Workplace Communication Services

This ITQ closed on September 19, 2014.  Canada wishes to thank all Respondents who submitted responses to the ITQ.  The evaluation of the responses has been completed.  The following is the list of Respondents who successfully met the mandatory experience requirements set out in the ITQ and therefore qualify to proceed to the Review and Refine Requirements (RRR) Phase of the procurement process:

Allstream, Bell, HP, IBM and Telus

Respondents who did not successfully qualify at the ITQ Phase are not able to participate in subsequent procurement phases.

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Shared Services Canada’s ITQ No. 14-18078/1 (“ITQ2”) issued on 19 June 2014 is cancelled. This Invitation to Qualify No. 14-18078/2 represents a new Invitation to Qualify for Workplace Communication Services (WCS).

SSC has decided to alter certain qualification requirements, which may expand the potential competition for its WCS requirement. SSC is mindful that this is the third publication of an invitation to qualify regarding the WCS project and that suppliers have already expended time and resources responding to the first two ITQs. SSC very much appreciates the work that has already gone into this procurement process, but wants to ensure the best possible outcome for Canadian taxpayers and for the many departments who use SSC’s shared services.

In order to ensure suppliers are not required to do more work than necessary to respond to this ITQ, this document has been blacklined to show the changes made compared to ITQ2, so that potential suppliers can focus on the changes, rather than reviewing the document in its entirety searching for the changes that have been made. However, it is the responsibility of each Respondent (subject to the next paragraph) to ensure that it has fully addressed each of the requirements of this ITQ, whether it was a requirement identified in a previous ITQ or a revised requirement reflected in this ITQ. 

Furthermore, as the respondents from the previous ITQ have been advised, Bell Canada, Telus and IBM each qualified pursuant to ITQ2. Because the ability to qualify is being expanded under this ITQ, Bell Canada, Telus and IBM are deemed by SSC to qualify under this Invitation to Qualify, unless they advise SSC in writing that they no longer wish to participate in the WCS procurement process. As a result, Bell Canada, Telus and IBM are NOT required to submit a response to this ITQ, but will be identified as Qualified Respondents for the purposes of future phases of the WCS procurement.

This document is an Invitation to Qualify (ITQ) pertaining to Canada’s initiative to provide Workplace Communication Services for SSC’s Clients in order to reduce costs and enhance program delivery to Canadian citizens and businesses. The objective of the ITQ is to qualify Respondents who have experience in implementing and operating Workplace Communication Services. 

This ITQ is neither a request for proposal (RFP) nor a solicitation of bids or tenders; its purpose is to identify those Respondents that possess the qualifications required by SSC for participation in the next phase of the procurement process for Workplace Communication Services. No contract will result from this ITQ. Canada reserves the right to cancel this procurement at any time during the ITQ phase or any other phase of the procurement process.  Given that this ITQ may be cancelled by Canada in part or in its entirety, it may not result in any of the subsequent procurement processes described in this solicitation.  Respondents may withdraw from the ITQ process at any time.

This ITQ represents the first phase of the procurement process for the Workplace Communication Services (WCS) requirements.  An overview of the procurement process can be found in Part 3 - Procurement Process.