Primero Support Services

Contents
1. INTRODUCTION TO THE SECTOR OF WORK ........................................................................................ 2
2. BACKGROUND INFORMATION ............................................................................................................ 2
3. PURPOSES AND OBJECTIVES OF THE PROPOSED WORK .................................................................... 4
Purpose: .......................................................................................................................................... 4
Objectives: ...................................................................................................................................... 4
4. SCOPE OF WORK: ................................................................................................................................ 4
5. UNICEF RESPONSIBILITIES ................................................................................................................... 7
6. EXPECTED DELIVERABLES AND TIMELINE ........................................................................................... 7
7. KEY SKILLS, TECHNICAL BACKGROUND, AND EXPERIENCE REQUIRED ............................................. 11
8. DURATION ......................................................................................................................................... 11
9. QUALITY ASSURANCE ........................................................................................................................ 11
10. EVALUATION OF PROPOSAL ............................................................................................................ 11
a. Technical Proposal .................................................................................................................... 11
b. Price Proposal ........................................................................................................................... 14
PRICE PROPOSAL TEMPLATE: ........................................................................................................ 14
*Payment Provisions ............................................................................................................................. 16
TRAVEL: ................................................................................................................................................. 17
10. GUIDING PRINCIPLES FOR THE CORE PRINCIPLES FOR THE PROJECT ............................................. 17

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STATEMENT OF WORK AND TERMS OF

REFERENCE
1. INTRODUCTION TO THE SECTOR OF WORK
As the worlds leading child rights organization, UNICEF is mandated to respond to the needs of
children in emergency situations, implementing a wide range of Child Protection1 (CP) programmes
that depend on the timely, accurate collection of data and its secure and efficient management,
storage and use. UNICEFs Child Protection in Emergencies (CPIE) objectives are to actively prevent
children from being harmed; to monitor violations committed against them; and to develop
programmes to respond to instances where children are at risk of or have been subjected to
violence, exploitation or abuse2. UNICEFs Core Commitments for Children in Humanitarian Action3
outlines interventions on issues such as Gender Based Violence (GBV)4, Family Tracing and
Reunification (FTR)5, and the United Nations Security Council-mandated Monitoring and Reporting
Mechanism (MRM) for grave violations committed against children in situations of armed conflict6,
among others.
Armed conflicts and natural disasters have devastating effects on children physically,
psychologically, and emotionally. Children are disproportionately affected, making them vulnerable
to family separation, loss of loved ones, and sudden forced dislocation, violence, exploitation and
abuse. Data gathering and analysis is essential when responding to childrens needs in these
situations. CP professionals have developed specialized skills and procedures to address these needs,
but in extremely challenging humanitarian contexts, it is evident that better tools are required.
Speed and efficiency are critical in emergency response, and current practices to support vulnerable
children and women are often inefficient and paper-driven. Precious time, resources and
opportunity may be lost in efforts to register children and their families and provide them lifesaving
services. The absence of a holistic Information Management (IM) solution has led to the
development of insecure and inadequate local systems incapable of communicating with each
other. This has led to a situation where relevant information is not shared, is ignored, lost or
duplicated, and human and financial resources are wasted.
It is therefore part of UNICEFs strategic vision to develop an innovative, robust and user-friendly
platform to address these issues7.

2. BACKGROUND INFORMATION
In 2012, UNICEF and partners embarked on an innovative project to provide a more effective and
secure information management system (IMS) to UNICEF country offices and implementing partners
in order to better identify most vulnerable children in emergencies and to improve case
management services, including referral for protection support and other services. The Information
1

UNICEF uses the term child protection to refer to preventing and responding to violence, exploitation and abuse against children including commercial sexual exploitation,
trafficking, child labour and harmful traditional practices, such as female genital mutilation/cutting and child marriage. UNICEFs child protection programmes also target children who
are uniquely vulnerable to these abuses, such as when living without parental care, in conflict with the law and in armed conflict
2 Taken from: http://www.unicef.org/protection/57929_62178.html
3
See UNICEFs Core Commitments for Children in Humanitarian Action: http://www.unicefinemergencies.com
4 The IASC Guidelines on Gender-based Violence Interventions in Humanitarian Settings (2005) describe GBV as an umbrella term for any harmful act that is perpetrated against a
persons will, and that is based on socially ascribed (gender) differences between males and females (p. 7). See: http://www.gbvaor.net
5 In times of crisis, families get separated and dispersed. Children get lost. Organizations devote lots of time and effort to bringing these families back together, through a process called
Family Tracing and Reunification, or FTR. See: http://www.rapidftr.com/faq/1-rapidftr-faq/1-what-is-family-tracing-and-reunification
6 See www.unicef.org/protection for more information in relation to UNICEFs role, responsibility and MRM mandate and specifically MRM information management.
7 This initiative emerged following a study released in May 2010 assessing existing efforts to manage MRM information; its recommendation was to centrally develop a
standardized, comprehensive and robust MRM information management system, including database, which was endorsed by inter-agency partners.

