A guide for government agencies
November 2014
Mobile Voice and Data Services
All-of-Government Contract
Buyers’ Guide
Acknowledgements and thanks – development of this
guide:
Members of the Mobile Voice and Data Client Advisory Group
Members of the Procurement Reform Group
Members of the Department of Internal Affairs’ Procurement Steering Group
Feedback on this guide:
We want to ensure that this guide provides you with all the information you need to use the Mobile Voice and Data Services All-of-Government (AoG) contract. We’re interested in your views on what works well and what we could improve – so please take a couple of minutes to complete our online feedback form, which you can find under the ‘AoG Contracts’ section at www.procurement.govt.nz.
ICT Centre of Expertise (CoE) contact details:
ICT Centre of Expertise
Government Procurement Branch
Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment PO Box 1473
Wellington
If you have any questions in relation to the operation of this contract, please contact: Blair Carpenter, Senior Procurement Analyst, ICT CoE – [email protected]
Commercial in Confidence
Please note that contract details are commercial and in confidence and that pricing arrangements must not be discussed or disclosed with third parties outside the Participating Agency (see note on confidentiality below)
First Published April 2012
Government Procurement Branch | Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment
PO Box 1473| Wellington | New Zealand | http://www.mbie.govt.nz | http://www.procurement.govt.nz Crown
Copyright
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Non-commercial-Share Alike 3.0 New Zealand License. In essence you are free to copy, distribute and adapt the work non-commercially, as long as you attribute the work to the Crown and abide by the other licence terms. To view a copy of this license, visit http://www.creativecommons.org.nz Please note that no departmental or governmental emblem, logo or Coat of Arms may be used in any way that infringes any provision of the Flags, Emblems, and Names Protection Act 1981. Attribution to the Crown should be in written form and not by reproduction of any such emblem, logo or Coat of Arms.
This guide is one in a series of guides that has been developed under the New Zealand Government Procurement Reform Programme.
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Contents page
Introduction ... 4
Mobile Voice and Data Services ... 4
Eligible and Participating Agencies ... 4
Overview of the Contract ... 5
The Benefits ... 5
How to Transition to this Contract ... 6
Roles and Responsibilites ... 7
Service Scope ... 8
Key Contract Terms ... 9
Supplier Contact Details ... 10
Use a third party agent to manage your Mobile Voice and Data requirements? ... 11
Appendix 1 – Frequently Asked Questions: ... 132
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Introduction
This guide provides customers in Eligible Agencies with the information they need to buy from the All of Government (AoG) contract for the supply of Mobile Voice and Data Services (MVD). See also the Buyers Guide to AoG Contracts on the www.procurement.govt.nz website.
This Guide provides government agencies with an overview of:
the key benefits of buying off this AoG contract;
what you can buy off the contract, and how ;
how agencies will transition to the contract; and
how the contract relationships will work.
Mobile Voice and Data Services
The AoG MVD panel contracts are managed by a dedicated team called a Centre of Expertise (CoE) based in the Ministry of Business, Innovation & Employment.
The contract commenced in April 2012 for an initial term of three years with two further rights of renewal for one year each (i.e. 3+1+1 years). The first one year renewal term has been exercised with the agreement now extended until 23 April 2016.
This initiative is part of the Government’s Procurement Reform Programme.
Eligible and Participating Agencies
An Eligible Agency who which wishes to purchase from the MVD panel of Suppliers (Suppliers) must formally sign up to the AoG contract. Once the agency has done this, it is defined as a Participating Agency. Participating Agencies can then purchase their Mobile Voice and Data Services from one or more suppliers on the list of panel Suppliers.
A similar guide has been developed for the Suppliers. All AoG-related guides are available under the Government Contracts section of the government procurement web pages:
www.procurement.govt.nz
Eligible Agencies
The government agencies that are eligible to buy from the AoG contracts are: Public Service departments State Services agencies organisations in the wider State sector
organisations in the wider Public sector
Participating
Agencies
An Eligible Agency becomes a Participating Agency when it signs up to using the AoG panel contracts. This involves signing a Letter of Accession to the Memorandum of Understanding with the Centre of Expertise.
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Overview of the Contract
This contract covers Mobile Voice and Data Services, including a number of optional Value Add Services and runs for an initial term of three years with two rights of renewal, for 12 months each. The first renewal has been exercised with the agreement now expiring in April 2016.
The contract has been awarded to Spark Digital, 2 Degrees and Vodafone (together known as Panel Suppliers). The Panel Suppliers will provide core services covering Mobile Voice and Data as well as a number of optional Value Add Services.
Participating Agencies can buy from any Panel Suppliers, selecting the plan type and structure that best meets their business requirements.
Participating Agencies can spilt their business between Panel Suppliers in order to meet business requirements (ie. achieve required mobile coverage).
