Provision of Microsoft Services Support and Associated Services (Ref 0384)

AI-generated analysis of the documents. Check the official notice and any amendments for current submission details.

1. At a glance

2. Scope of Work

Pobal ran this procurement for “Provision of Microsoft Services Support and Associated Services (Ref 0384)” as an operational contract requiring implementation and sustained service execution. The extracted pack showed qualification-stage material with references to later ITT technical depth; practical activity therefore centred on building, integrating, and operating the specified service stack with compliant reporting and handover obligations where stated. Constituent activities and named work elements in the supplied extracts:

• Title: Provision of Microsoft Services Support and Associated Services (Ref 0384)
• Weighting: Pass/Fail Minimum requirement to remain eligible in the competition: Tenderers must provide information which demonstrates operation of Health & Safety systems and procedures in line with all relevant Safety, Health & Welfare a
• Weighting: Pass/Fail Minimum requirement to remain eligible in the competition: Tenderers must provide information which demonstrates a commitment to quality assurance and provide details of quality assurance policies and systems and whe
• Weighting: 20% (maximum marks: 2,000; minimum marks required: 1,000) Minimum requirement to remain eligible in the competition: Tenderers must clearly describe in their Tender Response Document the proposed methodology for transitioning to and delivering of the services that are referr
• Weighting: 10% (maximum marks: 1,000; minimum marks required: 500) Minimum requirement to remain eligible in the competition: Tenderers must clearly describe how they will manage the services and are referred to Section 3 of the RFT for tender submission requirements
• ISO9001 – Quality Management System, In addition, the tenderer must hold be all of the
• y contract under this Framework Agreement, the Framework Member cannot, for whatever reason, deliver the required services to the satisfaction of
• ISO9001 – Quality Management System,
• Please provide the last 12 months of aggregated Service Desk data, broken
• [Pobal 0384 Microsoft Services RFT updated deadline.pdf] Authority or by any of its officers, employees, agents or professional advisers. No officer,
• Pobal works on behalf of Government to support communities and local agencies toward achieving
• The role of Pobal today is to provide management and support services to 39 programmes, schemes Non-binding monetary references in the source were treated as context only and were not used as qualification thresholds.

3. Background & buyer context

The buyer context reflected a formal Irish public-procurement route, with pre-qualification used to control entry into the tender stage.

• The role of Pobal today is to provide management and support services to 39 programmes, schemes
• We administer these programmes on behalf of the Department of Rural and Community
• More information on Pobal, our work and the programmes we administer on behalf of the Irish
• It is the policy of the Contracting Authority to promote participation by Small and Medium Enterprises

4. Eligibility & selection criteria

• Turnover requirement — — use these verbatim for insurance / turnover. If a category (insurance, turnover) has no entry here, treat it as 'not specified' for THIS tender.
• Insurance — — use these verbatim for insurance / turnover. If a category (insurance, turnover) has no entry here, treat it as 'not specified' for THIS tender.; Insurances Insurance types and minimum required levels: * Employer’s Liability: €13 million * Public Liability: €6.5 million * Product Liability: €6; 5 million * Professional Indemnity: €1.5 million * Cyber Insurance: €2 million
• Certifications — not specified for this tender
• Past experience — not specified for this tender
• Personnel — not specified for this tender
• Geographic / facility constraints — not specified for this tender Additional binding lines surfaced in the deterministic extract:
• — use these verbatim for insurance / turnover. If a category (insurance, turnover) has no entry here, treat it as 'not specified' for THIS tender.
• Insurances Insurance types and minimum required levels: * Employer’s Liability: €13 million * Public Liability: €6.5 million * Product Liability: €6
• 5 million * Professional Indemnity: €1.5 million * Cyber Insurance: €2 million
• I confirm that we have the following insurances in place: million * Public Liability: €6.5 million * Product Liability: €6
• ver with reputable insurers to cover its liabilities that may arise under or in connection with this Agreement including, without limitation: (i) public liability insurance with minimum cover of €6.5 million for each and every claim; (ii) employ
• er’s liability insurance with minimum cover of €13 million for each and every claim; (iii) professional indemnity insurance with minimum cover of €1.5 million for each and every claim (which profes