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Management and Innovation to Protect Children in Emergencies project is currently in Phase Two,
which includes deploying and bringing to scale a next generation software application that will
help partners securely and safely collect, store, manage, and share data for protection-related
incident monitoring and case management. The platform is called Primero (Protection-related
Information Management)8.
Primero is adaptable to accommodate a broad range of protection programming, including:
unaccompanied and separated children (UASC), psychosocial support (PSS), recruitment and use of
children by armed forces and groups, other grave violations of childrens rights in situations of
armed conflict (MRM), and incidents of gender-based violence (GBV) as well as the documentation
of responses and services provided for such cases. The Primero platform currently supports three (3)
modules: the Child Protection Information Management System Plus9 (CPIMS+) for case
management, the Gender based Violence Information Management System Plus10 (GBVIMS+), and
the Monitoring and Reporting Mechanism Information Management System Plus (MRMIMS+). The
platform is also complimented by an Android mobile client called RapidReg (Rapid Registration),
which has both case management and FTR functionality.
Primero was developed to meet the need for a secure, globally coordinated platform that would
provide user-friendly support to field level CP and GBV practitioners, and useable data and insights
on critical CP and GBV concerns in humanitarian and development contexts at country, regional and
global levels. The Primero application is designed to meet the information management (IM)
standards outlined in the inter agency Minimum Standards for Child Protection in Humanitarian
Action11 (CPMS). The project is also governed by the UNICEF-endorsed Principles for Digital
Development12.
UNICEF has invested in the Primero platform to address the proliferation of custom software
applications in the sector. By investing in a single, centrally supported, open source platform, and by
offering this software freely as a global public good, UNICEF aims to bring cost savings, extensibility,
and increased data security to CP programmes, while ensuring confidentiality, accountability, and
increased child friendliness to beneficiaries.
The project is bringing together key global actors around a common technology and approach to
child protection information management. Primero is an inter-agency initiative led by UNICEF and
managed in partnership with the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
(UNHCR), United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), International Rescue Committee (IRC), Save the
Children, United Nations Department for Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO), and the United Nations
Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict
(OSRSG-CAAC). The Child Protection Section and UNICEF Headquarters is leading the Primero
initiative, in collaboration with the UNICEF Innovation Unit, UNICEF Information Technology and
Support Services (ITSS) and Regional and Country Office colleagues.
Primero modules are now live in +5 countries. The application is helping social workers, protection
officers and programme managers more efficiently deliver, track, and report on services in very
complex operational environments. These deployments have added to the global demand for the
application. There are more than twenty (20) pending requests for deployments, from countries
implementing both humanitarian responses and development programming. Furthermore, current

8 www.primero.org
9 www.cpims.org
10 www.gbvims.com
11 www.cpwg.net/minimum-standards
12 www.digitalprinciples.org/

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users provide a constant source of feedback for issue tracking, enhancements and extensions of the
application. UNICEF is striving to address these requirements in order to ensure a positive user
experience and maximize uptake. Hence, there is a need for additional support so that the Primero
business case can be fully realized, UNICEF and donors return on investment is ensured, and the
project can achieve scale.
UNICEF is a global organization with country offices in and National Committees in more than 190
countries. These entities are supported with guidance, tools and technical support from UNICEF
Regional Offices and Headquarters. UNICEF does not currently have adequate in-house capacity to
develop, deploy and support this non-enterprise, open source software. This request for proposals is
for Long Term Agreements (LTA) with service providers that can be used by UNICEF teams globally to
support the implementation and scaling up of Primero.
Please see Annex 1: Primero Documentation & Resources for a detailed description of these
component systems.

3. PURPOSES AND OBJECTIVES OF THE PROPOSED WORK

Purpose:
The goals of this project are to:

Bring the Primero Child Protection IMS to global scale.

Develop Primero into the premiere software for protection-related information

management in the humanitarian and development sector.

Create a sustainable, scalable, and cost effective global Primero support model.

Objectives:
1) Primero modules will be deployed in at least 20 countries by end of 2018 by providing
technical support to UNICEF teams, country offices and partners in deploying and
implementing Primero and its modules and mobile clients.
2) Primero software with be extended and enhanced, including the development Primero
version 2 (v2) in 2017.
3) Primero end users, teams, implementing partners, and UNICEF Country Offices will be
provided with timely, effective remote technical support in 2017-2018.
4) Primero will be promoted and shared as a global public good and its community of users and
developers will expand in 2017-2018.

4. SCOPE OF WORK:
In order to achieve the objectives, UNICEF is looking for companies to provide three (3) distinct

Categories of Services:
1. Implementation support:
This involves the provision of direct, hands-on, field-level technical assistance to UNICEF
Country Offices and implementing partners to deploy Primero modules/clients (CPIMS+,
GBVIMS+, MRMIMS+, RapidReg). Primero needs to be quickly and easily deployed in

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challenging, resource constrained situations. Implementation Plans must be

collaboratively developed at country level to guide Primero rollouts, and support for
implementation including technical deployment must be available to partners. Services
in this category include:
a. Organizing and conducting requirements gathering/implementation planning
missions to support the roll-out of Primero modules
b. Business analysis, role and workflow mapping and documentation
c. Configuration support (via admin console and JSON)
d. Technical analysis and deployment support, including hardware configuration
(provisioning and configuring servers for launch and staging; deploying
standalone, locally hosted, and cloud hosted instances)
e. Developing Implementation Plans with distribution plans, clear accountability
frameworks (partner roles and responsibilities), system monitoring, training, and
a rollout strategy with identified phases, targets and milestones
f.

Hands-on training of technical staff, system administrators and coordinators

g. Developing and implementing transition strategies from legacy systems (IA

CPIMS, GBVIMS, MRM IMS) to Primero modules, including data migration and
testing
h. Security and programme risk analysis and mitigation strategies

2. Software Development:
UNICEF and partners will continue to develop the Primero open source software,
following the v2 Development Roadmap. Primero feature development is user-driven
and iterative. Priority is given to features that have been requested or identified as
critical to multiple users/programmes, and where requirements and value-added are
clear. Services in this category include:
i.

