Public procurement notice: Voluntary Ex Ante Transparency Notice
Published: 2018-03-28
Buyer: Norges Bank Real Estate Management
Country: NO
Contract type: Services
Procedure: Negotiated without a prior call for competition
CPV classification: 72000000
Estimated value: 3000000 NOK

Technical requirements: Υπηρεσίες τεχνολογίας των πληροφοριών: παροχή συμβουλών, ανάπτυξη λογισμικού, Διαδίκτυο και υποστήριξη
Norges Bank Real Estate Management (NBREM) is an entity of Norges Bank [the Central Bank of Norway]. NBREM is responsible for the fund’s unlisted property investments. NBREM was reorganised as a separate entity in 2014 and in 2016 was moved to a separate IT platform. To further develop and improve NBREM’s IT platform, NBREM needs vendor independent cooperating partner who can assist with research, analysis and guidance in the IT field. The tenderer shall assist with consultancy services and quality assurance.
NBREM is of the understanding that there is only one service provider, Gartner Norge AS, who can deliver the service in line with NBREM’s needs.
In order to ensure good and efficient execution of the development and solution selection, NBREM needs access to analysis, methodology, templates and tools within a number of specialist areas:
It is a prerequisite that the procurement is a combined procurement, in order to ensure consistent use of analysis, methodology and best practice, and that the tenderer can advise NBREM in strategic choices, within, for example, enterprise architecture, sourcing, IT security and on technical solutions, using the same material.
The value of the contract is estimated to be up to 3 000 000 NOK. NBREM highlights that the need can vary significantly at times.
The exception for direct procurements is in the Public Procurement Regulations § 13-4 (b). The provision states that the Contracting Authority can hold a procurement without a negotiation if the procurement is for services that only a specific supplier can provide as 'competition is impossible due to technical reasons'.
Technical reasons mean that there is only one tenderer who can carry out the service or produce the product.
In several cases KOFA and the EU law court have ruled that the term must be interpreted restrictively and that it is the Contracting Authority who must prove that the term is fulfilled. See KOFA 2008/56 premise 23, with further referral to the EU law court´s case C-337/05 (Augusta) premise 57-58.
In their guidelines, the Ministry of trade and the fisheries state that ' It is not sufficient that the Contracting Authority believes that only one supplier can fulfil the need, or that the Contracting Authority only knows of one supplier because he has a lack of knowledge of the market. It is the Contracting Authority who must show that the terms in the provision are fulfilled. There must be objective reasons, such as legal counters, as to why only one can provide the service'. This means that the Contracting Authority has a requirement of due care and comprehensive market surveys must be carried out in advance.
Based on the Contracting Authority's knowledge of the marked, the selected tenderer is the only provider who can cover the Contracting Authority's requirements for the stated service area for services related to supplier independent research, analyses and consultancy.
A note from MB ICT Norges Bank states that there is generally 3 service providers. After a market survey, it is clear that there is only Gartner who can deliver according to the specifications set by Norges Bank, i.a. Due to the requirement for necessary knowledge regarding local conditions, and that there is a need for a local contact person. Searches on similar procurement published in Doffin provide a clear indicator that Gartner is the only service provider who, due to technical reasons, can deliver the service. Therefore Gartner is the only service provider, and due to technical reasons it is not possible to implement a competition.
Norges Bank therefore believes that a proper and attentive assessment has been carried out as to whether the exception in the Public Procurement Regulations § 13-4 b) is met, and a contract can be signed after a prior information notice cf. FOA [PPR] § 21-5.


Winner: Gartner Norge AS
Award value: 3000000