An invitation to tender for the contract of web developerservice

							An invitation to tender for the contract of web developer/service provider for
the Own Art scheme e-commerce platform (Scotland and England).



1.    Invitation to Tender

1.1   The purpose of this document is to invite tenders for the contract of web
      developer/service provider that will develop and support an online trading
      portal for selected members of the Own Art scheme in Scotland and
      England. The key partners will be the Scottish Arts Council and ArtCo
      Trading Ltd. The commissioned individuals/team(s) may also be expected
      to work in close collaboration with other representatives and/or other
      interested partners as required.

      The contracting authority for this tender, and manager of the project, is
      ArtCo Trading Limited. The Scottish Arts Council will be administering this
      tender exercise on behalf of ArtCo Trading Ltd.

1.2   Invitations are invited from suitably qualified individuals, collectives or
      organisations.

1.3   This document constitutes an Invitation to Tender (ITT) for the contract(s).
      Subsequent sections describe the background to the project, the work to be
      done under the tender and the terms and conditions under which tendering
      will take place.

2.    Background to the Project

2.1   Own Art is a scheme initiated by Arts Council England, and is operated by
      ArtCo Trading Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary company of Arts Council
      England, in partnership with Hitachi Capital Consumer Finance as credit
      provider. The Scottish Arts Council is a partner, and launched the scheme
      in Scotland in 2004. The scheme offers interest-free credit for people to buy
      contemporary art and craft through participating galleries. The loan can
      range from £100 - £2000 and is paid back in ten instalments.
2.2   Own Art is designed to make buying art easy and affordable. It is a priority
      of the scheme to broaden people s interest and awareness of the range of
      work available from Own Art member galleries, and to encourage first-time
      buyers. Participating galleries offer paintings, sculptures, prints, artist s film
      and video, new media work, photography, jewellery, metalwork, ceramics,
      glass, furniture and textiles.
2.3   Participating galleries must apply to be part of the scheme, and meet
      rigorous standards for the quality of work they sell, their methods of display,
      their customer care and their relationships with artists. Galleries must offer
      original work by living artists and have a dedicated gallery space with set
      opening times. Currently there are 39 galleries in Scotland and 252
      galleries in England offering Own Art as a payment option.
2.4   The Own Art scheme in Scotland recently received additional funding as
      part of the Creative Scotland Innovation Funds. This additional funding will
      allow a suite of new developments including the web development work
      that is described in this document. The purpose of this work is to enable
      Own Art galleries to sell contemporary art and craft to a wider audience by
      exploiting digital technology and e-commerce solutions and as an additional
      sales tool and marketing opportunity.


3.    The Project: Work to be Undertaken

3.1   The contractor(s) will design, develop and maintain an e-commerce
      platform for the use of selected Own Art member galleries across Scotland
      and England. The sales portal will have a content management system that
      is user-friendly and that each member gallery can use in order to control
      their stock. The portal must comply with current e-commerce security
      standards and will incorporate a number of payment methods, including a
      custom plug-in developed by Hitachi Capital Consumer Finance (further
      details on this will be supplied to the successful tenderer.)

3.2   The maintenance period under this tender will be 2 years from the agreed
      commencement date of the project Technical support and site maintenance
      will be covered by the budget stated in this contract for development.

3.3   The facility for the platform and all technical elements supporting it will be
      fully transferrable to the Scottish Arts Council/ArtCo in the event that the
      company hosting the site ceases to operate.

4.    Detailed description of work

4.1   The contractor(s) tasks will include the following:

      Design, development, delivery and maintenance of an Own Art-branded e-
      commerce platform as follows:

         Design and development of an e-commerce platform appropriate for
         contemporary art and craft, which may be standalone or a component
         part of an existing e-commerce platform
         Development and delivery of all technical elements to enable the
         function of the site including a CMS for galleries to use to upload
         content, secure online payment, and other elements as may be agreed
         Development and delivery of all technical elements to allow the
         successful integration of Hitachi s Pay by Finance software including
         appropriate electronic communication channels between the host
         platform and Hitachi Capital to identify items of stock sold with the
         appropriate supplier account
         Integration of appropriate web analytics software to allow all key
         partners to generate data reports on web traffic to and from the site
         Creation of a portal design that is in line with the brand identity of the
         Own Art scheme
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         One-off, introductory training, which may be delivered in person or
         online, with downloadable support materials, describing the use of the
         CMS to member galleries
         Hosting of the project on secure servers, the cost of which is to be
         absorbed into the budget for this project
         Technical support, to the Scottish Arts Council, ArtCo Trading and
         partners, and to Own Art member galleries who will take part, to ensure
         site is fully functional at all times for two years from the date of the
         contract
         Compliance across all website design and development with the
         Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) and with W3C accessibility
         guidelines, using valid xhtml code and CSS.

5.    Skills and Experience

5.1   It will be essential for the commissioned individuals/team(s) to bring to the
      project:
         Credibility and proven expertise in website development, particularly e-
         commerce. A proven track record developing e-commerce websites for
         cultural institutions is desirable
         Proven knowledge of the UK art and craft market
         Extensive and current experience in providing user support
         Extensive and current experience in working effectively with a range of
         organisations and a high level of communication skills
         Effective project and business planning skills
      The skills listed above are listed in order of how they will be weighted in
      tender evaluation (see Section 8, Evaluation Criteria)

6.    Management and Support of Project

6.1   The work of the commissioned individuals/team(s) will be overseen by
      representatives of ArtCo Trading Ltd, in collaboration with the Scottish Arts
      Council as required.

6.2   The commissioned individuals/team(s) will be required to consult with and
      report back to representatives from ArtCo Trading Ltd and/or Scottish Arts
      Council on a regular basis.