Client relations and project management (sprint management, daily stand ups,
client reports, release management)

j.

Business analysis; mapping workflows and providing targeted recommendations

to improve processes and delivery

k. Iterative software development using Agile13 methodologies

l.

Gathering requirements, developing user stories and acceptance criteria

m. Documentation (all new features, user feedback, code changes, etc)

n. Quality Assurance (QA) including unit testing, penetration testing, and
regression testing
o. Field testing/User Acceptance Testing (UAT)

13 http://agilemethodology.org/

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p. Developing and updating training materials and artefacts

q. Monitoring key performance indicators and supporting evaluations
r.

User experience/User Interface (UX/UI) enhancements

s. Architectural oversight and code management (pull requests, code merges,

tagging, versioning)

3. Production Support and Maintenance:

This involves the provision of ongoing remote or on-site technical assistance to UNICEF
Country Offices, implementing partners and end users who have already deployed Primero
modules/clients (CPIMS+, GBVIMS+, MRMIMS+, and RapidReg). For this project, support
levels are defined in tiers as Level 1, Level 2 and Level 3 (See Annex 2: Production Support
and Maintenance (PS&M) Model). Work in this category will only involve Level 2 and Level 3
support, and may include coverage of individual or multiple module implementations, in one
or more geographic areas, and potentially in multiple languages. Providing support to
production instances of Primero involves ensuring high availability, pushing
patches/updates, and ensuring that sensitive data is kept safe. Services in this category
include:
t.

Manage periodic updates to the system, including source and configuration

management

u. Perform day-to-day maintenance and operations for servers, including

installation, backup, recovery testing, performance optimization, and other
configuration tasks
v. Issue tracking and ticketing system
w. Timely response to end user requests for support, including email responses,
calls or demos/walkthroughs of support fixes when necessary
x. Distributing bug fixes, updates and patches (in coordination with project
Technical Lead) and monitoring the repo for new development/code
y. Monitor availability and performance, performance optimization, monitoring
servers including setting alarms, collecting and tracking metrics, collecting and
monitoring log files
z. Implement and monitor data protection/data security measures
aa. Level 2 and Level 3 response and escalation path
bb. Recover data/failover
cc. Managing a community of users, including forum, and wiki/FAQ, and feeding
back inputs to the dev team
dd. Troubleshooting and minor code enhancements
ee. Keeping logs and documentation for analysis and audit purposes

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ff. Design and conduct training workshops for core business teams, when
requested
Note: If your organization is not able to provide any of the above services, you may still be
considered for this contract. Carefully review Section 6: EXPECTED DELIVERABLES AND TIMELINE for
details.

5. UNICEF RESPONSIBILITIES

UNICEF will be available for consultation, technical and project discussions, daily meetings,
and general project coordination support.

The Primero Project Lead/Product Owner, based at UNICEF headquarters in New York City,
will manage software development, contracting, and support coordination and engagement
with field level teams.

6. EXPECTED DELIVERABLES AND TIMELINE

This RFPS is for global Long Term Agreements which may be used by UNICEF HQ or UNICEF Country
Offices to secure the three specific types of services identified above. Please read the guidance in
this section carefully.
For the purposes of structuring the narrative of the technical proposal, a series of indicative
deliverables and timelines (when applicable) have been provided for each of the three Categories of
Work in the table below. Technical proposals should reflect the bidders approach to delivering the
product or service in each case, in accordance with the timeline provided. The bidder may choose to
add as much detail as necessary, but technical proposals are required to respond to any item that is
introduced with must, should or have/has to, and will be scored accordingly. Bidders may
decide to provide technical proposals for any or all of the Categories, but proposals must address all
indicative deliverables in that respective category. Each technical proposal must be clearly marked
(i.e. Technical Proposal Category 1).
As the deliverables refer to Country X, technical proposal narratives may refer to one or any of
three (3) countries Egypt, Nigeria and Myanmar. These are indicative only, and may be used to
provide extra context or important details that reflect your research, approach, experience, or level
of preparation. These should not be considered actual implementation sites.
Further notes for Category 1: A note about travel for Primero deployments and support missions
Your team may be called upon to help design and implement plans to bring Primero to the field with
possible destinations in Africa, Asia, the Middle East, and elsewhere. Project teams may get the
opportunity to work directly with a full spectrum of end users, helping technical counterparts from
UNICEF, partner organizations, governments, and front line service providers. This may include:
troubleshooting and solving problems as arise; facilitating user testing; training CP Specialists, social
workers and volunteers who are responding to affected populations; and supporting ICT4D
processes to ensure that Primero is adding value and helping deliver results for children. It is a
chance to come face to face with the deeply rooted constraints that UNICEF and partner

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organizations face in emergency, low connectivity and low-resource situations, and to get a direct
sense of how the use of technology can help change lives.
Do not include costs of travel in the technical or financial proposal.

