Announcement - HR & Payroll Package RFI

Selection of a Commercial Software Package for the Management of Human Resources at ESA

Purpose of the announcement

ESA (European Space Agency) is an inter-governmental organisation composed of 14 member States: Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.

The dynamic environment in which the Agency operates requires a strategic approach to the management of its Human Resources. A modernisation of its HR policy has been initiated and a state-of-the-art HR management information system to support this strategic approach is considered a priority.

ESA intends to adopt a package-based solution. The solution that ESA will acquire can be either a stand-alone package or two integrated packages (one for Human Resources Management and one for Payroll) recognised as a workable solution in the market place.

The objective of this announcement is to solicit package manufacturers (i.e. not retailers, not distributors and not integrators) to inform ESA about their product(s), their prices and their licensing conditions.

Background information

ESA has approximately 1,800 staff located in 4 main establishments: Headquarters (France - 300 staff), ESTEC (The Netherlands - 1000 staff), ESOC (Germany - 200 staff), ESRIN (Italy - 135 staff). Other staff are located in various ancillary offices in the world e.g. Brussels, Houston, Moscow.

ESA is organised in nine Directorates. Four Directorates are in charge of ESA’s Programmes while the five other Directorates provide support to the organisation.

ESA Personnel Department and ESA Informatics Department are both part of the Directorate of Administration, which also includes the Financial Department and the Site Services Department.

ESA Personnel Department has approximately 60 staff.

The management of ESA’s staff is subject to a unique rule, the «Staff Rules and Regulations», which applies to all staff independently of their work location. In many of its aspects this statute is similar to the practice followed by Public/State Administrations.

Who should reply to this announcement

HR or Payroll packages that were analysed in one of the following reports are already known to the Agency. The manufacturers of these packages are therefore requested NOT to reply to this announcement as additional information is not necessary

All other HR or Payroll package manufacturers are invited to reply to this announcement.

Selection process that will be followed by ESA

The selection of the most suitable package(s) will be performed in three phases.

The first phase will consist of identifying suitable packages and evaluating them against the Agency’s requirements. At the end of this phase, a maximum of 3 candidate packages will be selected.

The second phase will be to evaluate the selected candidate package(s) through a prototype with the objective of selecting the best solution in terms of the functionality of the package and the ability of the manufacturer to parameterise it to satisfy ESA’s needs. As a result of this second phase the most suitable package manufacturer and product(s) will be selected for deployment within ESA.

It should be noted that the Agency intends to select a market leader package manufacturer, which has demonstrated experience in deploying its product in a public and preferably international organisation.

How to reply

The following sections are composed of a list of questions organised by themes. Questions are presented in a tabular format. In the 1st column a sequential number has been assigned to each question. The 2nd column contains the text of the questions. The 3rd column is where you should provide your Company’s answer to the questions.

Your are requested to answer all questions. If a question does not apply, please state “Not Applicable”.

You are requested not to modify the document structure, in particular you should not add or split questions. You should not modify the title of the sections, the question numbers and the text of the questions (1st and 2nd columns). If you wish to provide additional information, please do it in a separate document.

You are requested to provide ESA with the information listed thereunder not later than 5 June, 2000.

The information is to be sent both as a hardcopy and as an electronic version (MS Word format) to:

ESRIN Contract Service

To the attention of Mr. S. Benetti

Via Galileo Galilei

00044 Frascati

Italy

The hardcopy version shall bare the signature of an authorised person of the Company certifying the correctness of the information provided to the Agency.

Conditions and assumptions to be used

· Replying to this announcement does not guarantee that the Company’s products will be selected for the next selection phase i.e. the development of the prototypes.

· All prices must be in Euro only

· Platforms: Sun Solaris or NT

· 1st language of the package: English

· 2nd language of the package: French (the price for the second language must appear as an option)

· Number of staff to be managed: 1,800

· Number of HR Department users: 60

· Deployment sites: ESA HQ (France), ESTEC, (Netherlands), ESOC (Germany), ESRIN (Italy).

