35 to 37, and the template for the Letter of Confirmation of Work can be found at Attachment 8 of the Bid Pack.
On the final point the DPS Needs document contains details of how to submit a compliant tender for the Spark DPS, and will make reference to other Attachments that Suppliers must read and complete.
Answered
26/04/2019 09:22
40. Good morning,
Within the DPS Needs document, section 15 (h) states that 'you must have cyber essentials certification (Question 155 of the selection questionnaire).'
We do not have cyber essentials, so would be saying 'no' to question 155, but do have cyber essentials plus (and therefore would be saying 'yes' to question 156). Please can you confirm this meets your selection criteria?
Kind regards
CCS can confirm that by responding Yes to Question 156 - Cyber Essential Plus, that this does meet our selection criteria. Cyber Essentials, as a minimum, is required to join this DPS, therefore by having Cyber Essential Plus you meet this requirement.
Answered
26/04/2019 10:19
39. Please can I clarify with you whether the customer contract example provided needs to directly relate to delivery methods as listed within the Customer Needs document, page 10.?
Furthermore, if the customer contract example given relates to , for example the delivery method 'Internet of Things', and the bidder is awarded onto the framework, are they eligible to bid on all requirements, not just internet of things?
thank you
1) Yes your contract example needs to relate to at least one of the technologies listed in the Customer Needs document, pages 10 to 24.
2) The filter system is used to match customers to suppliers who can meet their needs, you will be invited to tenders for filters combinations that match those of your organisation, you should choose the filters that accurately match your own skills and capabilities. You can update your filters at a later date as your capabilities change.
Customers can use just one or multiple filters, this includes combinations of problem area, technologies and locations.
Answered
24/04/2019 13:47
38. Please can you confirm what is required for "Attachment 1 - Customer Filter" in terms of completion requirements and upload process by the Supplier?
CCS can confirm that Attachment 1 is for information only, providing bidders with details of the services filter options within this DPS, which bidders will be presented with as part of their supplier journey.
Answered
16/04/2019 12:22
37. Could you clarify whether the accreditations listed in Section 3.2 of the Customer Needs Pack are mandatory criteria?
If so, where in the Supplier Questionnaire/DPSQ Online Response are we expected to respond?
You do not need to be certified but we expect work under any call-off to carried out in line with the standards listed.
Answered
12/04/2019 15:36
36. Could you confirm, regarding questions 155-156 on page 129 of the SQ document, whether all subcontractors are required to have Cyber Essentials certification, or if this requirement only applies to the Prime Contractor?
CCS can confirm that Questions 155-156 on the Selection Questionnaire relates to the Supplier having Cyber Essentials accreditation, however all Suppliers must also answer question 15 on the DPS section of the Selection Questionnaire which asks if all proposed sub-contractors also have Cyber Essentials certification on or before the execution of the first contract. This is a Pass or Fail question and therefore all proposed sub-contractors must meet the Cyber Essentials accreditation requirement for your application to be successful.
Answered
12/04/2019 15:36
35. A lot of our assignments prevent us from disclosing the customer organisation to third parties. We may therefore have to complete the Customer organisation section of the Attachment 8 anonymously. Please confirm this is acceptable.
CCS can confirm that Attachment 8 is the Order Form that will be used between you as the Supplier and the Customer organisation who appoints you through further competition. Therefore this document is a confidential agreement between the Supplier and the Customer organisation following the award of a contract.
Answered
16/04/2019 09:49
32. Please can you confirm if there is only one contract example required and if it needs to encompass radical innovation or disruptive innovation?
As per Attachment READ FIRST RM6094 DPS Needs V1.PDF Quality Assessment - Technical & Professional capability (Q133) of the Standard Selection Questionnaire and Question 48 to 50 of the Dynamic
Purchasing Questionnaire (DPSQ):
31. You are required to provide one (1) contract example in accordance with the response guidance provided in Attachment 7 - Response Guidance for Contract Example which form part of RM6094 Spark DPS bid pack.
Answered
08/04/2019 11:38
31. Please advise what the deadline is for submitting questionaires
"CCS confirm that suppliers can request to participate for the RM6094 SPARK DPS at any point during the lifetime of the DPS, there is no deadline for submissions as detailed in the DPS Needs document of the RM6094 bid pack. The opportunity remains open at all times unless the DPS expires or is terminated in accordance with the DPS Agreement.
With effect from 15/04/2019, customers will have access to the DPS to use to conduct call for competitions based on their individual project requirements."
Answered
08/04/2019 11:47
30. We are having difficulty completing the online SQ for RM6094 DSP Spark Framework:
127 Are you able to provide a copy of your audited accounts for the last two years, if requested?
- As a small company our accounts are exempt from audit so we have to answer No.
We think you intended that if the answer is No, we should drop down to question 128, as the documents it asks for down seem necessary if you have audited accounts. But you havent indicated this on the questionnaire.
