Germany – IT services: consulting, software development, Internet and support – Technische Unterstützungsleistungen für das Honorar-, Vertrags- und Abrechnungs-Programm-System („HOPSYS“) im Südwestrundfunk

The SWR plans to outsource the application management and further development of its fee system "HOPSYS" as a "Managed Service" to an external service provider (Managed Service Provider, MSP). "Managed Services" involve the outsourcing of operations, maintenance and further development, with the MSP taking full responsibility for the system. This includes responsibility for availability, stability, security, performance, fault rectification and adaptation to new requirements. The aim of this tendering procedure is to conclude a Managed Service Contract based on an EVB-IT Service Contract and the associated EVB-IT Service GTC with an initial term of 48 months (basic term). In addition, the term can be optionally extended by 12 months each time up to a maximum term of 72 months. The extension options are exercised by the contracting authority. The essential services to be provided are:

- Operation and monitoring: Monitoring of system resources and system logs, restoration of operational readiness (fault rectification, fault correction), maintenance of operational readiness (preventive measures)

- Maintenance and updates, compliance: Adaptation to the current state of the art, ensuring compatibility with the technologies, interfaces, IT guidelines and standards (e.g. architecture, security) used by the contracting authority

- Support: Provision of 2nd/3rd-level support for fault analysis and sustainable fault rectification

- Further development: Implementation of new functions, optimisation of existing functions, competent consultation of the contracting authority on the optimal implementation of further developments, operation of a test system

- Quality assurance: Requirements, test and change management

- Knowledge management and documentation: System documentation, knowledge transfer documents

- Technical and specialist advice: Technical and procedural advice and support of the contracting authority in problem analysis, further development and optimisation of the system

Optional services are:

- Scaling of the scope of services to implement larger adaptation and development requirements

- Scaling of the scope of services for application management of further applications of the same tech stack

The future contractor will be determined in a two-stage, Europe-wide tendering procedure. In the first phase, a public participation competition will be held with the aim of identifying suitable bidders. In the second stage, the performance competition will be conducted as part of a negotiated procedure.

Phase 1 – Participation competition: This participation competition is used to check the suitability of the companies applying on the basis of the eligibility criteria set out in the document Participation competition (see Chapter 4.2). Interested companies can submit an application to participate. On the basis of the eligibility evidence required by the contracting authority and submitted with the application to participate, it will be checked which of the companies applying are suitable. The contracting authority plans to invite up to five (5) suitable applicants to submit a first offer.

Phase 2 – Tendering phase: The first offers received in the tendering phase from up to five (5) suitable applicants will be evaluated according to the evaluation method described in the procedural and contractual documents by forming a performance-price ratio. The contracting authority will negotiate in the negotiation round with the three (3) bidders who

- have submitted a complete and evaluable offer and

- whose offers, according to the evaluation in the "Simple Benchmark Method", have received the three highest characteristic numbers Z and

- for whom it does not seem impossible from the outset that the contract can be awarded to their offer.