Further notes for Category 1, 2, and 3:

For new deployments, it is recommended that the implementation of this system be phased and
iterative. As the solution involves multiple components and emphasizes interoperability, the vendor
should take into consideration the functionalities of existing components and plan accordingly.
Please note the type of analysis your team would conduct prior to any implementation.
It is critical that all developments made by the vendor be capable of being shared under our GNU
Affero General Public Licence v314 open source license in order to allow UNICEF to share and reuse
the software as it pleases. This does not apply to branded elements such as logos, photos or images,
or proprietary content such as custom configurations.
Primero development is managed using Agile methodologies. Multiple branches may be in use in
different contexts, and continuous integration (CI) is a requirement. Please explain your teams CI
approach and practices as a part of your technical proposal.
The Primero open-source repository is available for review and should be used as reference for
integration work. Please see Annex 1: Primero Documentation & Resources for links to
documentation, source code, and other resources.
The system must work on various operating systems (Windows, Mac, Linux) and various form factors
(tablets, smartphones). The system must be easily deployable via an application installer that can be
run from an Internet connection, or offline (via USB, etc.)
The winning bidder may be called upon to undertake some or any of the following activities, at
country, regional or global level, and should structure their technical proposal(s) around a narrative
which includes the team, resources/tools, and steps required to meet the following deliverables:

Deliverable

Time line

Implementation Support (Category 1)

1.1 Organize and conduct an implementation planning mission to Country X
to support the roll-out of the CPIMS+ module of Primero. Provide details of
the process.

3-4 weeks

1.2 Conduct business analysis of the case management process in Country X

(forms, processes, tools, actors, workflows) and present recommendations
to the country coordinator, government ministry and implementing
partners.

2-3 weeks

14 www.gnu.org/licenses/agpl-3.0.en.html

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1.3 Conduct field level technical assessment of infrastructure, connectivity,

available hardware, and team technical capacity to inform Primero
implementation planning in Country X, and present a report.

1-2 weeks

1.4 In consultation with the country-level team in Country X, elaborate a

Primero implementation plan which includes roles, responsibilities, technical
deployment, data protection, security, and support model. You may include
any other information that might be relevant.

3-4 weeks

1.5 Configure and comprehensively test the CPIMS+ module of Primero for a
network of eight (8) organizations involved in case management, with five
distinct roles and a total of 50 active users. Provide details of the process.

2-4 weeks

1.6 Deploy the CPIMS+/Primero to an Azure or Amazon cloud. Include details

of process and communications with Country X team.

1 week

1.7 Provide a plan to deploy Primero locally in Country X. Three partner

organizations will each have their own instance, which will replicate to a
master instance. Include details of process and communications with
Country X team.

1 week

1.8 Design and implement a one-week training for system end users and
administrators. Include capacity building materials, documentation, and
videos. All materials should be reusable and contribute to the global Primero
community.

2 weeks (1 week
prep, 1 week
implementation)

1.9 Support countries to transition from legacy case management system to

the Primero CPIMS+ module, including planning, database migration,
training, and technical support to in-country coordinators and teams.

3-6 weeks

Software Development: Category 2

2.1 Provide an overview of your teams methodology, including client
relations, project management, software development approach, code
management, release management, testing approach, and communications.

NA

2.2 Analyse, plan and implement a redesign of the Primero admin modules
to make configuration processes more user friendly and scalable, providing
specifics on the process.

8-12 weeks

2.3 Analyse, plan and implement a UX/UI redesign of the Primero web app,
providing specifics on the process.

4-6 weeks

2.4 Analyse, plan and implement an upgrade of Primeros search, reporting

and analytics capabilities, based on the user feedback from Country X.

4-6 weeks

2.5 Design, develop and test configurable reporting and dashboard features
6-8 weeks
to allow Primero users and administrators to select and define granular
reports based on their needs. Select an option that can be implemented with
modest investment in the timeline provided.

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2.6 Design, develop and test a new module for Primero to Country Xs
programme to track children in foster care. This module should include a list
of potential foster families, and

8-12 weeks

2.7 Provide a brief dev ops plan with setup and documentation for failover,
redundant hosting, disaster recovery, etc, to productionalize Primero for
scale.

NA

2.8 Provide a short narrative on how you would lead a workshop with
relevant stakeholders to elaborate a Primero development roadmap and
vision, including upgrading application architecture, and technical oversight.

NA

2.9 Design, develop and test a new mobile feature for the Primero Android
client that would allow a system administrator to remotely wipe data from a
stolen device. Include details of process, including testing.

4-6 weeks

Production Support and Maintenance (PSM): Category 3

3.1 Provide a plan for setting up an issue tracking and ticketing system for 8
countries with distinct Primero implementations

2 weeks

3.2 Provide a plan to ensure that critical feedback gathered from the team in 1 week
Country X is relayed to the global development team. Explain how you would
prioritize this information.
3.3 Provide a sample SLA. DO NOT INCLUDE ANY PRICING DETAILS

NA

3.4 Provide a brief explanation of how you would foster and sustain a
community of users in Country X, noting that the country has few smart
phone users.

NA

3.5 Identify your course of action to distribute a critical security fix to 4

Primero implementations in different countries.

NA

3.6 Provide an example of a hot fix/live production response your team has
provided and how you ensured that the impact on business was minimized.

NA

3.7 Explain how you would identify that a cloud instance of Primero has
been compromised in Country X. How would you respond? Limit your
answer to one page.

NA

3.8 Provide a plan for responding to a report of lost data in Country X.

1 week

3.9 Provide examples of training programmes and materials your team has
created and implemented for end users and/or system administrators. You
may provide hard copies or links.

NA

3.10 Describe your plan for scaling up support services as Primero

deployments increase from 5 sites and 200 users, to 25 sites and 10,000
users.

