Job Description

RFP 2024: AWS Cloud Computing Services,

Version 1.0

NEN-AI

Mar 2024

1 Introduction

The National Entrepreneurship Network is an independent organization developing AI-based solutions for social good. We are supported by reputed global institutions such as the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Google, and USAID. We work closely with central and state governments in India to collaborate on solutions in the domains of healthcare and agriculture.

This request for proposal (RFP) is inviting a qualified, reputable, and experienced company (“Firm”) to provide Cloud Computing services for the Artificial Intelligence Unit of NEN (“NEN-AI”). This document provides the details of the assignment and expected deliverables. Proposals must be submitted to NEN-AI no later than 10th of April 2024.

The terms outlined in this RFP shall form part of the contract, should the NEN-AI accept a proposal. NEN-AI may, at its discretion, cancel the requirement in part or whole. It also reserves the right to accept or reject any proposal, annul the selection process, or reject all proposals at any time before selection without incurring any liability to Tenderers.

Tenderers may withdraw their proposal after submission, provided that NEN-AI receives written notice of withdrawal before the deadline for submission of proposals. No proposal may be modified after the deadline for proposal submission. No proposal may be withdrawn between the deadline for submission of proposals and the expiration of the proposal validity period. All proposals shall remain valid and open for acceptance for a period of 90 calendar days after the deadline for submission of proposals. A proposal valid for a shorter period may be rejected.

In exceptional circumstances, NEN-AI may solicit the Tenderer’s consent to an extension of the validity period. The request and responses for this shall be made in writing.

All communications relating to this RFP must be directed via email to procurement@wadhwaniai.org.

Tenderers must not communicate with any other person at NEN-AI regarding this RFP. The proposals prepared by the Tenderer and all correspondence and documents relating to the proposal exchanged by the Tenderer and NEN-AI shall be in English. Supporting documents and printed literature furnished by the Tenderer in another language shall be translated to English - this will prevail for interpretation of the proposal. The responsibility for translation is the Tenderer’s responsibility. All licenses, User Accounts, Account Credentials, and Passwords are the sole property of NEN-AI.

A Tenderer requiring any clarification of the solicitation documents may notify NEN-AI in writing at procurement@wadhwaniai.org by the specified date and time mentioned. NEN-AI shall respond in writing to any request for clarification of the solicitation documents it receives by the due date published. Written copies of NEN-AI’s response which contain information that may be of common interest to all Tenderers (including an explanation of the query but without identifying the source of inquiry), shall be posted on the NEN-AI website or communicated via email or both.

At any time prior to the deadline for submission of proposals, NEN-AI may, for any reason, whether at its own initiative or in response to a clarification requested by a prospective Tenderer, modify the RFP documents by amendment. The amendments will be posted on the NEN-AI website or communicated via email or both. In order to allow prospective Tenderers reasonable time in which to take the amendment into account in preparing their proposals, NEN-AI may, at its sole discretion, extend the deadline for the submission of the proposal.\

3 Scope of Service

 The scope of services may include but is not limited to the AWS Cloud services included in the Bill of Quantity in Annexure 1. The bill of quantity in Annexure 1 is for an initial reference point and may change eventually.

Along with the provision of the cloud computing services, the bidder shall also do the One Time Installation, Configuration or Deployment of Cloud Services which includes:

Monitoring of existing environment and IT Infrastructure or System Architecture

Architecture review & optimization review

Security Management & Log Management

FAQ & Guide for Better Operations & Management of Cloud Service

Escalation Matrix for Service, Support

The Service engagement shall be for a period of total three (3) years from the date of the Agreement with yearly reviews at the end of year 1 (one) and year 2 (two). The agreement can be terminated during each review in case of unsatisfactory performance of the vendor.

Either party may terminate the contract, without assigning any reason, by giving Thirty (90) days prior notice in writing to the other.

The bidder shall submit a monthly price for providing the required cloud services. These will be applicable for a period of 36 months. The bidder should also include the public pricing and the special pricing offered by the bidder for clear comparison.

3 Submission of Proposals

Tenderers are requested to send a bid via email to procurement@wadhwaniai.org. Two separate files (technical and financial bids) should be attached to the email as outlined below.

The technical file should contain the technical proposal and be titled RFP 2024 TECHNICAL PROPOSAL: (name of Tenderer). This must not contain any financial information, as this may result in disqualification.

The financial file should contain the financial proposal and be titled RFP 2024 FINANCIAL PROPOSAL: (name of Tenderer). The template for the same is attached as Annexure 1

The email's subject line must contain the reference number and title of the RFP: RFP 2024: Provision of AWS Cloud Computing Services for NEN-AI (name of Tenderer).

The financial proposal must be password protected. The NEN-AI procurement team fwill contact the Tenderers that qualify for the password to open the financial proposal. Tenderers must not send the password to the financial proposal until they are requested to do so by the procurement officer. Financial proposals that are submitted without password protection may be rejected for non-compliance.

Any proposals received by NEN-AI after the deadline for submission of proposals prescribed in the timeline of this document are liable to be rejected.

NEN-AI requires that all its staff members, tenderers/bidders, suppliers, service providers, and any other person or entity involved in NEN-AI activities observe the highest standard of ethics during the procurement and execution of all contracts. NEN-AI may reject any proposal put forward by Tenderers or, where applicable, terminate their contract if it is determined that they have engaged in corrupt, fraudulent, coercive, collusive, or other prohibited practices.

In their proposal, Tenderers must confirm that, based on their current best knowledge, there are no real or potential conflicts of interest involved in rendering services for NEN-AI. They must also set out their policy on dealing with conflicts of interest, should these arise.

About Company

All Jobs posted by: National Entrepreneurship Network