REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL (RFP)
To: Offerors
From: Creative Associates International, Inc.
Subject: Re- Advertised / Request for Proposal (RFP) No. RFP-JTAP-038 - Oracle EBS API Developer -Consultancy Service
Type of Award: Blanket Consultancy Agreement
Basis of Award: Best Value
RFP Issue Date: 11/2/2023
RFP Closing Date: 11/16/2023
RFP Closing Time: 4:00 PM – Local Time, Amman, Jordan
Reference: USAID Contract No. 72027821C00005
Enclosed is a Request for Proposal (RFP). Creative invites Individuals to submit a proposal for the Jordan- Technical Assistance Program (TAP) under the referenced USAID 72027821C00005, After the evaluation, as described herein, resulting in selecting a winning proposal, the issuance of an award is subject to successful negotiation of the terms and conditions and receiving USAID’s Contracting Officer consent, if required.
The requirements for this activity are described in the “Statement of Work” in Attachment I. Creative encourages individual to indicate its interest in this procurement by submitting a proposal according to the instructions in Attachment II “Instructions to Offerors”. Proposals will be evaluated based on the “Evaluation Criteria” in Attachment III. Creative will make an award to the responsible Offeror(s) submitting an offer which provides best value to the project: technical merit and price will be both considered.
To be considered, Offerors should submit a complete proposal no later than the closing date and time indicated above. Offerors should ensure that the proposals are well-written in English, easy to read, follow the instructions provided and contain only requested information.
Any questions should be submitted via email to TapProcurement@crea-jtap.com no later than November 7, 2023. No questions will be entertained if they are received by means other than the specified email address, and any communications to alternate e-mail addresses will result in the disqualification of the bidder. The solicitation number (listed above) should be stated in the subject line. Answers will be compiled and distributed on November 9, 2023.
Proposals must be comprised of one electronic copy of the Technical Proposal and one electronic copy of the Cost/Business proposal, sent in separate e-mails, and labeled with the above-stated RFP number and title. Submissions shall be delivered to: Creative Operations Department
TapProcurement@crea-jtap.com
Sincerely,
Creative Operations Department
Attachments:
Attachment I : Statement of Work
Attachment II : Instructions to Offerors
Attachment III : Evaluation Criteria
Attachment IV : Proposal Cover Letter
ATTACHMENT I: STATEMENT OF WORK
Oracle EBS API Developer Consultancy Service
PROGRAM SUMMARY
The Technical Assistance Program (TAP), funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), is a five-year education and youth project that seeks to transform the organizational culture and improve the abilities within the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Youth to ensure officials can implement desired reforms. Creative and its partners will provide technical assistance in the development, roll-out, and tracking of policies and procedures to incorporate international best practices for public education and youth programming. Among the many activities in the Jordan Technical Assistance Program, it will support curriculum development, promote inclusive learning techniques, improve the skills of teachers and school managers, and other tangible activities that ultimately support changing the organizational culture within the two ministries and relevant agencies. The program will further support Jordan’s outreach and behavioral change communications initiatives that are aimed at creating a culture of reading, the inclusion of vulnerable children, and increased youth engagement.
2. BACKGROUND
Based on the situational assessments with the Ministry of Education and Ministry of Youth and subsequent processing of those findings with stakeholders, TAP's top priorities now include strengthening HR management systems, the Ministry of Youth, in abidance to using the centralized governmental systems, is currently using the Government Financial Management Information System (managed by Ministry of Finance) to handle the governmental accounting processes, and the Human Resource Management Information System (managed by the Civil Service Bureau) to handle the HR operations at the ministry, including payroll, workload management and performance appraisal.
The current process at the Ministry of Youth involves manual transaction entry of the HRMIS payroll transactions into the GFMIS, which poses multiple operational, transparency and productivity risks.
3. OBJECTIVE
TAP seeks to hire Oracle EBS API Developer to integrate the GFMIS with the HRMIS in relation to the modules being implemented and used by the Ministry of Youth. This integration will aim to:
- Reduce the double entry efforts, which reduces risks of errors and increases productivity.
- Enhance the auditing process and increase transparency.
- Align with TAP overall objectives of having a complete integrated cycle within the different governmental systems, by having them integrating between each other.
- Develop a mechanism to synchronize relevant employee data between HRMIS and GFMIS, ensuring consistent and up-to-date information in both systems.