NA

3.11 Provide a sample monthly report of your support/issue tracking report.

NA

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7. KEY SKILLS, TECHNICAL BACKGROUND, AND EXPERIENCE REQUIRED

We are looking for companies with the capacity to work collaboratively with UNICEF and
implementing partners, including governments, on a project using mobile and Web technologies.
The company should have proven knowledge, expertise and experience working with open source
technologies and quick, iterative, client-driven and user-focused development of products. Team
size and composition may vary depending on the approach taken. The company should clearly
outline their proposed team structure and provide specific details on each member, including CV.
This outline must demonstrate that the company has the human resources and capacity to have
several cross-functional teams working concurrently and is able to meet the deliverables.
The company should have experience with large-scale, distributed open-source projects, offline
systems and knowledge and experience developing for various operating systems (Windows, Mac,
Linux) using Ruby on Rails, Solr, HTML5, RESTful Web Services, Android, Java, NGINX, CouchDB, and
non-relational databases using Agile development practices.
Development and support teams may be located anywhere. However, as the companys project
manager and developers will work closely with the Primero Project Lead based in New York at
UNICEF HQ, the majority of the team, including the principle developers and project managers, must
be able to overlap online for at least four contiguous hours each day with a 9am to 6pm Eastern
Standard Time (EST) work schedule, Monday to Friday.

8. DURATION
The resulting LTAs will be globally available to UNICEF teams for a period of two (2) years. Upon
review, it is possible that UNICEF may seek to extend these agreement a third year (through 2019).

9. QUALITY ASSURANCE
After each project, a vendor performance evaluation will be produced by the relevant office in
UNICEF and will be in contact with the vendor. It will consist of a brief review of the various
technical requirements, a review of the elements identified in this RFPS, and a a section on lessons
learnt.
After such review, UNICEF may decide to put the company either up or down in the list of vendors
for the next project(s) or remove the vendor from the list in case of severe issues (non-delivery,
important delays, non-respect of quoted pricing, etc.)
A more thorough review will take place at the end of the first year of the contract, through a review
of all quality control reports. A satisfaction survey will also be conducted with users

10. EVALUATION OF PROPOSAL

In making the final decision, UNICEF considers both technical and financial aspects. The evaluation
team first reviews the technical aspect of the offer followed by review of the financial offer of the
technically compliant vendors.

a. Technical Proposal
Bidders may choose to submit technical proposals for one, multiple, or all categories of work. Each
technical proposal must be clearly marked (i.e Technical Proposal Category 1). These technical
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proposal should address all aspects, requirements, and criteria outlined for the relevant Category of
Work in the Request for Proposals. These requirements represent indicative deliverables expected
by UNICEF, however, bidders are free to suggest/propose any solution or approach that they think
would be technically effective. If an alternative approach to work is being proposed, please explain
why this option is preferable. UNICEF welcomes new ideas and innovative approaches. Bidders may
be asked to provide additional information.
No price information should be contained in any of the technical proposals.
Ensure that the level of effort to be committed by the different team members in each phase/task is
visible within the technical proposal. That same information with additional cost data should feature
in the financial proposal.
The proposal should very clearly articulate how you propose to address key questions included in
the PURPOSE AND OVERVIEW OF THE PROPOSED WORK section of RFPS.
The technical proposal should be no more than 20 pages for each Category of Work excluding
annexes and should be organized according to order of deliverables in section 6. EXPECTED
DELIVERABLES AND TIMELINE. See the supporting documents folder for a sample submission.

Keep in mind that the following specific items must be present, in addition to whatever other
approaches and methods are proposed as per the requirements detailed above:
1. Information which will enable us to determine whether your institution (or your team) have
relevant specialized knowledge in the areas that are critical to this work.
2. Information on any additional experience that may be critical to the success of the proposed
work, including but not limited to: a) Affiliation to communities of practice; b) Prior
experience with the tools and technologies outlined; c) Any other information that you
deem relevant to this work that would give your institution an advantage over others
competing for the same contract.

The Technical Proposals from all 3 Categories will be evaluated against the following:
REF

CATEGORY

POINTS

TE1

Project Overview, Timeline and Team makeup

25

The summary CVs (maximum one page) and current titles (and links to public,
open-source code repositories of developers, if available) of all proposed team
members, and an acknowledgment that any changes to the team prior to or
during the contract term will be subject to written approval by UNICEF after
review of CVs, current titles and links to public, open-source code repositories,
if available.

A timeline, as detailed as possible, that includes:

Project overview including analysis, development, testing, and delivery. It is

understood that this may change and is not binding.

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TE2

Defined roles and person hours necessary for each indicative

deliverable/segment of the project.

An indication of points on the timeline where an increase in person hours would

lead to faster results.

For deliverables where no timeline has been provided (marked with NA), you
may insert them in your timeline, or submit them as separate segments

Project Management

TE3

TE4

TE5

Provide a short narrative (1-2 pages) that explains how members of your team
will coordinate with each other and the UNICEF project coordinator to deliver
the services listed in the EXPECTED DELIVERABLES AND TIMELINE section.
Include a skeletal calendar for a typical two week period.

Software management practice

25

Review the Primero code and documentation provided and devise a technical
plan for delivery of services that reflects a thorough understanding of the
context (you may cite details of the countries previously listed), the
requirements, the EXPECTED DELIVERABLES, and technologies involved. Make
sure this plan touches on:
o

How you work with other teams involved in the project, including dev
teams

Testing philosophy

Security

Unique needs of the end users

Two examples of code documentation from previous project (wikis, arch.

diagrams, etc.)

Support and demonstrated reliability

Completeness of submission: All submissions must address all points for the
respective Category of Work indicated in EXPECTED DELIVERABLES AND
TIMELINE.

In order to emphasize your teams reliability, submissions should be tailored to

represent the unique demands of the work in this life saving sector. Consider
citing past experiences that demonstrate this.

