The University of Edinburgh has been selected and contracted as the supplier of effort to maintain and develop the JVCS Booking System.
This procurement was focused on putting in place a framework agreement with a supplier for the provision of services to maintain and develop the JANET Videoconferencing Booking Service, as outlined in the PQQ document. Karen Perrins was appointed as the Procurement Manager and a Procurement Panel was formed. This procurement was run according to the Restricted European Procurement Procedure rules.
The first stage of JANET Videoconferencing Booking Service procurement was the issue of a Prequalification Questionnaire (PQQ) ( doc , pdf ).
The second stage of the procurement was the issue of an Operational Requirement and Costs Spreadsheet. Only suppliers selected via the restricted procedure were invited to respond to this OR.
Clarification - 13th July 2005
The PQQ states that the original system was unsuitable (and led to several aborted procurements). In what way was the original system unsuitable and how has that been rectified to date?
The original system was not user friendly, either did it did not comply with the requirements of the Data Protection Act, there was not integrated support for IP videoconferencing and was not scalable to cope with registration of thousands of endpoints.
What remote administration software is in place? - If none, what is the local ( Edinburgh ) policy with regard to this software?
There is access via IP to JANET from known remote stations (access lists)
Do the requirements listed in Schedule A of the Contract document augment/supersede those in the main requirements document? If/Where the two documents contradict, which has primacy?
The contract is for information only, so at this stage the Operational Requirement is the primary document. Once JANET(UK) has agreed a contract with the preferred supplier, which will be the primary point of reference.
Can you confirm that Out-of-Hours support is not required, as suggested in the Contract document?
Out of hours support is not required; however contingency plan for any down time out of hours will need to be agreed between JANET(UK) and the preferred supplier.
What documentation currently exists?
The current provider of the service adds comments to all code and this would be provided. User/Administration guides and on-line help currently available from: http://www.jvcs.ja.net/ .
Can we have a dummy log-in account, in order to inform our suggestions for future improvements, etc.?
Dummy accounts will be set up and details will be sent out later today.
Clarification - 28th June 2005
What programming language is the current code written in?
The code is all written in "C", with a considerable amount of SQL and HTML embedded in it.
Clarifications - 24th June 2005
What relevant software and databases are installed on the Main booking server and the MCU interface server?
Booking servers:
Apache 2.0.46
Postgres 7.3.10-1
Are the backup servers live and do they "failover" automatically?
Backup servers are live (ie are up and running).
Manual intervention is required for failover.
What software if any is installed on the backup servers for this purpose?
No software is installed - see answer above.
Where are the servers physically located?
The servers are located in the computing services building at the University of Edinburgh.
As matters for clarification arise they will be answered by JANET(UK) and made available on this page. Selected suppliers will be notified each time this is updated.