Title: Announcement - HR & Payroll package RFI / Page: 1

General Package Information

/ Package name
/ Current release/version available
/ How long has this version been on the market?
/ Projected date of next release
/ Date of release of original version
/ If acquired, original package name
General Company Information
/ Name of the Company:
Address:
Telephone:
Fax:
Web:
/ Name of the contact person for ESA:
Address:
Telephone:
Fax:
E-mail:
/ Country of origin of the Company:
/ Is the company publicly traded or privately held?
/ Revenues (most recent figures available – indicate the year)
/ Breakdown per activity as % of revenues
/ Company’s HR market share:
· World-wide:
· In Europe:
/ Company’s Payroll market share:
· World-wide:
· In Europe:
/ Net profits after tax (most recent figures available – indicate the year)
/ Staff levels:
· World-wide:
· In Europe:
/ Total number of R&D staff :
· World-wide:
· In Europe:
/ Percentage of revenues invested in R&D for:
· All products:
· HR products:
· Payroll products:
/ Number of person years invested in the design and development of the HR package:
· World-wide:
· In Europe:
/ Share of software business
/ Revenues (most recent figures available – indicate the year)
/ Breakdown per activity as % of revenues
/ If applicable, company’s Human Resources market share:
· World-wide:
· In Europe:
/ If applicable, company’s Payroll market share:
· World-wide:
· In Europe:
/ List ESA Member States countries where the Company distributes its product directly
/ List ESA Member States countries where the Company distributes its product trough distributors
/ List ESA Member States countries where the Company offers local office support
/ Does the Company maintain agreements with other software suppliers?
If YES, what kinds of agreements are in place in ESA Member States countries?
/ Number of installed sites of the current release in each ESA Member States countries
/ For the HR module, number of staff managed:
· World-wide:
· In Europe:
/ For the Payroll module, number of staff managed:
· World-wide:
· In Europe:
/ List ESA Member States countries where a users’ group exists

Licenses

/ What types of contracts exist:
· User licenses?
· Rental?
· Other?
/ What is the pricing policy:
· Server license depending on platform?
· Server license depending on number of concurrent accesses?
· Workstation license according to number of stations connected or named users?
· Workstation license according to number of concurrent accesses?
· Included as part of package maintenance?

Guarantee/Warranty & Maintenance

/ How many months are included at no cost in the guarantee period?
/ Is maintenance supplied by provider or through outsourcing?
/ Is the use of source code restricted?
/ Is a maintenance contract optional or automatic to user licenses?
/ Does the maintenance contract cover the following items:
· Free delivery of new releases?
· Upgrades?
· Training for new releases?
· Telephone support?
· Onsite assistance?
· Cost-based phone support service?
· Maximum reaction time included?
· Debugging?
· Changes in hardware or operating system?
· The transfer of the package and all related files to any hardware listed in the supplier’s catalogue?
· Documentation updates?
· User group participation?
· Upgrading of specific changes provided by the supplier?
· Access to a Web server that lists bugs identified by users and the supplier’s replies?

Package Cost Structure and Associated Services

/ What is the package pricing policy (e.g., based on platforms, number of users)?
/ Cost (no discount) of user license for the current release on Sun Solaris platform
(specify cost per module, stating if the module is bundled with the package or available as an option)
/ Cost (no discount) of user license for the current release on NT platform
(specify cost per module, stating if the module is bundled with the package or available as an option)
/ Cost of source programs
/ Cost of additional copies of documentation
/ Annual package maintenance cost as % of
initial license cost
/ Cost of new versions
/ Daily cost of onsite start-up support
/ Daily cost for in-house training provided by Company
/ Daily cost of outside training per participant
/ Daily cost of support for loaned equipment
/ Cost of remote maintenance
/ List, if any, other unavoidable costs for proper package operation (specify cost per license)