Communications pieces

10

10

10

Successful bids will reflect an understanding of the importance clear

communications with end users and administrators, and of high-quality pieces
and technical and non-technical documentation.

- 1 example or link to an example of previous communications pieces such as

presentation decks, one-pager, or user manuals.

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- 1 example or link to training materials (presentation deck, pdf cheat-sheet)

Total Technical

80

Only proposals which receive a minimum of 60 points will be considered further.

b. Price Proposal
The price proposal should be separate from the technical proposal. A separate price proposal should
be submitted for each category of work (i.e Price Proposal Category 1). The price should be broken
down for each component of the proposed work, based on an estimate of time taken, which needs
to be stated.
The total amount of points allocated for the price component is 20. The maximum number of points
will be allotted to the lowest price proposal that is opened and compared among those invited
firms/institutions which obtain the threshold points in the evaluation of the technical component.
All other price proposals will receive points in inverse proportion to the lowest price; e.g.:

Max. score for price proposal * Price of lowest priced proposal

Score for price proposal X = --------------------------------------------------------------------------Price of proposal X

PRICE PROPOSAL TEMPLATE:

Description
of Activity/Item

Person days (identifying

the proposed person as
required)

Price (in
US$)

Total Cost in US$

1. Implementation Support
(Category 1)
1.1 Organize and conduct an
implementation planning mission
to Country X to support the rollout of the CPIMS+ module of
Primero. Provide details of the
process.

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1.2 Conduct business analysis of

the case management process in
Country X (forms, processes, tools,
actors, workflows) and present
recommendations to the country
coordinator, government ministry
and implementing partners.
1.3 Conduct field level technical
assessment of infrastructure,
connectivity, available hardware,
and team technical capacity to
inform Primero implementation
planning in Country X, and present
a report.
1.4-1.9 continued
1.X other expenses
Subtotal Expenses
2. Software Development:
Category 2
2.1 Provide an overview of your
teams methodology, including
client relations, project
management, software
development approach, code
management, release
management, testing approach,
and communications.
2.2 Analyse, plan and implement a
redesign of the Primero admin
modules to make configuration
processes more user friendly and
scalable, providing specifics on the
process.
2.3 Analyse, plan and implement a
UX/UI redesign of the Primero
web app, providing specifics on
the process.
2.4-2.9 continued
2.X other expenses
Subtotal Expenses

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3. Production Support and

Maintenance (PSM): Category 3
3.1 Provide a plan for setting up
an issue tracking and ticketing
system for 8 countries with
distinct Primero implementations
3.2 Provide a plan to ensure that
critical feedback gathered from
the team in Country X is relayed to
the global development team.
Explain how you would prioritize
this information.
3.4-3.11 continued
3.2 other expenses
Subtotal Expenses
Total: 1. + 2. + 3.

The quotation will not be subject to revision unless officially invited to re-submit by UNICEF.
The Cost Proposal must include detailed item-wise quotations, based on the project narrative and
other relevant documents. Please note that travel costs and subsistence rates (lodging, food, local
transport, and incidentals) should not be included as these will be reimbursed based on the
prevailing United Nations rates.

*Payment Provisions
UNICEF's policy is to pay for the performance of contractual services rendered or to effect payment
upon the achievement of specific milestones described in the contract. UNICEF's policy is not to
grant advance payments except in unusual situations where the potential contractor, whether a
private firm, NGO or a government or other entity, specifies in the bid that there are special
circumstances warranting an advance payment. UNICEF will normally require a bank guarantee or
other suitable security arrangement.

Any request for an advance payment is to be justified and documented, and must be submitted with
the financial bid. The justification shall explain the need for the advance payment, itemize the
amount requested and provide a time schedule for utilization of said amount. Information about
your financial status must be submitted, such as audited financial statements at 31 December of the
previous year and include this documentation with your financial bid. Further information may be
requested by UNICEF at the time of finalizing contract negotiations with the awarded bidder.
UNICEF shall conduct regular assessments of the vendors performance. Results of the assessment
will be shared with the vendor for discussion and possible corrective measures.
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At the end of the implementation phase, UNICEF shall assess the vendors ability to:

deliver in a timely manner;

meet UNICEFs requirements;

advise UNICEF and recommend best practice;

provide or recommend hosting solutions;

fix bugs and update the software;

address project management or communication issues;

deliver any other service agreed upon.

A similar evaluation will be repeated after each year of service. End-of-year evaluations will also
include a user-satisfaction survey. Poor performance may result in the partial or total termination of
the contract, at the discretion of UNICEF.

TRAVEL:
For all required travel, the vendor will be responsible in arranging their own travel and will be
reimbursed accordingly upon presentation of receipts and based on the following UN standards of
travel and accommodation found in the following sites:
Travel:
Section 4, paragraph 4.2, numerals (d) and (e)
Accommodations (Daily Subsistence Allowance, DSA): http://icsc.un.org/ (all countries and
destinations can be found by navigating on the map)
Terminal Expenses: Include all expenditures for transportation between the airport or other point of
arrival or departure and the hotel or other place of dwelling, including transfer of accompanied
baggage and other incidental charges. For New York, the amounts to be reimbursed for each such
trip are $63 in respect of the staff member authorized to travel at United Nations expense. For all
other duty stations, the amounts to be reimbursed for each trip are $38. When official United
Nations or government vehicle is made available for the trip, the amounts to be reimbursed shall be
set at $11.

