Overview

Interpeace is undergoing a transition aimed at ensuring that its peacebuilding work remains anchored in the communities and countries where it works, and that it has cost-effective and cost-efficient structures internally for achieving its peacebuilding objectives.

Interpeace currently has in-house IT management and user support. The organisation intends to transition to external provider delivery of:

• Full-service user support for its Geneva team and some other users at selected locations worldwide;
• Occasional back-up user support at other locations;
• Day-to-day management of all organisation-wide IT systems and applications including cloud-based back-up and security management; and,
• Occasional strategic IT advice.

Interpeace expects in 2025 to have up to 20 staff at its Geneva headquarters and up to 70 staff elsewhere worldwide either at single-person locations or in other Interpeace offices. A transition is underway to achieve this staff establishment in the second half of 2024.

Goals

• To transition the organisation to outsourced IT management and support.
• To deliver ongoing day-to-day IT support as well as periodic strategic IT advice.

Scope

1) Interpeace requires technical expertise (i) to support the successful transition from its current in-house IT management/support arrangements to outsourced arrangements and then (ii) to meet sustainably the following outsourced IT needs:

1. Strategic forecasting and direction-setting of optimal IT operating environment
   1. Once per quarter review of Interpeace’s IT architecture and systems compared with global IT trends, and advice on medium term adaptations so that the organisation remains aligned with contemporary IT standards and practices
   2. Implementing accepted recommendations for medium-term change
2. Cloud management
   1. Decommissioning Hybrid AD and on-prem Servers, to be replaced by Entra ID
   2. Support E.R.P. vendor to migrate E.R.P. to a “cloud” solution
   3. Backup of all systems daily or more frequently, with a Recovery Time Objective (R.T.O.) of 48 hours
3. Security
   1. Surveillance
   2. Updating/patching and attack response
   3. Advice on policies and procedures
   4. User training (once per annum)
   5. Random testing
   6. Incident and trend reporting
4. System/Applications management
   1. Daily monitoring and trouble-shooting
   2. WIFI management (GVA office)
   3. Advice on options to meet business needs
   4. Implementation of updates & migration
5. Procurement (hardware and software)
6. Contract management (eg – all licences and payment process management)
7. Inventory management
   1. Stock-take & architecture/system design blueprints
   2. Documentation updates and retention
8. Help Desk for users including but not limited to:
   1. Off-site/remote during working hours CET
   2. Occasional on-site (up to once per month at Geneva office)
   3. Induction and Training
   4. Reporting on incidents and trends

2) In addition, it would be desirable for the provider to support Interpeace’s telephony needs for its operations in Geneva including management of the account with Swisscom (or an alternative in future), including contract management and handset procurement/inventory management.

3) The proposal should set out how the needs above will be met, specifically including how a transition-to-ongoing implementation plan would occur as well as how the IT technical support, management and strategic advice services would be provided (including the specific Help Desk services that would be provided).

4) The proposal should include the name, qualifications and work experience of the principal customer relationship manager who would work with Interpeace as well as details of the qualifications and experience of those expected to provide strategic and technical support.

5) The proposal should include an indicative budget for both the one-off transition phase as well as the ongoing annualised support phase.

6) The proposal should include an indicative timeline for implementation of the transition phase, on the basis that the contract would commence on either 1 November or 1 December 2024.

7) The proposal should include provision for an initial audit of the organisation’s IT inventory in order to identify benchmarks of IT stock and IT management on which outsourced management services would then be based and would continue to be updated and documented.

Context

Interpeace currently has the following IT architecture in place for approximately 150 users in Geneva (25) and worldwide (125):

• Microsoft Office 365 for email, document and data storage (Teams, Sharepoint, One Drive, and selected security option – Defender for Cloud). All content is backed up on ‘Barracuda cloud back-up’.
• 2 physical servers in GVA (one back-up for other)
• 5 virtual servers running on MS Hyper-V (AD, AD Connect, E.R.P.
• Remote access is via an encrypted VPN
• IT security
  • Outsourced to a company in Geneva for the firewalls, providing surveillance/reporting & patching/updates 24/7; two firewalls paired for redundancy
  • One internet connection to the Geneva office
  • One Uninterrupted power supply.

The staff establishment is being reduced to an estimated 90 users spread across offices and sole-locations in Geneva (20) and worldwide (70).  Interpeace is also presently committed strategically to having all of its core IT services and needs met through industry-standard and cloud-based applications and solutions.

Further details can be provided on request.

Evaluation metrics

• Anticipated effectiveness of transition plan
• Reference check (three referees to be provided, preferably from organisations of similar size and/or non-governmental)
• Cost competitiveness (for start-up/one-off costs as well as ongoing costs)
• Comprehensiveness in meeting all the needs defined above
• Cost-efficiency (of the processes) and cost-effectiveness (of the outputs)

Due date

• Monday, 16 September 2024

Contact

• Umesh Bali, Head of Information Technology
• bali@interpeac.org
• +41(0) 793716693