- Data Mapping and Transformation: Identify and define the mapping rules and transformations required to convert data formats and structures between HRMIS – Payroll and GFMIS to ensure compatibility and data integrity.
4. TASKS
1. Gathering Requirement and Planning:
a. Understand the GFMIS, and HRMIS functions, technical specification and assess the integration point between two systems.
b. Gather and document requirements from stakeholders, users, and domain experts from GFMIS Team, HRMIS Team, MOY, MODEE, and TAP.
c. Define the purpose of the API and the problem it aims to solve.
d. Specify the functionalities and data that the API will expose.
e. Create a project plan outlining tasks, resources, timelines, and milestones. and identify potential risks, resources, estimate costs.
2. Analysis and Design.
a. Create a high-level design that outlines the architecture, components, and data flow.
b. Define the endpoints, methods (GET, POST, PUT, DELETE, etc.), and resources.
c. Design the data structures and formats (often in JSON or XML).
d. Determine the authentication and authorization mechanisms.
e. Plan for error handling and status codes.
f. Decide on any versioning strategy to support future changes.
3. Programming:
a. Write code based on the design specifications to implement the endpoints and functionalities.
b. Design and implement the data models and database interactions if needed.
c. Implement the authentication and authorization mechanisms.
d. Handle request and response formatting, serialization, and validation.
e. Consider security best practices (input validation, data sanitization, etc.).
f. Follow coding standards and best practices to ensure readability and maintainability.
4. Testing:
a. Develop test plans and test cases based on requirements.
b. Perform integration tests to ensure different parts of the API work together seamlessly.
c. Test different HTTP methods and payload formats.
d. Test error scenarios and edge cases.
e. Consider load testing to assess performance and scalability.
5. Development:
a. Deploy API code to the chosen environment.
b. Configure any necessary server settings, environment variables, and database connections.
c. Implement logging to track errors, requests, and responses.
d. Set up monitoring tools to track API performance and availability.
e. Use analytics tools to gather usage data and insights about how your API is being used.
6. Security and Authentication:
a. Implement authentication mechanisms to control access to the API.
b. Use HTTPS to ensure data encryption during communication.
c. Implement rate limiting to prevent abuse and ensure fair usage.
7. Maintenance and Support:
a. Provide ongoing support to users, addressing any issues or bugs that arise.
b. Continuously monitor the API for issues and bugs.
c. Provide a one-year warranty on the APIs.
8. Create clear and comprehensive documentation for the develop API.
a. Document each endpoint, its purpose, required parameters, and expected responses.
b. Provide usage examples and sample requests/responses.
c. Include information about authentication, authorization, and any required headers.
d. Perform knowledge transfer and handover for the API source code to the GFMIS team.
e. Capacity building and ongoing support
Required Qualifications:
• Bachelor’s degree in computer science, Computer Information System, or any related field
• Solid experience in working with the Oracle e-Business Suite and Hyperion and ODI and Java.
• Solid working knowledge in the Oracle e-Business Suite APIs
• Solid knowledge in financial management systems is preferable.
• Solid experience in developing standardized APIs using RESTful APIs
• Good Knowledge in Integration between different systems like Java, Oracle, EBS, Legacy Systems Knowledge of data serialization formats like JSON and XML for exchanging data between the client and server.
• Ability to implement secure authentication and authorization mechanisms such as OAuth, JWT (JSON Web Tokens), and API keys.
• Familiarity with working with databases (SQL or NoSQL) to store and retrieve data via the API.
• Proficiency in writing unit tests and integration tests to ensure the API functions correctly and handles various scenarios.
• Skill in diagnosing and resolving issues in API behavior, such as debugging code, identifying performance bottlenecks, and optimizing queries.
• Knowledge of security best practices to protect the API from common vulnerabilities, such as injection attacks, cross-site scripting (XSS), and more.
• Ability to create clear and comprehensive API documentation that guides developers on how to use the API effectively.
• Familiarity with web frameworks that facilitate API development, such as Express.js, Flask, Django, Ruby on Rails, Spring Boot, etc.
• Effective communication skills to work collaboratively with other developers, designers, and stakeholders.
• Problem-solving abilities to address challenges that arise during development.
• Good time management skills
• Knowledge of monitoring tools and analytics to track API usage, performance metrics, and identify areas for improvement.
