Technical writer

This call for tenders concerns the provision of IT-related technical writing services for the development of UPU software and other IT solutions. These services shall include, but shall not be limited to, the preparation of end-user documentation, the coordination and management of the translation and localization of software applications, and the production of e-learning support materials (e.g. videos, online training courses comprising tests and quizzes).

The UPU wishes to engage a provider of specialized technical writing services for the development of i) soft­ware in accordance with the specific knowledge, skill sets and experience-related requirements and associated conditions specified herein, and ii) content for the UPU’s e-learning platform (powered by Moodle), including the production of tutorial videos, online training courses on UPU software, and online tests.

The technical writer(s) shall work remotely, but must be reachable during at least 50% of Swiss office hours.

The deadline for the submission of tenders is 22 February 2021 at 16.00 CET

1. Please clarify “A full service quotation (all-inclusive)”. Should this be for a sample project? 

 A full-service quotation must indicate the hourly rate and the daily rate based on the description of services mentioned in section 4.1. It is for the actual technical writing service rendered, whether as a partial task in a project (documenting a specific functionality, etc.) or as a project in itself (creating the online help for a software product from scratch). 

2. Is there an existing in-house department at UPU specifically for technical writing? Or is the tech writer consultant function supporting a broader technical or development department? 

There is one technical writer in the UPU. This in-house technical writer, along with the technical writer consultant, will provide documentation support for the development teams across the UPU. 

3. Will you provide access and licences for MadCap Flare and SDL Passolo? 

MadCap Flare and SDL Passolo are currently installed in a virtual machine meant for technical documentation use. As such, the technical writer consultant can access and use these products after the user account is created. 

4. Par. 2.18  what do you mean by “reachable during at least 50% of Swiss office hours”? Does it mean that the Technical Writer should be able to come to your HQ at least for 4h/day (so it means that he needs to live near Bern)? 

This means that the person must be available for communication purposes should any query, issue or question arises, by electronic means – through email, Microsoft Teams, or other messaging application. It would be good if the person lives near Bern but this is not a requirement. 

5. Par. 3.5  what do you mean by a “full service quotation”? If we need to provide a full service quotation in advance we need to assume a number of days of work and multiply them by a daily rate, for example: on which basis can we estimate the working days? Are we expected to use the data from par. 4.1? 

The data in 4.1 is an example to show the overall volume, activities and estimated time spent for documentation tasks. A full-service quotation must indicate the hourly rate and the daily rate based on the description of services mentioned in section 4.1. It is for the actual technical writing service rendered, whether as a partial task in a project (documenting a specific functionality, etc.) or as a project in itself (creating the online help for a software product from scratch). 

6. Tender mentions consultant as a key person but the services requested are technical writing and production of certain eLearning deliverables. 

Is “consultant” a special role or is it used as a general term referring to vendor’s technical writers who liaison with UPU? 

It refers to the technical writer who provides the service. 

7. As per the Description of the Services (page 10), the scope of work implies various roles and profiles: technical writer, project manager.  

Is it acceptable to offer several resources? 

We actually just need one – the technical writer. The directive on which product to document or which eLearning material to work on comes from the UPU.  

8. In the pricing section (page 9), the Tender indicates examples of person-days per year that varies quite a lot. 

Could you please clarify the estimated volume of work (hours/day) per year? 

The volume definitely varies. However, what we are looking for is the per hour/daily rate. A very rough estimate is to more or less allocate 2 days per week for documentation tasks.  

9. Will UPU provide SME for the various IT Solutions? 

The consultant can reach out to the SMEs for clarification in the course of documentation.  

10. What kind of source material can we expect? 

- Will the technical writer be provided access to the software to test the features that are to be documented?  

Yes, of course. The demo or pre-production environment where the application is installed is provided. Or, for standalone products, the installer is available. The technical writer can install this on the virtual machine allocated for technical documentation use.  

- Specifications, wireframes, etc.  

Yes, we have Functional Design specs available.  

11. Is graphics creation or editing required? 

Yes, to a certain extent as images are used in the printed documentation (PDFs). It’s actually more of capturing screenshots and creating Visio diagrams, as necessary. 

12. If yes, could you please specify the type of graphics: info graphics, technical illustrations, screenshots, code snippets? 

Screenshots, code snippets and occasionally, Visio diagrams. 

13. Are publishing activities expected? 

Yes, definitely. The documents are to be published and made available to the users in the Document Management System (DMS) in SharePoint. The expected outputs are online help and PDFs. 

14. Are there any export restrictions, controls on location of resources (remote working is mentioned but is there restriction on countries in which resources can be located)? 

As the UPU needs somebody to be reachable during at least 50% of Swiss office hours, the preference is for somebody who is in sync with the time zone for Switzerland (CET). Although anyone in the world can work remotely, this can be difficult for a technical writer who is working from another continent with a different time zone. 

15. Will UPU provide full access (remote) to the systems and any necessary licences to access? 

MadCap Flare and SDL Passolo are currently installed in a virtual machine meant for technical documentation use. As such, the technical writer consultant can access and use these products after the user account is created. 

16. Page 6:

“In the light of the UPU’s status as a specialized agency of the United Nations (and without prejudice to the observance, by the UPU, of any sanctions established by the United Nations Security Council), Bidders shall expressly certify their legal and operational willingness and ability to provide the services on a non-discriminatory basis for the benefit of all eligible entities established and/or situated in the territory of any UPU member country, irrespective of the existence of diplomatic relations between a Bidder’s country of incorporation and/or operation and any UPU member country (including its designated operators).” 

Do we need to be prepared and willing to ramp up in any country, or just liaise and work with any country? 

The technical writer does not liaise directly nor has face-to-face interaction with stakeholders from any country. The interaction is limited to stakeholders from within the UPU and development teams which can be located near-shore (nearby countries), as applicable. 

17. Page 7:

“Bidders’ willingness to make the necessary preliminary investment in education and training in the application structures relevant to the UPU.” 

 Is provider expected to carry all the cost for preliminary/discovery/learning activities when becoming familiar with UPU current content?

 Is there a firm indication on volumes or expected effort to complete this knowledge development? Per system, or UPU project/group?

 The investment is the ramp-up time and effort for “education and training in the application structures relevant to the UPU”  

18. Page 5:

2.5 Objectives

"The UPU wishes to engage a provider of specialized technical writing services for the development of i) soft-ware in accordance with the specific knowledge, skill sets and experience-related requirements and associated conditions specified herein, and ii) content for the UPU’s e-learning platform (powered by Moodle), including the production of tutorial videos, online training courses on UPU software, and online tests."

 Should this be "Software documentation"?  

Yes 

Creation of actual software/program is not part of the scope?  

No 

19. Page 9: 

We are to provide:

"– A daily rate per consultant working remotely;

• A full service quotation (all-inclusive);
• A general description of the pricing structure for the services offered;
• A description of a discount model for the services offered." 

For the full service quotation, could you please clarify the volume (number of days) to be taken into account? 

Could you please provide more details on the general description of the pricing structure we are to provide? 

You can present your price offer as you wish, as long as the pricing structure is clear 

20. As per the Description of the Services (page 10), the scope of work implies various roles and profiles: technical writer, project manager.  

Is it acceptable to provide several rates (one per role/profile)? 

We actually just need one – the technical writer. The directive on which product to document or which eLearning material to work on comes from the UPU.