Management consulting services

This is a call for tenders, reference EFSA/2024/OP/0013, issued by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) on April 3, 2025. The tender is for a multi-annual framework service contract aimed at providing management consulting services to EU bodies, focusing on business transformation and operational development to enhance their value, effectiveness, and efficiency. The total estimated budget for this tender is 137 million EUR, segmented into three lots: Lot 1 (General strategic consulting services) estimated at 72 million EUR, Lot 2 (Consulting services on Governance and Management for Data, Knowledge, and AI) estimated at 40 million EUR, and Lot 3 (Product management consulting services) estimated at 25 million EUR.

The submission deadline for tenders is June 16, 2025, at 14:30 Europe/Rome time. The contracting authority will not respond to questions submitted after June 6, 2025, at 05:00 Europe/Rome time. All submissions must be made electronically. The maximum duration of the contracts is set for 48 months, and the award will be based on the best price-quality ratio. The tender permits joint participation, meaning consortia can apply, although single applicants are also accepted.

Eligible applicants are not explicitly stated, but eligible entities likely include consulting firms, organizations that provide management services, and possibly research institutes or universities with relevant expertise. Geographic eligibility likely encompasses EU member states and potentially EEA countries.

The selection criteria for applicants include suitability for professional activity, economic and financial standing, and technical and professional ability. The documents available for download provide detailed instructions regarding these criteria, and 188 questions and answers available help clarify various elements of the tender.

The tender emphasizes the importance of specific technical experience and certifications, particularly for roles in Lot 2 related to AI governance. Contractors selected for this framework will manage multiple assignments from different EU bodies across various locations, ensuring a broad support spectrum for the EU's operational goals.

Overall, this tender seeks experienced service providers skilled in management consulting, ready to engage with a significant and complex set of requirements from EU bodies over the next four years.

This is an invitation to tender, reference EFSA/2024/OP/0013, published on 03/04/2025 by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA). It is an open procedure for a multi-annual framework agreement with reopening of competition, aimed at providing management consulting services to participating EU bodies. The services are related to business transformation and operational development to improve EU bodies' value, effectiveness, and efficiency. The estimated total value of the tender is 137,000,000 EUR. The deadline for receipt of tenders is 16/06/2025 at 14:30 Europe/Rome time. The contracting authority is not bound to reply to questions submitted after 06/06/2025 at 05:00 Europe/Rome time. Submissions must be sent exclusively via electronic submission.

The tender is divided into three lots:

Lot 1: General strategic consulting services, including consulting on project management, business analysis, and change management. The estimated value is 72,000,000 EUR.

Lot 2: Consulting services on Governance and Management for Data, Knowledge, and Artificial Intelligence. The estimated value is 40,000,000 EUR.

Lot 3: Product management consulting services. The estimated value is 25,000,000 EUR.

The maximum contract duration for all lots is 48 months. The award method is based on the best price-quality ratio.

Selection criteria include: Suitability to pursue the professional activity, economic and financial standing, and technical and professional ability. Detailed information on these criteria can be found in the procurement documents.

The following documents are available for download: Invitation to tender/Invitation letter (version 1, published 03/04/2025), Tender specifications corrigendum 2 (version 3, published 16/05/2025), Annex 1 Financial Offer Template (version 1, published 03/04/2025), Annex 2 Draft contract (version 1, published 03/04/2025), Annex 3 Lots and domain definition (version 1, published 03/04/2025), Annex 5 word version corrigendum 2 (version 2, published 16/05/2025), Corrigendum 1 (version 1, published 11/04/2025), Corrigendum 2 (version 1, published 16/05/2025), and Annex 5 word version (version 1, published 08/04/2025).

There are 188 questions and answers (Q&A) available related to this tender. Some key clarifications include:

SAS base per machine learning certification is not considered equivalent to Azure AI certification.

University masterclass certificates, such as Ethics of AI from LSE, are not eligible substitutes for required certifications.

Neo4J Graph Data Science certification is not equivalent to Azure AI certification.

Years of experience are counted once, and only completed years of PHD will be accounted for.

Certain certifications are confirmed as acceptable evidence equivalent to Azure AI requirements.

The arrangement for using workers hired out by temporary employment undertakings does not need to be in place prior to tender submission.

There is no pre-defined number of days allocated for submitting CVs in the event of CV validation needs.

AWS Solution Architect Associate certificate is equivalent to Azure Data Engineer Associate certificate.

AWS Cloud Practitioner certification is not equivalent to Azure Data Engineer Associate certification.

Lean Change Management by Lean Change will be considered equivalent to Change Management Certification, but HCMBOK 3G Practitioner will not be.

Freelancers will be considered subcontractors.

Online badges or certificates of accomplishments are not considered valid certifications; an official exam must have been passed.

For each lot, the contracting authority will award a maximum of 5 framework contractors.

Azure Enterprise Data Analyst Associate, Fraunhofer Personnel Certification Authority, and Tableau desktop certifications are considered equivalent to DAMA or Azure Data Engineer Associate for Lot 2.

Tableau Desktop Specialist and Tableau Certified Associate Consultant certifications are not considered direct equivalents to DAMA certifications for Lot 2.

One CV can be proposed for different lots, as long as the specific profile requirements of each lot are met.

The same project can be used as evidence for the selection criteria of different lots, as long as the specific requirements of each lot are met.

It is not forbidden to include more than the indicated minimum number of evidences.

Intra-group posting will not be considered as valid experience.

MongoDB Certified Developer Associate and the Microsoft Certified: Azure Data Engineer Associate certifications are not equivalent.

For Lot 2, in award criterion 1.a.c, "project" refers to an assignment intended to define and implement Data Governance.

A podcast can be accepted as equivalent evidence to a blog, whitepaper, or industry article, but AI-generated podcasts will not be accepted.