• Attentive to details and quality of delivery
• Proficiency in English in oral and written communication
5. ESTIMATED PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE and LEVEL OF EFFORT (LOE)
ESTIMATED PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE: one year period.
* Creative anticipates issuing a Blanket Purchase Agreement (BPA) valid for a Period of Performance of approximately one year base up to three -years options that will be exercised in writing by Creative.
LEVEL OF EFFORT (LOE): 60 Days
6. Ordering Procedure
Purchases may only be made by Creative via written Fixed Price Level of Effort (LOE) Work Orders and executed by the authorized individuals listed in the BPA.
Daily rates are based on an 8-hour working day. Any hours worked in excess of 8 hours will not be paid. Working days consisting of less than 8 hours shall be prorated accordingly.
7. Key Working Relationships:
The Oracle EBS API Developer will be working under the leadership of the Institutional Development & Automation Lead, working closely with the Financial Systems Lead and HR Lead.
8. PLACE OF PERFORMANCE Amman – Jordan
9. RESULTS AND/OR DELIVERABLE/MILESTONE SCHEDULE
The performance benchmark will be based on the following task:
TOTAL Estimated LOE : 60
Task # 1
Task Description: Gathering Requirement and Planning
Performance Benchmarks /Deliverables : SRS document
Estimated LOE : 10
Estimated Timeline: TBD
Task # 2
Task Description: Analysis and Design
Performance Benchmarks /Deliverables : High level design
Estimated LOE : 10
Estimated Timeline: TBD
Task # 3
Task Description: Implementation
Performance Benchmarks /Deliverables : Coding and Test plan
Estimated LOE : 20
Estimated Timeline: TBD
Task # 4
Task Description: Deployment
Performance Benchmarks /Deliverables : Operationalize the APIs
Estimated LOE : 5
Estimated Timeline: TBD
Task # 5
Task Description: Documentation and knowledge transfer
Performance Benchmarks /Deliverables : A document that contains all points mentioned in number 8
Estimated LOE : 5
Estimated Timeline: TBD
Task # 6
Task Description: Provide warranty and maintenance to the developed APIs
Estimated LOE : 10
Estimated Timeline: TBD
The above LOE/Working days are tentative and subject to increase or decrease depending on program needs / additionally this will be on a work order basis.
How to apply
Attachment II
INSTRUCTIONS TO OFFERORS
A. General Instructions
These Instructions to Offerors will not form part of the offer or of the Agreement. They are intended solely to aid Offerors in the preparation of their proposals. Read and follow these instructions carefully.
The proposal and all corresponding documents related to the proposal must be written in the English language, unless otherwise explicitly allowed. Additionally, all proposals should be single-spaced with clear section headings, and be presented in the order specified in Attachment III – Evaluation Criteria.
Proposals must include only the Offeror’s own work. No text should be copied from sources outside of your organization, unless those sources are adequately cited and credited. If Creative determines that any part of the proposal is plagiarized from outside sources, the Offeror will be automatically disqualified.
Proposals and all cost and price figures must be presented in local currency or USD. All prices should be gross of tax.
The Offeror must state in their Proposal the validity period of their offer. The minimum offer acceptance period for this RFP is 90 days after the closing date of the RFP. If an Offeror has provided a validity period of less than 90 days, they will be asked to revise this. If the Offeror does not extend the validity period, their proposal will be rejected. Creative reserves the right not to make an award.
The Technical Proposal and Cost Proposal must be kept separate from each other. Technical Proposals must not make reference to cost or pricing information at any point. This will enable in order the technical evaluation to be made strictly on the basis of technical merit.
No costs incurred by the Offerors in preparing and submitting the proposal are reimbursable by Creative. All such costs will be at the Offeror’s expense.
Responsibility Determination: Award shall only be made to “responsive” vendors. To enable Creative to make this determination, the Offeror must provide a cover letter, as provided in Attachment IV.
Late Offers: Offerors are wholly responsible for ensuring that their Offers are received in accordance with the instructions stated herein. A late Offer will be recommended for rejection, even if it was late as a result of circumstances beyond the Offeror’s control. Late offers will only be considered at Creative’s Procurement Department’s discretion.
Modification/Withdrawal of Offers: Offerors have the right to withdraw, modify or correct their offer after it has been delivered to Creative at the address stated above, and provided that the request is made before the RFP closing date.