10. GUIDING PRINCIPLES FOR THE CORE PRINCIPLES FOR THE

PROJECT
The following principles should guide the work of the vendor through the implementation,
customization, support and maintenance of the application. Vendors are encouraged to refer to
these principles when developing their answers to the project requirements.
Security: The security of the application and its ability to prevent malicious and unintended misuse is
an absolute priority. Encryption should be used where appropriate. All communication between
systems shall use SSL certificates.
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Usability: Applications must be modern, intuitive, and easy to use. It should be built with
accessibility (WCAG / Section508) in mind. Layouts and features should remain simple, consistent
throughout, and to the point.
Scalability: Application must be designed in such a way that it is possible to horizontally scale in the
case of a hosted (vs. standalone) deployment.
Extensibility: As much as possible, the system should be built to adapt to varying needs, diverse
audiences, changing requirements based on users profile. This will be particularly important for the
customizations of the product, as one should aim at developing reusable and adaptable features
rather than one-time development for a specific project. Capacity for internationalization and multilanguage support are essential to the success of the solution.
Connectivity: UNICEF works all over the world, including the most isolated locations and in regions
affected by disasters and conflicts. It is critical to develop solutions to ensure access to essential
resources to as many users as possible, online or offline, through Web server or local, standalone
deployments in occasionally connected environments.
Self-sustainability: It is expected that few human resources will be available to support the
administration of the applications and support users. Therefore, it is critical to aim at designing
systems and processes that are as self-sustainable as possible. This implies for example the creation
of automation, communication templates, workflows, reliable technology, FAQ, inline help and selftraining solutions.

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Annex 1: Primero Documentation &

Resources
It is suggested that bidders thoroughly review the following resources:
a) Primero public web: www.primero.org
b) Primero repo: https://github.com/primeroims/primero
c) RapidReg repo (Primero mobile client): https://github.com/primeroims/rapidreg
d) Primero demo site: https://training.primero.org/login (credentials: primero/primero2016!)
e) IA CPIMS resources (legacy system): see below
f)

GBVIMS resources (legacy system): see below

g) RapidFTR repo: https://github.com/rapidftr

h) Anticipated and Consolidated Questions and Answers:
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0BzY9zcF5upYuWUJJbGVOU3ljRDA

More information about each of these components/systems is provided below.

1) Gender Based Violence Information Management System (GBVIMS)

a. The GBVIMS is an incident monitoring tool that collects excel formatted data about
specific events. It enables those providing services to GBV survivors to effectively
and safely collect, store, analyze and share sensitive data related to the reported
incidents of GBV in order to inform programming and monitor trends.
The GBVIMS+ module of Primero will gradually replace all existing GBVIMS implementaions.
b. www.gbvims.com
c. Evaluation in 2014, highly recommended you read http://www.gbvims.com/what-isgbvims/gbvims-evaluation/
d. The GBVIMS database is a Microsoft Excel file; there is no source code. The GBVIMS
database populated with dummy data will be provided in a digital bundle.

2) RapidReg (Rapid Registration Android app)

Data collection for the component systems is typically done using paper forms. Each IMS has sets of
forms that guide the work of field practitioners and require a data entry process. UNICEF has
invested in a digital form-based mobile data collection application for use in Family Tracing and

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Reunification (FTR) called RapidFTR15. This application was an early component in the development
of Primero, and has now been reinvented as RapidReg, the mobile client for the CPIMS+.
RapidReg allows Primero users to register new cases and edit existing cases. It also feeds data into
the FTR module of the CPIMS+/Primero web app. See the repo for more information.
3) Inter agency Child Protection Information Management System (IA CPIMS)
The Inter Agency Child Protection Information Management System (IA CPIMS) is a .NET application
used by multiple agencies as a case management tool to gather and analyse data about specific
vulnerable children in emergency situations and track the delivery of specific services that they
need. The IA CPIMS is currently being used by partners including governments in more than 15
countries. Primeros case management module is the CPIMS+. This module is a next generation of
the IA CPIMS. Many of the current implementations of the IA CPIMS are scheduled to transition to
the use of Primero/CPIMS+ in 2017-2018, and it is therefore important that bidders be familiar with
this application.
For more information see: www.cpims.org
Also, please see IACPIMS Evaluation 2010: http://www.savethechildren.org.uk/resources/onlinelibrary/evaluation-inter-agency-child-protection-management-system

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http://www.rapidftr.com/
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Annex 2: Production Support and

Maintenance (PS&M) Model
Overview
This appendix outlines the Production Support and Maintenance (PS&M) model for Primero. It may
involve multiple teams working on different implementations in different geographic areas. There
will be, however, a single, dedicated Technical Lead managing a product backlog. The backlog would
contain maintenance items from all the instances and deployments of Primero. IN addition to the
Technical Lead, UNICEF will appoint a Product Owner (the UNICEF Product Owner) to manage this
backlog and prioritize items for the development team to resolve. A tiered software support
services model provides an effective way to manage support services and their associated costs
based on business need. The idea of tiered support levels is to have a standard set of services
distinguishing one support tier from another that correspond to standard application classifications.
Definitions of terms
Term

Definition

Tiered Support

Level 1 (L1)
Support

This is the initial support level responsible for basic customer issues and technical
support to end-users. Personnel at this level have a basic to general understanding of
the platform or service and may not always have the competency required for solving
complex issues, but should be able to handle 70%-80% of the user problems before
finding it necessary to escalate the issue to a higher level. Personnel from the
applicable UNICEF Country Office (CO) or partner organization will provide Level 1
support. The country level System Administrator will have the role of overseeing Level
1 support, and making sure that consolidated reports are made available to the
development team.
The first job of a Level 1 Specialist is to gather the customers information and to
determine the customers issue by analyzing the symptoms and figuring out the
underlying problem. Where possible the Level 1 Specialist shall resolve the issue
directly with the end-user.
If they cannot determine the solution, then the issue is escalated to Level 2 support
by logging a ticket in the issue tracking/ticketing system. Level 1 support providers
must ensure adequate information is passed on to Level 2 and Level 3 support in case
of escalation.

