Public procurement notice: Voluntary Ex Ante Transparency Notice
Published: 2017-03-29
Buyer: Norges Bank
Country: NO
Region: NORGE
Contract type: Services
Procedure: Negotiated without a prior call for competition
CPV classification: 72000000
Estimated value: 12000000 NOK

Technical requirements: Υπηρεσίες τεχνολογίας των πληροφοριών: παροχή συμβουλών, ανάπτυξη λογισμικού, Διαδίκτυο και υποστήριξη
Over the next 3-4 years, the ICT unit will have a period of high activity level, in particular as regards the operationalisation of a new ‘Sourcing Strategy’, in particular through the procurement of a ‘New Operational Platform’, but also within the development and modernisation of the bank in central areas within the system landscape, such as data warehouse, mobile systems, digitalisation of the entity, analysis of digital central bank money, etc.
Norges Bank would like to join up with an independent collaboration partner within research, analysis and consultancy services in order to ensure strategic well-thought out choices and design good systems. The tenderer shall provide consultancy services and quality assurance on deliveries.
In order to ensure good and efficient execution of the development and choice of system, Norges Bank has a need for access to analyses, methodics, templates and tools within a number of fields:
It is a prerequisite that it is a total procurement, in order to ensure consistent use of analyses, methodology and best practice and that the tenderer can advise Norges Bank in strategic choices within, for example, company architecture, sourcing, IT security and for technical systems, when using the same material.
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.
A note from MB ICT Norges Bank states that on the one side there are three suppliers for this type of more general service. A market survey clearly shows, however, that it is only Gartner who can deliver on the specifications that Norges Bank has set. There have been 16 similar procurements announced in Doffin in 2016 and no other contracting authorities succeeded in receiving tenders or procuring the service from any other than Gartner. 15 of the 16 notices were intention notices. This gives a clear indication that Gartner is the only supplier who, due to technical reasons, can provide the service.
It is, therefore, apparent that Gartner is the only supplier and, due to technical reasons, it is not possible to hold 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 fulfilled and whether the contract can be signed after an intention notice, c.f. the Public Procurement Regulations § 21-5.
The contract will be valid for 4 years. The value is estimated to be between NOK 6-12 million. Norges Bank draws attention to the fact that the need can significantly vary at times.


Winner: Gartner Norge AS
Award value: 12000000