This bid solicitation 1000439295/A cancels and supersedes previous bid solicitation number 1000439295 dated September 17, 2024 with a closing of October 16, 2024 at 02:00 PM EDT. The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) intends to enter into a contract with a single contractor to provide 40 user licenses for a Software as a Service ( Saas) Subscription based Licenses for a cloud-based interface design and prototyping tool to support the creation, modification, and collaboration of internal and external CRA digital content, including static and interactive designs for intranet, secure portal, and Canada.ca pages. While the CRA currently uses various software design tools that are adequate for prototyping, these tools do not allow seamless collaboration among project team members. As a result, designs must often be exported into shareable formats such as PowerPoint or PDF for review by team members who do not have access to the design software. This process is time-consuming and inefficient, requiring designers to maintain multiple versions of the same file and increasing the risk that feedback provided on alternate versions may not be incorporated into the final design. The existence of multiple versions in different formats also creates potential version control issues. The CRA is therefore seeking a design and prototyping solution that enables project team members to be assigned view, comment, and edit roles, allowing them to provide feedback directly within design files without requiring individual tool licenses. This will improve sharing, collaboration, efficiency, and version control. This requirement also includes options to to acquire the additional quantities of user licenses for a Software as a Service ( Saas) Subscription based Licenses described at Annex B (see Table 3). The period of any resulting contract is a firm one-year plus the irrevocable option to extend the term of the Contract by up to 5 additional 1-year periods. A bid must comply with all requirements of the bid solicitation and meet all mandatory evaluation criteria to be declared responsive. The responsive bid with the lowest evaluated price will then be evaluated in accordance with the Proof of Proposal (POP) testing. Proposal documents and supporting information may be submitted in either English or French. The CRA reserves the right to negotiate with suppliers on any procurement. Questions must be directed in writing to the contracting authority via email: magued.elyas@cra-arc.gc.ca Bid Submissions: Bids must be submitted by using the Connect service provided by the Canada Post Corporation. When responding, the proposal MUST be delivered to: Canada Revenue Agency Bid Receiving Unit BRUg@cra-arc.gc.ca Bids will not be accepted if emailed directly to this email address. This email address must be used to request that CRA open a Connect conversation, as detailed in Standard Instructions 2003. Bidders must not use their own licensing agreement for Connect to initiate a Connect conversation with CRA. This bid solicitation 1000439295/A cancels and supersedes previous bid solicitation number 1000439295 dated September 17, 2024 with a closing of October 16, 2024 at 02:00 PM EDT. The main changes in the revised solicitation 1000439295/A are found at: • Appendix 1 - Mandatory Criteria: Two mandatory criterion were removed. Previously M.6.3 & M7; • Appendix 2 - Financial Proposal: The number of firm licenses required was reduced from 80 to 40 consisting of 30 Designer Licenses and 10 partner Licenses; • Annex A- Statement of Requirements: The accessibility requirements changed to use the most recent version and a new category of licenses was added. Any Bidder who submitted a proposal in response to the original solicitation 1000439295 and who wishes to bid on this revised solicitation 1000439295/A must submit an entirely new proposal. By virtue of submitting an entirely new proposal, the bidder affirms that the new proposal supersedes the previous proposal submitted by the bidder. Reciprocal Procurement - Limited Supplier Eligibility Only Canadian Suppliers and Suppliers of an applicable trading partner, as defined in the Reciprocal Procurement Declaration of Part 5 Certifications and Additional Information, are eligible for this solicitation. Bids submitted by Suppliers of a non-trading partner will be rejected. Promoting Accessibility The Accessible Canada Act (the Act) received Royal Assent on June 21, 2019, and came into force on July 11, 2019, with the goal of ensuring the full and equal participation of all persons, especially persons with disabilities, in society. This is to be achieved through the progressive realization of a Canada without barriers, on or before January 1, 2040, particularly by the identification, removal and prevention of barriers in federal jurisdiction in the following priority areas: • employment; • the built environment (buildings and public spaces); • information and communication technologies; • communication, other than information and communication technologies; • the procurement of goods, services and facilities; • the design and delivery of programs and services; and • transportation. The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) is fully committed to the Act’s goal of making Canada barrier-free by January 1, 2040. Following consultations with persons with disabilities, their caregivers, and CRA employees with disabilities concerning the accessibility barriers they have encountered with the CRA’s service offerings, the CRA published its first-ever Accessibility Plan. The plan outlines concrete actions that the CRA will take to identify, remove and prevent accessibility barriers across its programs and services over the next three years. In keeping with the CRA’s Accessibility Plan, and in order to comply with the Act, we are taking steps to procure accessible goods and services in support of the delivery of CRA programs and services. For example, the CRA has adopted the accessibility requirements for information and communication technology (ICT) products and services as outlined in the Harmonised European Standard EN 301 549 v3.2.1 (2021-03). Compliance with this standard must be demonstrated as part of all applicable CRA ICT solicitations and resulting contracts. The CRA continues to explore ways to ensure all other goods and services procured are inclusive by design and accessible by default. As this initiative is intended to take place progressively, suppliers should anticipate that, over time, the accessibility requirements in the CRA’s procurement contracts will evolve and may become more demanding. Accessibility questions or concerns? The CRA invites suppliers to identify any accessibility concerns with this solicitation document or any of the associated requirements. Please address your concerns to the contracting authority identified in this RFP.