Implementation

/ What are the formalised implementation method and tools available?
/ Is a process-modelling tool provided with the package?
If not, are standard interfaces with third-party tools provided?
/ Are public organisation-specific templates/forms available?
For what processes?
/ What is the average (or projected) implementation cost (installation, configuration/consulting, testing, training) compared to the licensing cost
/ What are the internal resources (IT, end users and management)?
TECHNOLOGY

Product Development

/ What methods and/or tools were used for the software package’s design and development?
/ Software package’s programming language(s) for its various components (if this is the case):
· Central machine?
· Department server?
· Workstation?

Hardware and Software Environment

/ Hardware architecture on which the software package is based (e.g. central machine/passive terminals, central machine/intelligent workstations, central machine/intermediate, server/workstations, local workstation network)
/ Is the software package part of a product line or architecture?
If YES, list the other products.
· Can these products communicate directly among themselves?
· Can they exchange data among themselves?
· Do they share the same database?
· Is the user interface homogenous?
· Are the different products accessible from a common menu?
/ Was the software package designed to function in client/server architecture?
/ Was the software package designed to function in Java thin client architecture?
/ Was the software package designed to function in Microsoft CUA client architecture?
/ Machine supported as a workstation (Front-end)
/ Can the software package work with Oracle DBMS?
If YES, which version?
/ Basic needed on the server:
· Web server?
· Others?
FUNCTIONALITY

Human Resources Data Management

/ Does the system support:
· Multiple departments?
· Multiple sites?
/ What is the maximum number of employees that can be managed by the system?
/ Is the human resources database common and shared by each module?
/ Is the HRMS integrated in an ERM package?
/ Is the database in a predefined format?
/ What are the following modules/facilities available:
· Personnel data management?
· Time and attendance management?
· Job and position management?
· Appraisal management?
· Recruitment management?
· Training management?
· Salary administration?
· Benefits administration?
· Forecasting?
· Expense management?
· Absence management?
· Payroll?
· Service bureau and payroll front end?
/ Does the database store the following
details:
· Personnel records (e.g., gender, marital status,)?
· Contract history?
· Position history?
· Salary history?
· Benefit details?
· Location history?
· Sickness and medical history?
· Qualification details?
· Skills and training history?
/ Does the system provide facilities for multi-criteria searches across the database:
· Using a standard query language (which one)?
· Using a report writer (which one)?
· Using standard reports with user-defined selection criteria?
If YES, do these include historic data?
/ Does the system include integrated utilities
such as:
· Graphical presentation capability?
· Spreadsheet (which ones)?
· Word processor (which ones)?
· standard interfaces with other systems
/ Is a calendar facility provided:
· To inform users of coming events (e.g., new hires, terminations, appraisals, retirement)?
· For enabling users to produce their own “to do” lists?

Time and Attendance Management

/ Is time worked tracked:
· By keyboard entry?
· By entering exceptions to standard time worked by keyboard?
· Using a computerised or metered time card or data recording system (e.g., badge code or swipe card reader)?
· If so, which systems are supported?
/ Does the system enable a customised work schedule or shift to be established:
· For a group of employees?
· For an individual employee?
/ Does the system provide shift roster management?
/ Does the system provide facilities for comparing actual labour costs against budgeted costs?
/ Does the system provide facilities for:
· Tracking and reporting time accrued?
· Tracking and reporting compensatory time (in lieu of overtime wages)?

Employment and Position Management

/ Does the system provide facilities for defining job categories
Are skills, qualifications, and other requirements or prerequisites definable?
(If YES, how)?
/ Does the system provide facilities for defining positions?
Can the terms and benefits for a position be defined (if YES, how)?
/ Does the system include:
· Functional organisation charts?
· Hierarchical organisation charts?
If YES, is it possible for these to be user defined?
/ Does the system provide facilities for career planning and succession management?
Can the user customise this process?