DESCRIPTION: / REQUEST FOR INFORMATION FOR LEARNING MANAGEMENT SOLUTION (LMS)
PUBLISH DATE: / 05 April 2013
VALIDIY PERIOD: / 90 Days from the closing date
CLOSING DATE: / 30 April 2013
CLOSING TIME: / 11:00 AM
THE CLOSING TIME WILL BE AS PER THE CLOCK AT THE RAF RECEPTION
RFI RESPONSES MUST BE HAND DELIVERED /COURIERED
TO: / Road Accident Fund (RAF)
Head Office
38 Ida Street, MENLO PARK
PRETORIA
(at the reception)
ATTENTION: / Anna Mosupyoe
NB: Bidders must ensure that they sign the register at the reception when delivering their bids
BIDDER NAME:
Bidders should ensure that RFI responses are delivered on time to the correct address. If the RFI is late, it WILL not be accepted for consideration. The RAF reception is generally accessible 8 hours a day (07h45 to 16h00); 5 days a week (Monday to Friday). Bidders must ensure that they sign theregister at the reception when delivering Bids. It remains the responsibility of the bidders to inform advice their couriers of the instruction above.
THE FOLLOWING PARTICULARS MUST BE FURNISHED (FAILURE TO DO SO SHALL RESULT IN YOUR RFI BEING DISQUALIFIED)BIDDING STRUCTURE
Indicate the type of Bidding structure by marking with an ‘X’:Individual bidder
Joint venture
Consortium
Using Subcontractors
Other
If individual bidder, indicate the following:
Name of bidder
Registration number
VAT registration number
Contact person
Telephone number
Fax number
E-mail address
Postal address
Physical address
If Joint Venture or Consortium, indicate the following:
Name of prime contractor
Registration number
VAT registration number
Contact person
Telephone number
Fax number
E-mail address
Postal address
Physical address
If Joint Venture or Consortium, indicate the following: (To be completed for each JV/ Consortium member)
Name of Joint Venture/ Consortium member
Registration number
VAT registration number
Contact person
Telephone number
Fax number
E-mail address
Postal address
Physical address
If using subcontractors, indicate the following:
Name of prime contractor
Registration number
VAT registration number
Contact person
Telephone number
Fax number
E-mail address
Postal address
Physical address
If using subcontractors, indicate the following: (To be completed for each subcontractor)
Name of subcontractor
Registration number
VAT registration number
Contact person
Telephone number
Fax number
E-mail address
Postal address
Physical address
- ENQUIRIES
1.1Enquiries regarding this Request for Information should be submitted via e-mail to:
Bid enquiries:
Advanced Procurement Specialist /Enquiries should reference specific paragraph numbers, where appropriate.
All questions/ enquiries must be forwarded in writing not later than 11h00 am on
15 April2013.
Questions/enquiries received after 11:00 on15 April2013will not be entertained.
Questions/Answers will be published on the RAF website on 18 April2013
ANNEXURE F: REQUEST FOR INFORMATION
- The Road Accident Fund
The Road Accident Fund (RAF) was established through an act of Parliament in1996 (RAF Act 56 of 1996) and came into operation on 1 May 1997. The act gives the RAF the mandate to pay compensation in accordance with applicable statutes for personal loss or damage wrongfully caused by the driving of motor vehicles. The RAF has offices in Johannesburg, Pretoria, Cape Town, Durban and East London.
1.1The damages for which the RAF may be liable include:
- Past and future hospital, medical and related expenses;
- Funeral expenses
- Past and future loss of earnings
- Past and future loss of support
- General damages
- Background to the RFI
RAF employees are currently learning and booking, through paper based methods. This process is overwhelmingly cumbersome, costly and demands high administrative function. Communication of work based knowledge and skills are conducted via classroom training of which current costs for attendance of training are exorbitant at times. This often involves the cost of flights, car hire, catering and accommodation (thousands are spent on these extra expenses over and above the actual learning costs).
Getting individuals out of the office for training is very challenging for employees due to other factors such as productivity and demands on operational deadlines. Those who miss out on training dates are often at a loss and left with no other learning opportunity.
Communication of pertinent learning and development issues are not done effectively at times. Having a central portal for all the above is necessary.
As a point of reference, when the RAF Act was amended, a national roll out of training on these changes had to take place, which took people out of their offices to obtain the essential knowledge of these amendments; however, once off interventions cannot be sufficient to give assurance of embedded knowledge and practical application of skills obtained during these learning interventions.
As part of an organization that is undergoing significant transformation, more training will need to be conducted on policies, processes, systems and new operating methods. This re-skilling process needs to be effectively and efficiently managed. A quick roll out at a reduced cost needs to be achieved. Continuous availability of just-in–time information and “refresher” training should be made possible. It is a fact that the training manuals handed to candidates during classroom training are often left unopened after conclusion of training.
RAF will be employing young people in the years to come. These Y generation employees are Tech-savvy and rely on technology to perform their jobs better. Recent studies conducted through the Oxygenz Research Project by Global WorkPlace Innovation Johnson Controls have indicated that Generation Y employees prefer to communicate and learn electronically rather than face to face e.g. webinars, e-learning, blogging etc. The world is advancing technologically and it is time we use innovation and technology to enhance our learning and development methods as we strive to be a world class organization.
Current State
RAF is currently using manual methods of managing all learning and development interventions. This means that reliance is placed on human intervention from an end to end process point of view.