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This is the next support level that requires a person with deep knowledge of how the
system is used, the business domain and has the required access rights to the
production instance (such as superuser) to resolve operational issues.
Level 2 (L2)
Support

This level of support does not perform code modifications to resolve the problem. If
resolution requires code modification, the support request is passed on to Level 3
support.
Level 2 support would assess the time already spent with the client so that the work is
prioritized and time management is sufficiently utilized. Level 2 support providers
must ensure adequate information is passed on to Level 3 support in case of
escalation.
This is the highest level of support, which consists of making infrastructure, code,
and/or database changes to resolve a support request. Level 3 Support may also
require access to log files or notification alerts from the hosting monitoring tools.

Level 3 (L3)
Support

Fixes made by Level 3 support shall be tested and then released into production.
Release schedules are driven by the severity of the issues. Issues related to system
performance and stability may also be addressed within Level 3 support.
The Level 3 support may also be required to actively trouble shoot with third party
partners such as hosting providers. These partners and the respective contact, SLAs
and escalation plans shall be established with the UNICEF Product Owner.
Level 3 support has the same responsibility as L2 support in reviewing the issue ticket
and assessing the time already spent with the stakeholders so that the work is
prioritized and time management is sufficiently utilized.

Backlog:

Maintenance

Bugs or issues identified in the application code and/or infrastructure while in

production. Changes made post delivery to correct faults and to improve performance
or other attributes.

Enhancements

An enhancement is any change/addition to the application, which adds new

capabilities, or features or improves existing functionality. Enhancements will be
listed in the backlog but may or may not be implemented under the PS&M model.

Issue Prioritization:
Critical

A complete interruption causing the system or data (or a critical piece of functionality)
to be completely inaccessible. No workaround is available.

High

Critical functionality degraded or unusable, causing severe impact on service

availability or data for a significant portion of users. A temporary workaround is
available, but it is not an acceptable longer-term solution.

Medium

Issue affects non-critical functionality, or impacts a small number of users. A

workaround is available.

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Low

Issue distracts users from their work in the system, but does not impact functionality
or data. A workaround may or may not be available.

The engagement model or ways of working for support and maintenance contemplates all Level 1
support provided by UNICEF or country level partners. End users shall contact a respective point of
contact with issues. The point of contact shall attempt to resolve the issue or submit the issue using
the issue tracking/ticketing system provided under the terms of the contract.
Critical or High issues shall automatically be assigned to the respective PS&M team. Level 1 point of
contact and UNICEF Product Manager shall call PS&M team according to the escalation plan below.
The triage process and prioritization assignment to each issue shall be managed by the UNICEF
Product Manager and reviewed with the PS&M team. The table below lists the four priority levels
and the corresponding response time expected. The following response levels will be maintained
during the specified hours of support.

Priority Level

Response Time

Critical

On call

High

3 hours

Medium

1 business day

Low

2 business days

Response time means that PS&M Team will acknowledge receipt of the ticket and begin researching
a solution to the issue within the allotted time. Once a solution has been discovered, PS&M Team
shall account for the time taken to research/troubleshoot the problem, the probable cause and the
estimated time required to solve the issue. Level 2 and Level 3 researching and troubleshooting of
issues may include contacting third party partners.
The PS&M Team will work with the UNICEF Product Manager to prioritize the backlog of items,
based on the priority and support level. When requested, they would then determine a suitable
timetable for the issue to be resolved, tested and implemented within the production environment.
All issues including critical and high issues will be submitted via the online ticketing system. Critical
and high issues will also be followed by a call to the designated PS&M Team telephone number to
ensure prompt attention. Other channels that may be used to alert PS&M Team of the Critical or
High issues in the ticketing system include instant message, email or Skype.
PS&M Teams will be responsible for providing a primary telephone contact number. This number
shall be a local number in the supporting PS&M Team office. The number shall be assigned to the
PS&M Team member on call. An escalation plan (see sample below) must be provided in the event
the PS&M Team contact is unavailable or an issue has not received a response in the agreed
response time.
Contact

Escalation

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PS&M Teams will use commercially reasonable efforts to resolve all items in the backlog in priority
order, in consultation with UNICEF; provided however, the efforts will be undertaken on a time and
materials basis. The work will be done employing an Agile development methodology, which means
weekly meetings to assess progress, constant prioritization, frequent validation and feedback.
The Team
PS&M Team will employ a cross-functional poly-skilled team. The team will have a breadth of
knowledge across various applications and a depth of knowledge in the specific applications. The
team will consist of the following skills, Business Analyst (Strategy & Requirements Analysis), Quality
Analysis and Application Development.
Governance
The engagement would be governed by a steering committee to be defined in alignment with the
Primero Governance Committee.
Time spent by the PS&M team working on Delivery and Reporting activities shall be deducted from
the allocated number of support and maintenance days.
During the steering committee meetings the UNICEF Product Owner, PS&M team Delivery Lead and
PS&M team Client Principal shall review the number of allocated hours not used by support (if any)
and agree to a number of hours the PS&M team shall apply an equivalent number of hours
volunteered towards developing the open source community.

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