Agencies using a third party agent to manage these services can continue using these services and enjoy the benefits of the new All-of-Government prices.
The Benefits
There are a number of benefits for government agencies when purchasing under the AoG MVD panel contract:
Substantial cost savings in comparison with the Syndicated Mobile contracts; Price transparency and certainty preventing bill shock and hidden costs;
Clearly defined service levels ensuring services are available, reliable and of high quality;
High quality domestic and international support services consisting of a mix of self service and personal support models;
Flexible services enabling participating agencies to continuously optimise their mobile and data services without incurring penalties or other prohibiting charges; Value adding reporting providing agencies with the information required to manage
their mobile and data services and associated device fleet;
Account management services which focus on value for money for participating agencies through provision of continuous improvement, benchmarking, billing and service audits; and
Timely, accurate and complete invoicing.
What stays the same?
On a day-to-day basis it is business-as-usual for agencies to use these panel contracts. You’ll still:
have complete freedom to choose the individual Panel Supplier/s that you want to use;
deal directly with Panel Supplier/s to manage your Mobile Voice and Data requirements; and
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What’s different and better?
There are several key changes including improvements and value-add benefits for agencies.
you do not need to run your own procurement process;
the ICT CoE manages all panel contracts with the Suppliers;
you will save money through competitive rates - we’ve used the collective buying power of the public and state sector to negotiate ‘best price contracts’;
you will have choice and flexibility to use the agreements in the way that best suits your requirements;
you will be able to assess the value-for-money opportunity by comparing the rates using benefit calculator developed by the CoE;
the Suppliers exceed the minimum requirements of capability and capacity to deliver services nationwide to Government;
You’ll have access to consolidated reporting on your agency’s spend on Mobile Voice and Data Services; including an undertaking by Suppliers to ensure that you remain on the most appropriate plan type over the term of the agreement;
You will have access to a number of optional Value Add Services from Supplier/s; and
Your participation assists in driving better value for money outcomes across the government.
How to Transition to this Contract
The process for Agencies to transition to using the AoG MVD Supplier panel is the same as every other AoG contract. The following outlines the steps.
1. Eligible Agencies become Participating Agencies when they sign a Letter of Accession to the Memorandum of
Understanding between the agency and the Centre of Expertise
2. Centres of Expertise will liaise with Participating Agencies to support them to transition to the AoG contract at the earliest opportunity
3. Services are purchased directly from any of the panel Suppliers, supported by a statement of work as required.
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Relationship Management
The relationship and communication lines between the CoE and Supplier are set out in the diagram below.
Supplier to Participating Agency
The Supplier and each Participating Agency will appoint relationship managers to manage the day-to-day operational activities. The Supplier will also have support teams in place to receive orders, prices invoices and answer queries.
Supplier to CoE
The Supplier will appoint an All-of-Government contract manager to manage the supply agreement. They will liaise directly with the CoE Team Lead.
Roles and Responsibilites
The Participating Agency is responsible for:
its obligations set out in the Schedules and applicable Statement of Work;
ensuring that all its End Users comply with the End User Terms;
managing its operational relationship with the Supplier, including in relation to each Service provided under any Statement of Work; and
notifying the Supplier of any and all security clearances and probity checks required by, or necessary to provide the Services to that agency.
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The CoE is responsible for the management of:
the Supplier’s performance against Service Levels;
strategic Supplier relationship;
review and validation of the Charges;
all other Changes;
the admission of new Participating Agencies;
approval and removal of Subcontractors;
receiving the Supplier’s notice of technology advances and developments;
the replacement of Key Personnel; and
disputes escalated to the CoE.
The Supplier is required to perform all obligations required of it under the AoG contract including
Provision of the common services;
Provision of the core services selected by the participating agency;
Provision of the value add services selected by the participating agency (if any);
provision of planning and advice in relation to rollout and implementation;
provision of transition services as required by the Participating Agency;
Reporting;
Annual billing audits;
Bi-annual services audits;
account management to Participating Agencies, and
contract management to the CoE
Government Procurement Solutions will maintain oversight of the AoG contracts through the
CoE, the Client Advisory Group and Procurement Steering Groups.
Service Scope
Participating Agencies are able to purchase the following in-scope services from Panel Suppliers under this agreement:
Core Services
Access to supplier’s mobile network (mandatory)
Mobile Voice (mandatory)
Mobile Data (mandatory)
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Hardware (optional)
Core services are mandatory. Participating Agencies must buy its core service requirements from a panel supplier once the MOU is signed.
Hardware is optional and can be purchased from any supplier. However, none of the suppliers guarantee service levels or support for hardware not purchased from them.
Value Add Services1 (optional)
Mobile device management
Cost management Connectivity solutions Virtual telephony Mobile applications Messaging solutions VIP service
Support Services (to be provided to all Participating Agencies)
Call centre support
Retail based support
Online support tools
Request fulfilment
Incident management
Issues management
Invoicing (on request by PA > e-invoicing, consolidated invoicing)
Service audits
Billing audits (annual)
Benchmarking (CoE centric)
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Supplier Contact Details
2 Degrees Mobile Limited
Contact Cory Moran, Business Sales Manager
Mobile 022 200 0208
Email [email protected]
Web www.2degreesmobile.co.nz
Spark Digital
Contact: Bria Jackson, AoG Portfolio Manager
Telephone 04 802 9440
Mobile 021 1976 6666
Email [email protected]
Web www.sparkdigital.co.nz
Vodafone New Zealand Limited
Contact: Dean Wyborn, Key Account Manager
Mobile 029 399 2676
Email [email protected]
Web www.vodafone.co.nz
How to Buy
In order to help you make informed decisions and make it easy to purchase from the panel we have developed the following documents and tools:
Price Guide
3rd Party Agent Declaration Form
These are available from the CoE for agencies who have completed a Non-Disclosure Agreement.
Once you signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the CoE, you become a Participating Agency. Then you can choose more than one Suppliers to work out the best solution for your agency.
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Use a third party agent to manage your Mobile
Voice and Data requirements?
Your service provider can access these contracts on your behalf as soon as you have signed up and advised the CoE of the third party’s details.
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Appendix 1 - Frequently Asked Questions
1. Where can I find the details of the negotiated rates?
Full details are available to Eligible Agencies, which have signed and returned a non-disclosure agreement. Email [email protected]
2. What is the scope of the contract?
Refer the scope of agreement on pages 8-9.
3. Is my agency expected to buy from the lowest priced Supplier?
Participating Agencies are expected to buy from the best value-for-money Supplier that meets their business needs. In some cases this will not be the Supplier with the lowest price.
4. Can my agency purchase outside of the AoG contract if we can negotiate a better deal?
Not with respect to the core services covering Mobile Voice and Data. However, Value Add Services are optional to any Participating Agency.
We have been able to negotiate significant overall savings for government, through the combined buying power of the overall State sector.
5. My agency has special requirements that are not covered under the scope of this agreement, how do I access these?
All contracted Suppliers have committed to work with Participating Agencies to address special requirements. Please contact the CoE to ascertain the best way to accommodate these requirements.
6. What kind of plans are available under this agreement.
Each Supplier has taken a different approach to the way their plans and value
propositions are packaged and presented. There are options with or without hardware subsidies, along with ‘bundle’ and ‘pay as you go’ all the way through to ‘all you can eat’ and ‘fixed price per connection’ type plans, each with their own merits. There are also some options for both low and high volume users. We respect that the Participating Agency will choose the Supplier and plan structure that best meets its requirements. 7. If I want to purchase any of the optional Value Add Services, do I have to purchase
these from the same Supplier that I have chosen to fulfil my MVD requirements? No. Participating Agencies may purchase any Value Add Services from any supplier. From a product point of view however some of the Value Add Services offered can only be used on the respective Supplier’s network and customer management platform. The CoE would encourage you to work with the Suppliers to ascertain the appropriate options for your organisation.
8. Who do I talk to if I am not happy with the performance of a Supplier?
If you are experiencing performance issues and/or a contractual dispute, contact the ICT CoE: [email protected]
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Appendix 2 - Related publications, documents
& links:
Buyers Guides:
Guide to All-of-Government Contracts
Guide to the Government e-Marketplace
Buyers Guide, All-of-Government Contract for Office Consumables
Buyers Guide, All-of-Government Contract for Laptop & Desktop Computers
Buyers Guide, All-of-Government Contract for Single & Multi-function Print Devices
Buyers Guide, All-of-Government Contract for Passenger Vehicles
Buyers Guide, All-of-Government Contract for Air Travel
Buyers Guide, All-of-Government Contract for External Legal Services
Buyers Guide, All-of-Government Contract for Vehicle Fleet Optimisation Services
Important links:
www.procurement.govt.nz – the place to go for information on:
Other government contracts (AoG and syndicated)
Government Model Contracts for low value, low risk common goods and services
Government procurement policy, mandatory rules and related guidance
Best practice guidance
Templates and tools for everyday use
Building a professional procurement career: core competencies, training needs analysis, subsidised training and education opportunities
The latest developments in the Government Procurement Reform
And more!
The following documents will be provided to Chief
Executives of State sector agencies as they are ready to transition onto the Mobile Voice and Data AoG contract:
Memorandum of
Understanding and Letter of Accession (for CEs to sign)
Copies of the contracts with each Supplier is available from the ICT CoE upon request