All bookings are done by completing an external training application form, which is fully completed (date of training, the training provider cost) and recommended by the supervisor. This form is submitted to the learning and development department.
This request form is handed to the departmental training co-ordinator, who will check if the form is fully completed and includes the course outline. The form is sent to the Senior Manager of Learning & Development (L&D) for authorisation. The training co-ordinator will then inform the applicant of the outcome of the application for training.
Should any of the applications be declined, they are filed in a declined forms file (for recordkeeping purposes)
If the application is approved, the training co-ordinator will update the records accordingly. The training co-ordinator then books the candidate for the training and informs the applicant of the date of training and obtains the invoice(s) and processes same for payment. Proof of payment is sent to the training service provider. The training co-ordinator then captures the attended training on SAP for record purposes and for recovering cost should the applicant resign within a specified period.
Paper based booking methods have proven to be ineffective and poses a risk of documentation being lost. Another challenge is that additional overhead spend needs to be budgeted for due to costs associated with printing and paper handling.
A need has been identified for an online training service due to the extensive geographical footprint of the RAF.
In the past, training effectiveness was measured by manual feedback forms obtained from participants.
RAF requires a Learning Management System (LMS) Solution
An LMS is a software package that enables the administration and delivery of learning content and resources to learners. It allows for booking of training, tracking of e-learning courses and content, online assessments and management of instructor-led classes.
RAF requires a Learning Management System (LMS) that will form a central point of learning through the use of new learning channels.
LMS will include the assessment of learning effectiveness in that we can immediately assess learning of the content. Furthermore it can be used to analyze and report various learning aspects such as the number of attempts and time taken by individuals to complete assessments. This will assist us in monitoring and improving the entire learning experience. Other benefits include provision of full learner flexibility, privacy, instantaneous feedback, interactive practice, start-and-stop options, and adaptability to the learner's current knowledge/skill level.
The LMS solution should support formal learning (allowing assessment of classroom learning), e-learning and comply with industry standards such as SCORM (Shareable Content Object Reference Model). The LMS should enable social learning (blogs, discussion forums, Q&A’s), provide learning reports, administer assessments to measure knowledge, address skills gaps and offer an opportunity to learn at own pace and even offer a platform to place instructional DVD’s for viewing. It should serve as a communication tool for all human capital plans, processes or latest developments relating to learning and skills development. It will provide a view of the individual’s skills, certification, sharing of subject matter via blogs, wikis, discussions, virtual conferencing etc.
The solution should allow employees to get access to relevant case law, regulations, anatomy and physiology training (for medical assessments), leadership development material, systems rollout training, etc. Uploading of learning material on various topics and creative learning via quiz features, video clips, flash, PowerPoint etc.
The LMS to be acquired should integrate with our internal Human Resource Information System (SAP) to provide real-time training and assessment reports that are in line with the reporting format of the Insurance Sector Education and Training Authority and allow RAF to develop future annual training reports for easier workplace skills plans (WSP) reporting. Personal Development Plans (PDP) shouldbe accessible on the system. The system must have user friendly features similar to social media and it must be an interactive system.
The LMS must assist in assessing certain skills and competencies in a user friendly and convenient manner. The LMS would be a “one stop shop” for all learning and development of employees.
System Functionality Recommendation
The LMS must be customisable to operate within the RAF ICT environment as follows:
- Centralised Architecture- Central Data centre (located in Midrand, Gauteng) where RAF systems are hosted.
- Footprint - Regional offices connecting via MPLS WAN to centralised data centre
- Limited bandwidth available between regional offices and centralised Datacentre
- Client Operating environment - Citrix (XenApp) delivered applications primarily using thin clients
- Server Virtualisation - Citrix (XenServer) virtualised servers used for Wintel server environment
- Server Operating systems - Microsoft Windows and HP-UX
- Core SAP systems - SAP ERP system and SAP BI for reporting
- Document Management Systems – Microsoft SharePoint document management and Microsoft SQL database.
Expectations of what the LMS should provide:
- It should be a system for knowledge sharing.
- It should allow for communicating skills development initiatives.
- Information on the interface page should be easily updated on a regular basis.
- The system must be very interactive.
- Allow us to publish a training plan, catalogue and a learning directory.
- Induction / on boarding video should be placed on the LMS.
- Allow individuals to complete and save PDP’s electronically.
- LMS should be configured for internal workflows.
- Provide for in-house training programmes blog.
- Must enable e- Learning functionality and content management.
- Allow for booking of training on the system, and electronically generated reminder to be sent to the applicant 3 days before date of training. (Work flow built in and integrates with outlook).
- Allow for conducting assessments of learning on the system and offer real-time results.
- System must generate reports on demand that talk to WSP and EE format reporting (training reports according to occupation, gender, race and disability status)
- Must allow for individual profiles with a social media look and feel.
- The LMS must allow for a 360 degree assessment tool capability in respect to skills.
- The LMS should have its own sandpit and enable internal sandpits to be placed on LMS.
The RFI responses should also include the following information:
- Hardware requirements – Required CPU, RAM, Disk, OS etc.
- Software licensing requirements - OS, Database, Application etc.
- Bandwidth requirements to accommodate centralised architecture (video, text, etc.)
- Different Licensing Models i.e. sever or user base, etc
- License benefits in terms of version upgrade, fixes, product support, etc
Cost Information
Provide information on all cost associated with the Learning and management System offered by the bidder.
NOTE: The RAF reserves the right to request bidders to demonstrate their systems. The demonstration will be at the bidder cost.
RAF/2013/000031