Provision of Altair Technical Support and Maintenance

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

Central Statistics Office ran this procurement for “Provision of Altair Technical Support and Maintenance” 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 Altair Technical Support and Maintenance
• rity estimates that the expenditure on the Services to be covered by the proposed Services Contract may amount to some €115,000 (excl
• rer shall be required to supply its Tax Clearance Access Number and Tax Reference Number to facilitate
• rer shall be required to supply its Tax Clearance Access Number and Tax Reference Number to facilitate online verification of their tax status by
• Planned Consultancy and Maintenance Days 10 days € [Insert]
• Planned Consultancy and Maintenance Days 10 days € [Insert]
• [RFT_Altair Technical Support and Maintenance.docx] Request for Tenders dated 27th of March 2025
• Altair Technical Support and Maintenance
• [RFT_Altair Technical Support and Maintenance.docx] and regardless of the legal relationship between them) come together to submit a Tender in response to this RFT, the Contracting Authority will deal with all matters relating to this Competition through a single nominated entity authorised to represent all members of the group of undertakings. The Tenderer must provide details of all members of the group of undertakings and their role in the Tender and clearly set out the contact details including name, title, telephone number, postal address, facsimile number and e-mail address of the nominated entity authorised to represent the Tenderer and to whom all communications shall be directed and accepted until this Competition has been completed or terminated. Correspondence from any other person will NOT be accepted, acknowledged or responded to.
• Prior to and as a condition of award of any Services Contract, the successful Tenderer shall be required to designate a single entity who will carry overall responsibility for the Services Contract (the “Prime Contractor”), irrespective of whether or not tasks are to be performed by a subcontractor or other consortium member (the “Subcontractor”).
• No publicity regarding this Competition or any Services Contract pursuant to this Competition is permitted unless and until the Contracting Authority has given its prior written consent to the relevant communication.
• [RFT_Altair Technical Support and Maintenance.docx] or employees and officers of the Contracting Authority and their relatives must be fully disclosed in the Tender or, in the event of this information only coming to the notice of the Tenderer or Subcontractor after the submission of a Tender, must be communicated to the Contracting Authority immediately upon such information becoming known to the Tenderer or Subcontractor. 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.

• With a current staffing complement of more than 1,000, the CSO is headquartered in Skehard Road in Cork and has two Offices in Dublin; Ardee Road, Rathmines and Swords Business Campus, Swords. In addition to our fixed locations, we have Survey Coordinators, Interviewers and Tourist Enumerators working remotely. The CSO strives to keep society fully informed by producing accurate, objective, timely, accessible and trustworthy Official Statistics. The CSO is a dynamic and innovative environment in which to work, with strong professional relationships with international bodies.
• The use of the Contracting Authority's ICT network resources (including all electronic communication systems and equipment) is a revocable privilege. By using or accessing the network, the successful Tenderer must comply with the Contracting Authority’s ICT Acceptable Use Policy and other applicable policies, as well as all relevant applicable laws and regulations.
• The successful Tenderer(s) will be required to sign and execute the CSO’s ICT Acceptable Use Policy before commencing contract.
• Payment will be made by Electronic Fund Transfer (EFT). Payment of Invoices by the CSO is governed by the Prompt Payment of Accounts Act, 1997 as amended by the European Communities (Late Payment in commercial Transactions) (S.I. No, 580 of 2012). Payment will be made within 30 days following the date of receipt of goods or services, or date of receipt of the invoice or an equivalent request for payment, whichever is the later.

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.
• 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.
• 2 Selection Criteria Tenderers must have achieved a minimum annual turnover of at least €230,000 for each of the past three financial yea
• A of the RFT refers* Requirement: Tenderers must have achieved a minimum annual turnover of at least €230,000 for each of the past three financial

5. Award criteria & scoring

6. Submission requirements

• Method statement / response document (template/page limits) — Appendix 1 questionnaire/PQQ response was required.
• 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:
• If there is no charge applicable for any given item, then Tenderers must enter €0.00. Tenderers must not insert additional items in the Pricing Tables
• Appendix 3A: Schedule C – Declaration of non-notifiable foreign financial contributions (valued between €200,000 and €999,000 in the last three
• Appendix 3A: Schedule C – Declaration of non-notifiable foreign financial contributions (valued between €200,000 and €999,000 in the last three years preceding the declaration)
• 2022/2560 and where the notifying party has been in receipt of foreign financial contributions which are valued between €200,000 and €999,000 in the last three (3) years preceding the declaration
• For reporting of foreign financial contributions which are of a value between €200,000 and €999,000 in the last three (3) years preceding the declaration
• Appendix 3A: Schedule D – Declaration of non-notifiable foreign financial contributions (valued between €1,000,000 and €3,999,000 in the last three years preceding the declaration)

7. Key dates & process

8. Contract terms that matter

Contract duration in the extract: 6 months. 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)
• 2022/2560 and where the notifying party has been in receipt of foreign financial contributions which are valued between €200,000 and €999,000 in the last three (3) years preceding the declaration
• 2022/2560 and where the notifying party has been in receipt of foreign financial contributions which are valued between €1,000,000 and €3,999,000 in the last three (3) years preceding the declaration
• NOW IT IS HEREBY AGREED in consideration of the sum of €2.00 (the receipt of which is hereby acknowledged by the Contractor) as follows:
• Payment will be made within 30 days following the date of receipt of goods
• e right to extend the Term for a period or periods of up to 6 months with a maximum of three (3) such extens
• Year 1 Year 2 Extension 1 (6 months) Extension 2 (6 months) Extension 3
• [insert number]calendar days either Party may terminate at 14 days notice

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: RFT_Altair Technical Support and Maintenance.docx, To be completed by notifying parties where the value of the procurement procedure is equal to or greater than the financial thresholds in Article 28 of Regulation (EU) 2022/2560 and where the notifying party has been in receipt of foreign financial contributions that do not exceed de minimis aid as defined in Article 3(2) of Regulation (EU) 1407/2013 (i.e. €200,000

[RFT_Altair Technical Support and Maintenance.docx, RFT refers* Requirement: Tenderers must have achieved a minimum annual tu.

• eTenders CFT / notice reference: not specified in extract.
• Clarification contact / portal: eTenders message portal (email not surfaced in extract).
• Key attachments to prioritise: Appendix 3A: Schedule C – Declaration of non-notifiable foreign financial contributions, Appendix 3A: Schedule D – Declaration of non-notifiable foreign financial contributions, RFT, Tenderers must achieve a minimum of 60% of the marks available for each of the.