128. Please indicate which of the following you can provide (3 options)
- We could provide all 3 options, but as the evidence section of the SQ immediately asks for documents to be uploaded if we tick a box, we would prefer not to have to furnish all the documents required if we did so. Are these meant to be exclusive options and in descending order? i.e 'if no, then drop down to the next'?
130. Are you able to provide parent company accounts if requested at a later stage?
- Saying yes to this leads to an immediate requirement to "Upload documentary evidence for parent company accounts" - not "at a later stage" - very misleading. Can we leave this unsubmitted until requested at a later stage?
131. Would the parent company be willing to provide a guarantee if necessary?
- Again, saying Yes to this leads to an immediate requirement to "Upload documentary evidence for parent company guarantee". But this hasn't been necessary in the 15 years we have been working with CCS frameworks! Can we also leave this unsubmitted until requested at a later stage?
132. Would you be able to obtain a guarantee elsewhere (e.g. from a bank)?
- Surely this is redundant if we answered Yes to 131
In the light of your response, we may need to modify some of our submitted responses. But there does not appear to be a route for us to do so. Selecting the 'Start Selection Questionnaire' link and clicking "Yes, I want to re-use an existing Selection Questionnaire" does not bring up the responses we gave in our original submission.
Q127 - CCS confirms we require a full set of accounts to do our assessment therefore although as a small company your ccounts are exempt from audit they will need to be audited as part of your submission.
Q128 - If you can provide the first option A statement of the turnover, Profit and Loss Account/Income Statement, Balance Sheet/Statement of Financial Positon and Statement of Cash Flow for the most recent
year of trading for your organisation - this would be the preferred option but if not then option two and then option 3.
Q130 - Yes if required evidence can be requested at a later stage.
Q131 - Yes if required evidence can be requested at a later stage.
Q132 - If you are able to submit a guarantee through your parent company then you could not require to obtain a guarantee, however if the information you provide fails then a guarantee maybe required.
Answered
08/04/2019 14:20
29. Within the Dynamic Purchasing System Agreement, page 23/24 section 25.4 competitive terms, point 25.4.1 and within Appendix 6 - DPS Schedule 4 - Order Form and Contract Terms, page 51 section 29.5 competitive terms, point 29.5.1, we would like to modify the clause to protect the level of security of the products and services we could deliver under this contract and therefore we propose the highlighted addition to the terms:
If the Customer is able to obtain from any Sub-Contractor or any other third party more favourable commercial terms with respect to the supply of any materials, equipment, software, goods or services used by the Supplier or the Supplier Personnel in the supply of the Goods and/or Services **without compromising security**, then the Customer may:
This would for example protect the delivery of the service where an item of critical IT hardware is procured from a supplier that manufactures goods in secure locations/countries over a supplier that does not.
The substitute goods should be able to perform the same function without detriment to the delivery of services/ outcomes, part of this would be the security of the goods, at present this is implicit rather than explicit but we will factor this into our guidance for customers.
In relation to the terms we do not believe that suggested amendments are necessary but they would not constitute a material change if a customer and supplier wished to clarify things further at call-off."
Answered
08/04/2019 15:35
28. Once appointed to the SPARK DPS will suppliers have the ability to add/update Subject Area and Delivery Method as new products become available?
Yes - the supplier will be able to update their responses to the filter questions in the DPS selection questionnaire to reflect changes in capability.
Answered
08/04/2019 13:36
27. Will this be a suitable route to market for providers offering security related technology products and services?
Please see the User Needs document and Attachment 1 which explain the security products within scope of this agreement, products outside of the described scope cannot be offered.
Answered
08/04/2019 13:34
26. We have registered with the SRS. From our Dashboard, we can locate the Standard SQ with 160+ questions, but not the DPSQ. How can we locate the DPSQ questions?
It appears that you still have a couple of questions left to complete on the standard selection questionnaire.
Once you have completed all of the questions you should be presented with text stating that your selection questionnaire is complete and you can click 'complete and exit' to save the selection questionnaire. You should then be presented with the DPS SQ part of the selection questionnaire.
Answered
27/03/2019 09:13
25. Who is the category lead?
Peter Kirwan and Rob Whitehead are the leads during the set-up and go live phases of the DPS.
Answered
25/03/2019 14:25
24. Do buyers still need to complete a Procurement Regulations compliant competition?
Customers will need to complete a call-off in line with process described in Schedule 5 of the DPS Agreement.
Answered
25/03/2019 14:24
23. Is there a requirement to bid once on the framework? e.g a minim amount of bids?
There is no KPI or other clause linked to suppliers bidding on opportunities.
We are aware that some suppliers may have very niche capabilities and this would present them with problems.
Answered
25/03/2019 14:24
22. Is a parent company guarantee required?
Depending on the outcome of the financial assessment a parent company guarantee might be requested.
Answered
25/03/2019 14:23
21. When will the pin be released?
The contract notice has been published.
No associated PIN was published.
Answered
25/03/2019 14:22