Disposition of Proposals: Proposals submitted in response to this RFP will not be returned. Reasonable effort will be made to ensure confidentiality of proposals received from all Offerors. This RFP does not seek information of a highly proprietary nature, but if such information is included in the Offeror’s proposal, the Offeror must alert Creative and must annotate the material by marking it “Confidential and Proprietary” so that these sections can be treated appropriately.
Clarifications and Amendments to the RFP: Any questions regarding this solicitation must be emailed to TapProcurement@crea-jtap.com. No questions/clarifications will be entertained if they are received by another means. The solicitation number should be stated in the subject. Responses will be complied and emailed to the requesting potential Offeror and will be sent to all offerors that requested this RFP, or re-posted publicly if offered as a full and open competition.
Creative anticipates that discussions with Offerors will be conducted; however, Creative reserves the right to make an award without discussions. It is strongly recommended that Offerors present their best offer.
Failure to agree and comply with any of the above specifications will result in the Offeror being considered unresponsive and the proposal may be rejected.
Submission of Proposal:
Proposals must be submitted in two separate e-mails:
E-mail 1 – Technical Proposal
E-mail 2 – Cost proposal
Each e-mail should be clearly labeled with the RFP number and project title.
Proposals must be delivered no later than the specified date/time.
Offerors who do not submit their technical and cost proposals separately may be automatically disqualified.
C. Content of Proposal:
The proposal shall be comprised of Three sections:
i. The Cover Letter (Attachment IV)
ii. The Technical Proposal
iii. The Cost/Business Proposal
1. The Cover Letter: should be on the Offeror’s letterhead and MUST contain the information requested in Attachment IV.
2. Technical Proposal:
a. The Technical Proposal is the opportunity for the Offeror to demonstrate that the Individual is “technically capable” of implementing the activity and should demonstrate the Offeror’s understanding of and capabilities to carry out the work, and address the key issues described in the Evaluation Criteria in Attachment III.
b. The Technical Proposal should be divided into clearly separate sections following the same order of the Evaluation Criteria in Attachment III. A mis-ordered proposal that makes information hard to find will result in lower scores.
c. If an Offeror submits a proposal that fails to respond to the majority of the information requested in this RFP, as outlined specifically in the statement of work and the evaluation criteria, the Offeror’s proposal will be automatically disqualified.
3. The Cost Proposal: must be submitted separately from the technical proposal and will primarily indicate the cost for performing the work, Daily rate subject to 5% income tax deduction.
Failure to comply with any of the above points will result in the Offeror being considered “unresponsive” and the proposal may be rejected.
If an Offeror provides insufficient information in their technical and/or cost proposal, Creative reserves the right to request additional information, or to request a revised proposal from the offeror, if necessary.
Creative reserves the right to make no award, or multiple awards, under this RFP.
Attachment III
EVALUATION CRITERIA
A. BASIS OF AWARD:
1. A Creative will evaluate proposals on a best value basis, in accordance with the Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) Subpart 15.1 – Source Selection Processes and Techniques. In all solicitations, Creative will consider and conduct an evaluation on the basis of both technical and cost submissions. The relative importance of these two factors places technically above cost. In rare cases, Creative may also award to an offeror other than the highest technically rated Offeror or the lowest price Offeror, in accordance with FAR 15.101-1.
2. The award will be made to the Offeror whose offer presents the Best Value which is the optimal combination of technical merits and reasonable cost and does not exceed the internal budget established for this effort. Proposals will be scored on technical factors first. Only the Cost/Business proposals of those offers that surpass the minimum qualifying score of 70 points in the technical evaluation will have their Cost Proposal reviewed. Those that do not reach this qualifying score in the Technical Evaluation will be considered non-competitive and their Cost/Business proposals will not be considered.
B. EVALUATION CRITERIA
Technical Competence – presented in the Technical Proposal (70 points)
The award will be given to the person who achieves the highest score within the following competitive criteria.
A. Technical Proposal: 20 points
B. Qualifications and education: 50 points
C. Past Performance: 30 points
As described in table below: The evaluation will be done according to the criteria shown in the table:
Total points :100
Item 1: Technical Proposal
Requirement : Provide two page describing SOW Methodology and approach
Points Available: 20
Item 2: Qualifications and Education
The applicant must attach any evidence of experience and success stories to support his/her file with the CV.