Separate invoicing is not allowed in case of a joint offer.

Lots 2 and 3 require measures to ensure human oversight and quality validation in case an AI system or AI model is put in place.

The "Number of staff" in the Administrative Data Form refers to individuals under an employment contract with the company.

The financial offer template asks for one price per profile for intra-muros and extra-muros services.

Awarded tenderers will need to manage several assignments sourced by different EU Bodies in multiple locations simultaneously.

The tester profile in Lot 3 will not perform non-functional testing.

EFSA intends to evaluate offers based on the methodology for creating and delivering a product for Lot 3.

Product Engineer profile in Lot 3 is expected to have deep hands-on experience and be responsible for building and maintaining.

Design Thinking is considered equivalent to Change Management Certification for the Product Engineer profile in Lot 3.

Azure Fundamentals will not be accepted as an equivalent certificate to Azure AI for Lot 2.

Most certifications listed in question 65053 are deemed equivalent to Azure AI certification for Lot 2, except for all Salesforce certifications.

SAS base for machine learning appears to be just a course and not a certification, therefore it is not considered equivalent to Azure AI certification for Lot 2.

The same project can be used as evidence for the selection criteria of different lots, as long as the specific requirements of each lot are met.

For all lots, for award criterion 2.b, both scenarios listed in question 64944 could be relevant.

For the profile of Managing Consultant / Manager role in Lot 2, a DAMA certificate, or equivalent AND / OR a Change management certificate or equivalent are required.

The eSubmission system requires the latest versions of Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox. Attachments should be less than 50 MB and named according to the System Requirements. The system supports all 24 official EU languages and uses UTF-8 character set encoding. The system encrypts all uploaded documents. The maximum number of documents allowed per tender is 200 files. A Personal Identification Code (PIC) is mandatory to participate in the tender.

In summary, this tender is a call for management consulting services to support EU bodies in their business transformation and operational development. It is divided into three lots covering general strategic consulting, data/knowledge/AI governance, and product management. The tenderers will need to demonstrate their professional, economic, and technical capabilities, and provide competitive offers based on the best price-quality ratio. The tender process is electronic, and specific certifications and experience are required for certain roles, particularly in Lot 2 related to AI. The framework agreement will allow the EU bodies to call upon the selected contractors for specific assignments over the next 48 months.

Eligible Applicant Types: The eligible applicant types are not explicitly stated, but based on the nature of the tender, it is implied that eligible applicants are likely to be firms, consortia, or organizations that provide management consulting services. This could include SMEs, large enterprises, consulting companies, and potentially research institutes or universities with relevant expertise.

Funding Type: The funding type is procurement, specifically a framework service contract with reopening of competition. This means that instead of a grant, the selected contractors will be providing services to the contracting authority (and potentially other EU bodies) in exchange for payment.

Consortium Requirement: While not explicitly stated, the Q&A section indicates that joint participation is possible, suggesting that consortia are allowed. However, it also seems that a single applicant can apply.

Beneficiary Scope (Geographic Eligibility): The geographic eligibility is not explicitly stated, but given that it is an EU tender, it is highly likely that applicants from the EU and potentially EEA countries are eligible. The specific eligibility criteria would be detailed in the procurement documents.

Target Sector: The target sector is management consulting services, with a focus on business transformation, operational development, data governance, knowledge management, artificial intelligence, and product management.

Mentioned Countries: No specific countries are mentioned, but the context implies that the opportunity is open to entities within the European Union. The contracting authority is located in Europe/Rome.

Project Stage: The project stage is for the provision of services, implying that the tender is seeking established providers with a proven track record rather than early-stage research or development projects.

Funding Amount: The estimated total value of the tender is 137,000,000 EUR. This amount is divided across three lots: Lot 1 is estimated at 72,000,000 EUR, Lot 2 is estimated at 40,000,000 EUR, and Lot 3 is estimated at 25,000,000 EUR.

Application Type: The application type is an open call for tenders, with electronic submission.

Nature of Support: The beneficiaries will receive money in exchange for providing management consulting services. This is a service contract, not a grant or other form of financial support.

Application Stages: The number of application stages is not explicitly mentioned, but it is likely to involve at least two stages: an initial submission of the tender and a subsequent reopening of competition among the framework contractors.

Success Rates: The success rates are not explicitly mentioned, but it is stated that for each lot, the contracting authority will award a maximum of 5 framework contractors. This suggests that the success rate will be relatively low, as many firms are likely to apply.

Co-funding Requirement: There is no mention of a co-funding requirement.

Summary:

This is a call for tenders (EFSA/2024/OP/0013) issued by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) to establish a multi-annual framework service contract for management consulting services. The aim is to provide EU bodies with consulting support for business transformation and operational development, enhancing their value, effectiveness, and efficiency. The total estimated value of the tender is 137 million EUR, divided into three lots: General strategic consulting services (72 million EUR), Consulting services on Governance and Management for Data, Knowledge and Artificial Intelligence (40 million EUR), and Product management consulting services (25 million EUR).

The procedure is an open call, requiring electronic submission. The maximum contract duration is 48 months, and the award method is based on the best price-quality ratio. For each lot, a maximum of 5 framework contractors will be selected, who will then be invited to submit offers in response to specific needs as they arise.

The tender documents outline the selection criteria, which include suitability to pursue the professional activity, economic and financial standing, and technical and professional ability. The deadline for receipt of tenders is June 16, 2025, and the contracting authority is not bound to reply to questions submitted after June 6, 2025.

The Q&A section provides clarifications on various aspects of the tender, including acceptable certifications, the use of freelancers, and the evaluation criteria. It is important for potential tenderers to carefully review all the tender documents and the Q&A section before preparing their submissions.