7.    Format of Responses Required

7.1   The tender proposals should include:
         an outline of the approach that will be taken to establishing and
         delivering the project
         details of the individuals who will lead, manage and deliver the project
         and details of their experience, formal training/qualification and
         knowledge of the arts in the UK
         detailed costs

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         a timetable for the project
7.2   Tenders should include background material to demonstrate the previous
      experience and range of work of the consultant(s) and of the specific
      personnel proposed for the work. This can include descriptions and
      examples of previous relevant work.
7.3   Tenders should also include contact details of two referees.
7.4   If there are any queries regarding this brief, please contact Michelle
      Kasprzak, Visual Arts Officer (Direct line 0131 240 2459 or e-mail
      michelle.kasprzak@scottisharts.org.uk)

8.    Evaluation Criteria

8.1   The tenders will be evaluated by the Head of the Visual Arts Department, a
      Visual Arts Officer, and a representative of ArtCo Trading. Each proposal
      will be evaluated against the following criteria:

       Criteria                                                        Weighting
       Understanding of the project brief demonstrated in the          5%
       tender documentation


       Credibility and proven expertise in website development         30%
       and e-commerce solutions


       Knowledge of the UK cultural sector and in particular the       20%
       visual arts and craft market


       Extensive and current experience in providing web hosting       10%
       and support services for major clients


       Extensive and current experience in working effectively         10%
       with a wide range of organisations including small and
       medium sized retail businesses


       Effective project and business planning skills as               20%
       demonstrated by a realistic and viable initial outline budget
       for the project


       Any added value offered by the Tenderer                         5%

8.2   The Scottish Arts Council will seek value for money in the tenders for this
      project and will judge value not solely on price but on the quality and scope
      of the proposals being considered.




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8.3    The Scottish Arts Council reserves the right not to award a contract if it is
       judged that no viable or appropriate tender has been received.

9.     Guide Price

9.1    All tenderers will submit a tender document, with a budget for the project,
       as described above. As a general guide, a budget of £30,000 - £45,000
       should cover all management, operation and associated costs, including
       VAT.

10.    Tender Evaluation Process and Timetable

10.1   The timetable for the process will be as follows:
          the deadline for submission of tenders is 12 noon on Monday 25
          January 2010
          the Scottish Arts Council and ArtCo representatives will assess
          documents against the criteria listed above, seeking formal clarification
          from tenderers as required
          the target date for completion for the negotiation of the contract is the
          week beginning Monday 15 February 2010
          subject to contract negotiation, the award of the contract is expected to
          be offered to the successful tenderer by Monday 22 February 2010.

11.    Tender Contract

11.1   The successful tenderer will be expected to sign a contract based on ArtCo
       Trading s terms and conditions for purchasing services. Tenderers should
       indicate in their response that they will be willing to accept these terms and
       conditions (see attachment).

11.2   The tender may offer the provision of services from either a single party or
       a group/consortium of bidders. Where a particular bid for the contract(s) is
       based on a group/consortium of business interests, the tender response
       document must identify:
          the nominated prime contractor in the group/consortium
          the number of parties involved and names of each
       and
          the proposed arrangements for its operation (e.g. the area of
          participation of each party in the context of the contract).

11.3   Where a bid from a group or consortium of bidders succeeds in respect of
       the contract, ArtCo Trading will conclude a contract with the designated
       lead contractor only who will then take sole responsibility for all matters
       arising under that contract.

11.4   The response document for the contract must identify the name, postal and
       e-mail address, telephone and fax number of the tenderer and the name of
       the person within the tendering business dealing with the contract.

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11.5   ArtCo Trading reserves the right to terminate the contract at any time
       should the contractor fail to deliver and/or comply with the objectives,
       quality standards and timelines as outlined within the brief, and acceptable
       efforts are not made to redress this.

11.6   ArtCo Trading reserves the right to inform the contractor of poor and/or
       delayed delivery of objectives, and to ask the contractor to rectify this in
       accordance with the brief and the supplied policy framework. It is expected
       that ArtCo Trading will not incur additional costs due to poor delivery and
       the extra effort required to redress this.

12.    Conditions of Tender

12.1   Detailed contractual arrangements are not within the scope of this
       document. However, it is intended that the successful tender will be
       referenced in the final contract.

12.2   The Scottish Arts Council reserves the right to seek clarification of any
       information provided in the tenders.

13.    Validity of offer

13.1 You must offer your tender for acceptance for 30 days from the deadline for tender
submission.

14.    Tender Submission Details

14.1   The tenderer shall submit two paper copies of the tender for the contract(s).

14.2   No email submissions will be accepted.

14.3   The documents should be accompanied by a single copy of the annual
       accounts for the prime contractor for the past three years, if possible.

14.4   Submissions must be sealed in a package marked Own Art E-commerce
       platform and addressed to:-

       Gordon Cosh, Financial Compliance Officer, Scottish Arts Council, 12
       Manor Place, Edinburgh EH3 7DD

14.5   All submissions should be sent to reach the above addresses not later than
       12 noon (local time) on Monday 25 January 2010. The name and contact
       details of the Tenderer should be clearly identified on the tender package.

14.6   Tenders will not be accepted after this time.

14.7   Tenderers are requested to make their own arrangements to obtain proof of
       delivery by, for example, obtaining a receipt.

15.    Copyright of Document


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15.1   The copyright of this ITT document is the property of the Scottish Arts
       Council. This document is issued for the purpose stated herein and may
       only be used for the purpose of formulating a tender. No part of it may be
       used, communicated, stored, reproduced, disseminated or published for
       any other purpose without the prior consent of the Scottish Arts Council




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