Title: IM/IT Research, Advisory, Reviews, Training and Workshops
1. Advance Contract Award Notice (ACAN)
An ACAN is a public notice indicating to the supplier community that a department or agency intends to award a contract for goods, services or construction to a pre-identified supplier, thereby allowing other suppliers to signal their interest in bidding, by submitting a statement of capabilities. If no supplier submits a statement of capabilities that meets the requirements set out in the ACAN, on or before the closing date stated in the ACAN, the contracting officer may then proceed with the award to the pre-identified supplier.
2. Definition of the requirement
The Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions Canada (OSFI) has a requirement for independent IT-focused research and tools covering a broad range of IT topics, access to subject matter experts for consultations, workshop execution, proactive service delivery led by an aligned executive peer partner and invitations to IT industry events. This requirement is in support of the OSFI IM/IT Strategy, which covers our strategic objectives: transformation, cultivating talent, service excellence, state of the market technology, and accessible data. The purpose of this Advance Contract Award Notice (ACAN) is to signal the government's intention to award a contract for these services to Info-Tech Research Group. Before awarding a contract, however, the government would like to provide other suppliers with the opportunity to demonstrate that they are capable of satisfying the requirements set out in this Notice, by submitting a statement of capabilities during the 15 calendar day posting period.
If other potential suppliers submit a statement of capabilities during the 15 calendar day posting period that meet the requirements set out in the ACAN, the government will proceed to a full tendering process on either the government's electronic tendering service or through traditional means, in order to award the contract.
If no other supplier submits, on or before the closing date, a statement of capabilities meeting the requirements set out in the ACAN, a contract will be awarded to the pre-selected supplier.
3. Criteria for assessment of the Statement of Capabilities (Minimum Essential Requirements)
Any interested supplier must demonstrate by way of a statement of capabilities that it meets the following requirements:
• Ability to provide IM/IT research advice and guidance with a Canadian perspective, specifically with a focus on Canadian Federal Government “peer comparison” perspectives;
• Ability to provide IM/IT research materials, advisory calls, contract reviews, training, diagnostics, and workshops to supplement existing IM/IT capacity as we develop strategies, operating models, service inventories, and architectures;
• Ability to provide practical, action-oriented research and roadmaps that emphasizes step-by-step guidance that OSFI can follow such as templates, tools, and frameworks to solve specific IT challenges in areas like project management, cybersecurity, AI, and digital transformation;
• Ability to provide a flat-fee membership model that provides unlimited access to their entire research library and encourages clients to use their resources as needed;
• Ability to provide a personalized service model including dedicated advisors that meet virtually/in-person with OSFI on a monthly basis to adapt to our unique goals and needs with a hands-on approach to ensuring OSFI receives the knowledge and guidance it requires to address the IM/IT strategy;
• Have a database of members and subject matter experts sharing best practices and insights to ensure OSFI receives the wealth of knowledge from a mid-market IT research provider;
• Subscribes to and leverages the COBIT IT Management and Governance Framework as the basis for its research, training, and advisory services to provide consistency with IM/IT’s existing methodologies, processes and governance; and
• Be independent from existing major IM/IT vendors to provide research without external influence or bias, relying solely on their own team of analysts.
4. Applicability of the trade agreement(s) to the procurement
This procurement is subject to the following trade agreement(s)
• Canadian Free Trade Agreement (CFTA)
• Revised World Trade Organization - Agreement on Government Procurement (WTO-AGP)
• Canada-European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA)
• Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP)
• Canada-Chile Free Trade Agreement (CCFTA)
• Canada-Colombia Free Trade Agreement
• Canada-Honduras Free Trade Agreement
• Canada-Korea Free Trade Agreement
• Canada-Panama Free Trade Agreement
• Canada-Peru Free Trade Agreement (CPFTA)
• Canada-United Kingdom Trade Continuity Agreement (Canada-UK TCA)
• Canada-Ukraine Free Trade Agreement (CUFTA)
5. Justification for the Pre-Selected Supplier
The extensive content included in subscriptions and shared by InfoTech (i.e., access to an online library of proprietary informatics professional services data, toolkits, and research maintained and regularly updated) is created and owned by InfoTech. Further, InfoTech offers a unique way of engaging with OSFI in the form of step-by-step programs, guided implementations, a training curriculum and personalized action plans that results in the maximum return on OSFI’s investment. This content and the unique InfoTech delivery satisfies all the requirements outlined above. Therefore, OSFI believes they are the only supplier capable of assisting OSFI in the development of key initiatives listed in our Blueprint and IM/IT Strategy.
6. Government Contracts Regulations Exception(s)
The following exception to the Government Contracts Regulations is invoked for this procurement under subsection 6(d) - "only one person is capable of performing the work".
7. Ownership of Intellectual Property
Ownership of any Foreground Intellectual Property arising out of the proposed contract will vest in the Contractor.
8. Period of the proposed contract or delivery date
The proposed contract is for a period of one (1) year from January 13, 2025 with 4 options to extend the contract for up to a period of one (1) year each.
9. Cost estimate of the proposed contract
The estimated value of the contract, including 4 option periods, is $1,000,000.00.
10. Name and address of the pre-identified supplier
Info-Tech Research Group Inc.
888 Yonge Street
Toronto, ON, Canada
M4W 2J2
11. Suppliers' right to submit a statement of capabilities
Suppliers who consider themselves fully qualified and available to meet the specified requirements may submit a statement of capabilities in writing to the Contracting Authority identified in this Notice on or before the closing date of this Notice. The statement of capabilities must clearly demonstrate how the supplier meets the advertised requirements.
12. Closing date for a submission of a statement of capabilities
The closing date and time for acceptance of Statements of Capabilities is January 8, 2025 (per amendment 001) at 2:00 p.m. (EST).
13. Inquiries and submission of statements of capabilities
Inquiries and statements of capabilities are to be directed to:
Andrew Bryant
Senior Contracting Officer
e-mail: contracting-approvisionnement@osfi-bsif.gc.ca
255 Albert St. 12th floor
Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0H2