Bachelor’s degree in computer science, Computer Information System, or any related field certificate and any technical certification such as Oracle, Database
Solid experience in working with the Oracle e-Business Suite and Hyperion and ODI and Java.
Solid working knowledge in the Oracle e-Business Suite APIs
Solid knowledge in financial management systems is preferable.
Solid experience in developing standardized APIs using RESTful APIs
design the architecture, components, and data flow.
Good Knowledge in Integration between different systems like Java, Oracle, EBS, Legacy Systems Knowledge of data serialization formats like JSON and XML for exchanging data between the client and server.
Ability to implement secure authentication and authorization mechanisms such as OAuth, JWT (JSON Web Tokens), and API keys.
Familiarity with working with databases (SQL or NoSQL) to store and retrieve data via the API.
Design the data structures and formats (often in JSON or XML).
Proficiency in writing unit tests and integration tests
Knowledge of monitoring tools and analytics to track API usage, performance metrics, and identify areas for improvement.
Deploy API code to the chosen environment.
Ability to create clear and comprehensive API documentation.
Familiarity with web frameworks that facilitate API development, such as Express.js, Flask, Django, Ruby on Rails, Spring Boot, etc.
Understand the GFMIS, and HRMIS functions, technical specification (Preferably
Points Available: 50
Item 3: Past Performance
Document and summarize your proven track record of successfully implementing similar activities clearing using the above technical qualification to include a description of similar services provided in the past and any lessons learned that will be incorporated into the activity described in this RFP. Offerors with past performance using the mentioned above technical qualification, in the same geographic area and/or of similar scale to the activity described in this RFP will be scored more favorably than offerors that do not meet these criteria.
Points Available: 30
If an Offeror submits a proposal that fails to respond to the majority of the information requested in this RFP, as outlined specifically in the statement of work and the evaluation criteria, the Offeror’s proposal will be automatically disqualified.
C. Past Performance and Experience: list at least three
(a) Activity Title
(b) Location(s) of activity
(c) Synopsis of the activity and its relevance to this RFP
(d) Performance period (date, duration and if completed on schedule)
(e) Prime or Subcontractor?
(f) Amount for the activity
(g) Name & Contact Info (E-mail and phone) of client:
Cost Reasonableness & Financial Capability – presented in Cost Proposal. Not Scored.
Submit fully burdened rates for each category, including illustrative consultant rates Creative’s review of the Cost Proposal shall determine if the overall costs proposed are realistic for the work to be performed, reflect a correct understanding of the project requirements, and are consistent with the Offeror’s Technical Proposal. Creative will also review individual line items and determine if they are allowable, allocable, and reasonable.
If an Offeror submits a proposal that fails to respond to the majority of the information requested in this RFP, as outlined specifically in the statement of work and the evaluation criteria, the Offeror’s proposal will be automatically disqualified.
Creative reserves the right to request additional supporting documentation or a revised proposal from an Offeror if insufficient information has been provided in the Offeror’s technical and/or cost proposal. If the requested information is not provided, Creative has the right to disqualify the firm from further consideration.
ATTACHMENT IV
FORMAT FOR PROPOSAL COVER LETTER
City, Country
To: Creative Procurement Team
Dear Sir / Madam:
We, the undersigned, offer to undertake the [Insert RFP No], [Insert project title], in accordance with your Request for Proposal dated [Insert MM/DD/YYYY] and our Technical and Cost/Business Proposal submitted herein.
Our organization’s details are as follows:
i. Company’s Name
ii. Company’s Address
ii. Name of Company’s authorized representative:
iv. Telephone #/Cellular Phone #, Email address:
v. Validity Period of Proposal
vi. A valid Business License
Our proposal shall be binding upon us, subject to any modifications resulting from negotiation, up to expiration of the validity period of the proposal. We understand you are not bound to accept this or any Proposal you receive.
We also certify that our organization:
(a) has adequate financial resources including appropriate insurance coverage to perform the work stated herein, or the ability to obtain them without delay;
(b) is able to comply with the described delivery or performance schedule, taking into consideration all existing commitments and constraints;
(c) has a satisfactory performance record;
(d) has a satisfactory record of integrity and business ethics;
(e) has the necessary technical capacity, equipment and facilities, or the ability to obtain them; and
(f) is otherwise qualified and eligible to receive an award under applicable laws and regulations.
Sincerely,
Authorized Signature:
Name and Title of Signatory:
Date: