Disgrifiad o'r nwyddau neu'r gwasanaethau sydd eu hangen
Business Wales provides a first class business support service to small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) in Wales on behalf of the Welsh Government, and is funded by the European Regional Development Fund. The service is delivered by Growth Partnership Wales, a partnership of Business in Focus, Antur Teifi and Serco Regional Service Ltd.
Delivered by Serco Regional Services Ltd the Superfast Business Wales is a service element of Business Wales, which started in January 2016. It supports eligible businesses across Wales to understand, adopt and exploit the benefits of Superfast Broadband.
The successful supplier will be required to work in partnership with the in-house marketing team to update, edit and design the SFBW Software Directory that is hosted on our website.
It is currently formatted in a 76 page PDF document and requires a simple format that allows small to medium businesses to access the information they require easily and quickly. The recommended software needs to be up to date and relevant to our target audience* and the subsequent links need to drive the user to the appropriate page of the software or technology provider’s website.
The guide will be made available online and through traditional print.
*Superfast Business Wales Demographic
- SFBW supports Welsh small and medium sized businesses across 22 local authorities (fewer than 250 employees with less than GBP 40m turnover). To date 83% employ between 0-9 employees with the remaining 17% 10-250 employees.
The Guide Specification
- The supplier will be required to research and provide a shortlist of nine examples of market leading software solutions or hardware products per function (there are 41 functions). And when applicable, include open source and proprietary software ( free or licenced ) that is suitable for micro and small and medium sized businesses
- An internal assessment panel will review the nine examples and shortlist seven for each function.
- We are required to signpost to software houses and technology manufacturers rather than resellers; each must be compliant with country specific regulations including GDPR that is rolling out in May 2018
- Only signpost to market leading technology solutions and avoid:
- products and services that are unlikely to exist during the guide’s life expectancy
- solutions that are not market leading as they tend not to have sufficient investment and development
- legacy products and products or solutions that are coming to end of life
- All recommendations must be fair and transparent, not biased towards particular brands, and include a mix of solutions and products.
The successful supplier will be required to provide the following activities:
- Work with the in-house marketing team to produce an engaging and unbiased software guide that will inform businesses of the market leading technologies they should use to remain competitive (to include hardware, software, on premise and cloud based solutions)
- Provide editorial guidance on the style, format, content, and imagery you will use to breathe a new lease of life into the guide and position it as valuable and easily shareable content
- Build in editorial checks to ensure the guide is accurate, informative and appeals to Welsh SME’s
- The guide needs to be is fit for purpose, both as an online resource and in traditional print, so this needs to be considered at the design stage
- All content is required to be produced in both Welsh and English so the ability to translate Welsh would be an advantage, although we are able to provide translated copy if required
- All publicity needs to adhere to the guidelines for European funded programmes and meet the branding guidelines for Business Wales (please see copy of brand guidelines attached)
- Once refreshed, the software guide will need to be updated annually until 2020 or as further advised
- Upon contract award the supplier will be expected to provide a first draft of the updated design and editorial content within six weeks, and deliver the annual update within a four week window of being commissioned
Supplier Profile
As the guide advises businesses on the best software choices to meet their needs, the winning bidding organisation will need to demonstrate:
- A strong background in communicating the benefits of technology for small and medium sized businesses in plain English
- Experience in reviewing and comparing technology products for SME’s/micro-businesses (without using jargon)
- Editorial (or PR) and publishing and design experience would be a distinct advantage
- Proven experience of writing long tail content for a business audience; including guides, white papers, research documents, and statistic led analysis would be highly beneficial
- Strong systems and processes for managing the timely delivery of quality of materials, including fail-proof checks for professional and accurate copy and sign-posting, as well as adherence to branding guidelines
- Robust systems and processes to manage version control particularly with bilingual materials
- Proven ability of creativity and the ability to deliver alternative solutions that still meet requirements
- The ability to work with Serco to ensure the development of accurate briefs that meet requirements and a collaborative approach in partnering the Serco in-house marketing team
- Tight budget and time management controls as well as the ability to work on a range of projects with a range of contacts in the team simultaneously managing workloads and meeting deadlines
Serco Regional Services Ltd will contract with the successful Tenderer and it is anticipated that the contract will be awarded for the period 1 June 2018 to 30 April 2020 subject to regular performance reviews.
The indicative budget for the services mentioned above will be GBP 20,000 (plus VAT) for delivery of the content in this specification, comprising GBP 10,000 for the updated design and content in June 2018, and GBP 5,000 for the update in April 2019, and GBP 5,000 for the update in April 2020. Any printing costs will be covered separately by Serco Regional Services using existing suppliers.
The initial contract may be extended subject to successful performance, availability of funding and on basis that it will not infringe Serco Procurement requirements.
NOTE: To register your interest in this notice and obtain any additional information please visit the Sell2Wales Web Site at https://www.sell2wales.gov.wales/Search/Search_Switch.aspx?ID=80940.
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