5. Award criteria & scoring

6. Submission requirements

• Method statement / response document (template/page limits) — not specified in extract.
• CVs (page count, named roles) — not specified in extract.
• Pricing schedule (format/template) — expected at ITT stage.
• Case studies (number/value range) — client references/comparable project evidence was referenced.
• Declarations (ESPD/Bona Fides/Tax/COI) — ESPD/declaration/statement-of-confirmation language was present.
• Mandatory site visit — not specified in extract.
• Submission portal and formatting — eTenders portal and PDF electronic copies were referenced. Submission-related source lines:
• ers are required to complete a CV for each proposed team member for the following roles in the Tender Response Document: * Project Manager * Se
• ers are required to complete a CV for each proposed team member for the following roles in the Tender Response Document:
• [Pobal 0384 Microsoft Services RFT updated deadline.pdf] Authority or by any of its officers, employees, agents or professional advisers. No officer,
• will be published on the Irish Government Procurement Opportunities Portal www.etenders.gov.ie.
• The Contracting Authority have provided a Tender Response Document (Word) and a Pricing
• [Pobal 0384 Microsoft Services RFT updated deadline.pdf] Development, the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, the Department

7. Key dates & process

8. Contract terms that matter

Contract duration in the extract: 1 year. Payment cycle, SLA/KPI schedule, and penalty regime were not fully disclosed in the snippets unless listed below.

• VERIFIED PHRASES (deterministic regex extract from the documents — treat as authoritative for numerical claims)
• sional indemnity insurance will be kept in place for at least 1 year from the expiration or termination of this Agreement); (iv) cyber liability insurance with minimum cover of €2 million for each and every claim; and (v) product liability insurance with minimum cover of €6.5 million for each and every claim 12
• re parts of the contract may be performed that are in force 7 days prior to the deadline for receipt of te
• Small and Medium Enterprise participation
• It is the policy of the Contracting Authority to promote participation by Small and Medium Enterprises
• SMEs are encouraged to explore the possibilities of forming relationships with other SMEs or with
• Tenderers may include individuals, partnerships, limited companies, groupings or any combination of
• Framework Agreement constitutes a means of establishing overall terms and conditions in accordance

9. Risks, red flags & unusuals

• Qualification gate: the deterministic extract included a turnover threshold line (— use these verbatim for insurance / turnover. If a category (insurance, turnover) has no entry here, treat it as 'not specified' for THIS tender.), which can materially narrow bidder pool composition.
• The two-step process (PQQ then ITT) shifted effort to compliance evidence early, with competitive scoring detail potentially deferred.
• Technical and contractual granularity appeared ITT-dependent, increasing ambiguity at qualification stage for non-incumbent bidders.

10. SME fit assessment

This competition looked most accessible to firms with established public-sector tender capability, documented financial capacity, and direct operational experience in the relevant service category.

• Credible bidder profile — mid-sized to large specialist with formal QA/compliance process.
• Consortium / sub-contracting — allowed or addressed in the extracts (Appendix references and reliance provisions).
• Indicative bid-prep effort — 6 to 12 working days for evidence collation, form completion, and review cycles at PQQ level.
• Pwin signal — strongest for bidders with reusable qualification artefacts, comparable references, and low-friction mobilisation capability.

11. Where to dig deeper

• Source RFT/PQQ filenames: Pobal 0384 Microsoft Services RFT updated deadline.pdf, Pobal 0384 Microsoft Services Appendix 2 - TRD updated deadline.docx, RFT for tender submission requirements.
• eTenders CFT / notice reference: not specified in extract.
• Clarification contact / portal: eTenders message portal (email not surfaced in extract).
• Key attachments to prioritise: RFT updated deadline.pdf] Authority or by any of its officers, employees, agents or, Schedule (Excel) as separate documents for tenderers to use in preparing their response, RFT updated deadline.pdf] Development, the Department of Children, Equality, Disabi.